Grants to support Societal Learning for the Green Transition (Denmark)

The purpose of this call is to support projects and initiatives that will innovate, implement and/or scale up more sustainable behaviour and practices among individuals, communities, and organisations in Denmark.

Funding Information

• A total of up to DKK 30 million is available for grants between DKK 200,000 and 6 million for projects of up to 3 years duration.
• The project may be an independent, delimited project or a part of a larger project that is also supported by other partners. If part of a larger initiative, the expected impact from the part funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation should be clearly delineated. The project can also be a pre-project of up to six months and up to DKK 500,000 to mature a larger project to follow. Please note that support of a pre-project does not guarantee support for the following project.
• Applicants may apply for funding for salary, operating costs, equipment costs, travel costs, publication costs, conference participation, collaborative activities, bench fee (where relevant), project supplement (in Danish ‘projekttillæg’) (Danish universities), and administrative costs (where relevant).
• The Novo Nordisk Foundation will not award grants for commercial activities, buildings and overhead (such as rent, electricity, water, and maintenance).

Eligible Projects

• Applicants can apply for projects that will try out innovative ideas for how the green transition can be facilitated and accelerated in practice through social experimentation, knowledge generation and collective learning, ideally in ways that will inspire hope and enthusiasm for the green transition.
• Projects can focus on developing and consolidating new social norms and practices, enhancing institutional capacity for sustainable change, or strengthen individual and collective incentives for green behaviour, and consequently stimulate still more people to change their ways of life in a sustainable direction.
• Projects should ideally demonstrate in concrete ways how the urgent need for more sustainable lifestyles can be combined with perceptions of a good life and nurture public support for the necessary green transition.
• Examples of approaches that can be funded include, but are not limited to:
  • Living labs
  • Citizen science projects
  • Innovative and participatory public engagement formats
  • ‘Proof-of-concept’ studies and social-experimental projects to prepare larger interventions
  • Municipal development projects, involving local communities
  • Partnerships connecting agents of change from civil society, industry, government and research
• The Novo Nordisk Foundation has a particular strategic focus on promoting sustainability related to agriculture, food production and food consumption, as well as climate mitigation technologies. Priority will be given to projects that have a focus in these areas.
• To be considered, projects involving research activities must have a significant practical component clearly aimed at producing behavioural change.

Eligibility Criteria

• During the grant period, the applicant must be a leader or project responsible at the institution administering the project. Eligible institutions include public authorities, civil society organisations (e.g. associations, community organisations, non-governmental organisations, charities, advocacy groups, think tanks and grassroots movements), research institutions and private companies. Private companies may apply only for grants for non-commercial projects with non-profit aims.
• Projects must be administered and have their primary focus within the Danish Realm.
• The Foundation encourages collaborations between partners with complementary competences on the development and execution of the projects to catalyse collaborations and collective learning processes between different types of actors in Danish society and increase the reach of the projects.

For more information, visit Novo Nordisk Foundation.