Since its launch in 2012, the Innovation Programme has funded 31 innovative projects in 48 cities in 32 countries, disbursing USD 6.1 million in grant funding. It has issued four thematic calls for proposals: Secure Tenure in African Cities, Migration and the Inclusive City, Know Your City: Information for Transformation, and Youth and the City, with one open call.

 

 

 

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All projects from these calls have closed:

 

Know Your City: Information for Transformation

The choice of the theme Know Your City for the 2014 Call for Proposals reflects the Cities Alliance’s strong conviction that a better knowledge of cities – and innovative ways of doing so – can bring the city government and its citizens together and help them engage with each other, build trust, share information, and improve accountability. These actions, in turn, support good governance and inclusive planning processes.

Do You Know Your City? Results from collaborative data initiatives to drive innovation in cities documents results from the theme Know Your City! 

 

Youth and the City

For the first time, the 2012 Call featured a specific theme: “Youth and the City: Challenges of and Visions for Demographic Change.” The theme built on the Cities Alliance's efforts to integrate gender and youth in its work programme.

The publication Youth and the City: Lessons From 13 Innovative Projects Funded by the Cities Alliance Catalytic Fund and the UN-Habitat Youth Fund highlights lessons learned from six of the Youth and the City projects, as well as six additional UN-Habitat projects.

 

Open Call

For the first Catalytic Fund call in 2011, objectives and activities of the proposed projects were required to be within the mandate and scope defined by the Cities Alliance Charter: Strengthening and promoting the role of cities in poverty reduction and in sustainable urban development.

The call aimed to attract projects in line with these objectives, such as a slum upgrading programme, ones that promoted strategies and policies designed to manage urban development, or knowledge activities aimed at sharing experiences on inclusive cities.