Urban Links Africa – Open Call

Applications are now open for UK SME partnerships with South African and Kenyan organisations to develop solutions to urban challenges in Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu in Kenya, and Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban in South Africa within the Urban Links Africa programme.

With support from Connected Places Catapult, these Urban Links Africa partnerships will work together to address the issues identified by key stakeholders in the chosen cities.

The selected challenge areas for Kenya are solid waste management, stormwater drainage and flooding, wastewater management and active mobility (these can be tackled across any of the three cities). In South Africa, the challenges are sustainable mobility for Johannesburg, solid waste management and pollution in Durban, and building resilience in informal settlements in Cape Town.

The partnerships are eligible to receive funding of up to £25,000 for early-stage concepts or £40,000 for more mature technologies to develop innovative solutions to these challenges.

UK and South African / Kenyan partnerships will be encouraged to collaborate, share expertise and develop sustainable long-term partnerships to improve life for citizens. The Urban Links Africa (ULA) project is UK government-funded and run by Connected Places Catapult, the UK centre for excellence for urban innovation and mobility. Connected Places Catapult will offer support and expertise to help partnerships hone their solutions to tackle these challenges. ‘We are very excited about this project,’ said Connected Places Catapult’s Global Commercial Team Lead, Nadia Echchihab. ‘We believe it will provide some innovative solutions to these urban challenges.’

Connected Places Catapult will be inviting applications from partnerships until 21st August 2020.

Successful applicants will be selected in September 2020.

For support in finding organisations to partner with on the challenges, visit our LinkedIn group where you can connect with others who are looking to find a partner or join a webinar.

For more information about the project, visit www.urbanlinksafrica.com

Media contacts

Sarah Fletcher
Communications Lead, Urban Links Africa
Email: sarah.fletcher@cp.catapult.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 7734 861310

Stephen Lynn
Marketing and Events Director
Email: stephen.lynn@cp.catapult.org.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 7496 437907

About Connected Places Catapult

Connected Places Catapult is the UK centre for excellence for urban innovation. A not-for-profit organisation, partly funded by the UK government, Connected Places Catapult has delivered more than 20 projects across four continents since 2015.

Connected Places Catapult helps cities to design, develop and deliver programmes that grow innovative companies, with the goal of deploying and scaling high-impact solutions to city challenges to generate sustainable economic success.

They also support innovators and businesses to discover, create and test new markets for urban solutions that will spearhead the long-term success of cities and their citizens’ wellbeing.