Winning Teams Selected in Stage 2 of the Civic Innovation Challenge

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Design in Design Innovation | 0 Comments

Today, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the winners of Stage 2 of its national research and action competition, the Civic Innovation Challenge. A collaboration between NSF, the Department of Energy’s Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO), and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Challenge supports partnerships between communities and universities that address mobility (Track A) and resilience (Track B) priorities.

Seventeen teams comprising civic partners such as local, state and tribal officials, and non-profit and community leaders have been selected for awards of up to $1 million to conduct and evaluate ready-to-implement pilot projects with the potential to produce scalable, sustainable, and transferable solutions to address community-identified challenges in a 12-month timeframe.

“The teams selected for Stage 2 of the competition have brought forward bold and exciting ideas for the mobility and resilience tracks in this Challenge to help connect local communities to their work, school, healthcare and other public services,” said Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Kelly Speakes-Backman. “The Department of Energy is honored to support these projects that will pilot equitable and accessible mobility solutions to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters and improve the quality of life for our communities.”
Six selected projects in Track A will seek to develop community hubs for smart mobility, pilot on-demand multimodal transit, build new platforms to connect youth with employment opportunities, and more.

Learn more about the Civic Innovation Challenge Stage 2 awardees.

Beginning on October 5, 2021, NSF will host a two-week Ideas Fest. Researchers wishing to contribute to idea sourcing for a possible future round of the Civic Innovation Challenge can register at https://nsfcivicinnovation.org/ideas-festival/ to join a two-week Ideas Fest, which begins on October 5, 2021.

Learn more on the Civic Innovation Challenge website.