UNDP launches a new grant scheme for innovative and environmentally friendly urban development solutions. The support is provided under the "Sustainable Green Cities" project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The Chisinau City Hall is the key project partner.

The total grant amount is up to $ 8,000 each. The initiatives are to be submitted by legal entities registered in the Republic of Moldova. The applicants in the competition must provide a minimum of 30% of their own contribution from the total value of the submitted project. Project proposals accepted in the competition will cover the following areas:

1. Urban Mobility
2. Waste Management
3. Energy Efficiency and Use of Renewable Energy Sources
4. Sustainable Urban Planning

“We want to boost innovative initiatives that respond to the challenges of urbanization, increase people's comfort and have a positive impact on the environment. Under this grant scheme, which we call Fast Track Challenge, we will finance initiatives that can be implemented in a short period of time and provide tangible results quickly,” said Alexandru Rotaru, Project Manager, UNDP Moldova.

The submitted projects will be implemented within a maximum period of 9 months. Co-financing may be in-kind or monetary and is to be provided by the applicant company or consortium. Also, partnerships with NGOs, companies or public institutions will be considered an asset.

The project proposals will be evaluated by an expert panel based on the eligibility criteria: relevance; innovativeness; social, economic and environmental impacts; sustainability; the degree of replication/scalability potential; territorial coverage and implementation period. The evaluation will be conducted in two stages: examining the submitted applications according to the eligibility criteria and presenting a pitch to the Evaluation Committee. In 2019, four project initiatives will be funded. The Fast Track Challenge will continue in 2020-2021.

More details and the full application guidelines are available here. UNDP will conduct a "Questions-Answers" session for those wishing to apply for the grant scheme on July 10, 10.00-12.00 in the UN House Conference Room, 131, 31 August str., 1^st floor. Those who wish to participate in the information session are kindly requested to register in advance by e-mail: ala.camerzan@undp.org.

The deadline for submitting the projects proposals is July 31, 2019. The application package shall be submitted electronically to the following e-mail address: alexandru.rotaru@undp.org with the subject line “FTCP Green City 2019, [applicant’s name]”.

“Moldova Sustainable Green Cities” Project, with five-year duration: 2018-2022, has a total budget of $2.72 million, out of which $2.64 million are provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and $80,000 – co-funded by UNDP.