Yes San Francisco, Urban Sustainability ChallengeThis challenge calls for innovative solutions to reimagine and transform the city of San Franci...
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network
This challenge calls for innovative solutions to reimagine and transform the city of San Francisco. Our goal is to cultivate an ecosystem of organizations that can revitalize its downtown and grow its position as a leader in sustainability innovation.
An initiative in collaboration with Deloitte, Salesforce, Citi, San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, Swissnex in San Francisco, San Francisco Environment Department, SPUR, Advance SF, Third Sphere, Congruent Ventures, San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Bay Area Council, San Francisco Planning, Office of the City Administrator, City and County of San Francisco, Presidio Bay Ventures and The Westly Group.
Supporting the implementation of world-leading innovations in urban sustainability
This challenge calls for innovative solutions to reimagine and transform the city of San Francisco. Our goal is to cultivate an ecosystem of organizations that can revitalize its downtown and grow its position as a leader in sustainability innovation.
Cities are home to a growing majority of the world’s population and account for more than 80% of the global GDP. Despite occupying only 3% of the world’s land, cities account for two-thirds of the global energy demand and 70% of CO2 emissions. As cities prepare for continued growth — with an estimated 2.5 billion new residents by 2050 — they face the dual challenge of ensuring sustainable urban development while also delivering an improved quality of life and economic opportunities for all residents.
A sustainable city starts with a sustainable foundation. It is possible to modify existing spaces to reduce embodied carbon and operational emissions to boost resilience to climate change. Retrofits, novel flexible use models, and nature-based solutions can bring new life and value to underutilized or antiquated spaces.
This brings us to the geographic focus of this challenge: the city of San Francisco, which has a long history of environmental leadership. By driving urban sustainability efforts, San Francisco can grow as a role model for green cities, promoting climate resilience and sustainability. These efforts will also provide economic and social benefits like job creation, increased connectivity, and investment opportunities. Anchored in the San Francisco Climate Action Plan and the Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco’s Future, the city is aiming to be the greenest and cleanest city in the world and setting a new standard for urban transformation.
To lead this urban transformation, Deloitte and Salesforce are collaborating with UpLink to help accelerate innovative action that can revitalize the city’s downtown and grow San Francisco’s position as a global leader in sustainability innovation.
The focus areas of this challenge include:
Buildings and infrastructure
Urban green and blue spaces
See the FOCUS AREAS tab for a detailed description of each focus area.
Selection criteria
Local presence: have a physical presence in San Francisco or be interested in establishing some part of your operations in the city in the future.
Local impact: benefit San Francisco and all its residents and have a clear path to deployment in the city, such as alignment to the San Francisco Climate Action Plan or the Roadmap to Downtown San Francisco’s Future.
Socio-economic and environmental impact: have a positive and measurable impact on the environment and community (e.g., reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, generation of quality local jobs and sharing of benefits with local communities).
Financially viable business model: have a strong business plan and demonstrate ability to be self-sustaining and/or have reliable funding sources such as grants, external financing and/or self-funding through the project timeline. Innovations should also be able to demonstrate that their business models are viable and can be self-sustaining over the long term.
Pathway to implementation: have a clear regulatory pathway, without high regulatory barriers to implementation or requiring significant policy changes.
Potential to scale and replicate: demonstrate high potential to scale in other regions around the world with similar characteristics.
Timeline: can be deployed within 6-12 months of selection.
Governance: can be deployed by a registered legal operating entity such as an LLC, S-Corp, 501c3, or similar entities.
Diverse team: a strong, diverse management team with demonstrated expertise and a proven track record to deliver on the project’s mission leveraging deep knowledge of the community’s needs and challenges.
Benefits for selected Top Innovators
Between 10-20 submissions will be selected as Top Innovators and become part of the UpLink Innovation Network, a curated programme designed for Founders, CEOs, or Executive Directors, which provides:
Access: opportunity to participate in selected World Economic Forum and partner-led events, projects and communities.
Visibility: global exposure via the Forum’s and UpLink’s digital media channels.
Connections: strategic introductions to selected organizations in the Forum’s and UpLink’s network.
Targeted Support: including programming and support on technical, business and operational matters.
Support from Citi: possibility of engaging with a network of investors from the Citi Impact Fund, who will provide strategic guidance and potential funding to support the growth and scale of selected ventures.
Challenge timeline
9 June: challenge launch
9 June - 14 July: open for submissions
17 July - 14 August: review and selection process
12 September - 14 September: announcement of the winning Top Innovators
https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-issue/a002o0000174PQw/yes-san-francisco-urban-sustainability-challenge?activeTab=Challenge-Overview
Media
Taxonomy
- Innovation
- Innovation
- Creativity, Innovation, Business Modelling
- Open Innovation Strategies
- Open Innovation