1.Eligibility criteria

This open call accepts proposals from active local currency initiatives that are seeking support to enhance their technological capabilities and/or scale their operations. To qualify for this funding opportunity, applicants must meet the following conditions:

1.Applicants must be active local currencies legally established and registered within one of the EU member states or associated countries of Horizon Europe.

2. Applicants should meet the requirement for a sufficient operational scope by having a minimum of 20 commercial accepting entities (stores, service providers, etc.) OR annual revenue streams with a minimum value of 5000 euro-equivalents.

3. Applicants must either currently operate on a digital open-source infrastructure OR express a committed interest to transition to a digital open-source infrastructure.

4. Eligibility is restricted to local currency initiatives that have not previously received funding from NGI (Next Generation Internet).

5. Applicants must actively participate in the currency ecosystem program**. It includes participation in the networking sessions, the trainings, small scale software pilots, and sharing anonymized data with the consortium for research purposes.** Applicants must agree to this condition to bring forth a collective pool of knowledge that will allow for innovation in the sector. A data management plan will be provided for each participant in the program to comply with GDPR.

6. The initiative must require support in one or more of the program’s pillars, as detailed in the open call document (please refer to section 2).

Eligible initiatives are invited to submit their proposals. For the application requirements please refer to section 5.

2.Proposal application, evaluation, and selection

Jury members

The evaluation of each submitted application will be carried out by an Evaluation Committee consisting of one expert of every consortium partner. These representatives are experts on digital transformation, decentralized infrastructure, and local economies. Therefore, their views and opinions will ensure that the most suitable candidates are selected.

Application requirements

Applicants are required to prepare and submit documentation of the following:

1.Existing userbase and activity – please provide documented evidence of the number of active users currently engaged with your local currency system. Please mention the sector(s) that are currently accepting your currency (i.e., retail, gastronomy, services, etc.) and their geographic distribution (i.e., do they span over a single neighbourhood / a city / a district, etc). Please submit data on the average transaction frequency and velocity per month.

2.Funding allocation proposal – please clearly outline how the requested funding will be allocated across various developmental activities (for eligible activities please refer to section 3). Explain how the funding will contribute to the expansion and improvement of your infrastructure or operations. Provide projections on growth in user base, transaction volume, social, and economic impact.

3.Exploitation of results – please describe how the projected impact will be sustained post-funding (i.e., plans for financial sustainability, ongoing community engagement, and long-term operational strategies).

4.Required support – please choose the core 3 (three) training topics that would most benefit your team from the list in Annex I.

5.The team's composition, technical background, equipment, and capability to scale – please list core team members, their roles, expertise, and relevant experience. Describe the technical resources and equipment available to your team (i.e., software, hardware, and other technical infrastructure). Please describe your team’s capability to scale, including any previous experiences or pilot projects.

6.Optional: open-source software - If applicable, detail your initiative’s contributions to open-source software development and deployment. Include any existing open-source tools you have developed or substantial contributions to other OSS projects. Alternatively, describe how open-source software will be integrated into your initiative throughout the runtime of the program. The consortium will supply you with a software stack to sandbox, if needed.

Application criteria

An application will be eligible only if all the following eligibility criteria are met:

1. Application must be submitted before the submission deadline date (31-01-2025, 23:59 AoE).

2. All the required fields in the application form must be completed.

3. The applicant must meet all the eligibility criteria specified in the open call document. It is the responsibility of the applicant to demonstrate compliance with these criteria.

4. The official representative declares no incompatibility with other EU funding for the same actions proposed in ANNEX I.

5. When filling in the application form, applicants are asked to confirm that no conflict of interest could arise in connection with this open call. This will ensure to prevent any situation where the impartial and objective selection of the proposal is compromised for reasons involving economic interest, political of national affinity, family or emotional ties or any other shared interest (“conflict of interest”). Applicants who cannot confirm that there is no conflict of interest will not be considered for the selection.

Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation process will be managed by an internal evaluator. Each proposal is assessed on its content (90%) and requested grant amount (10%). The proposals will be assessed based on the following criteria:

ocal.io

4. Organisational capabilities

Evaluation of the team’s composition, technical expertise, equipment, and the overall capability to scale operations.

10%

5. Financial stability

Analysis of the initiative's current funding and economic model. Proposals must demonstrate financial stability and a clear understanding of the economic environment in which they operate.

10%

6. Open-source software integration

Does the initiative currently deploy open source software, or is there a planned transition to incorporate OSS?

10%

Proposals will first be checked for completeness. Then, each of the above criteria will be scored on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates no alignment and 10 represents exemplary alignment with the criteria. Each score is multiplied with its weight and aggregated for a total score for the evaluator score. The proposal content score for an application is the combined average of the total score of the evaluation committee members.

We use price scoring to encourage proposals that strike a balance between ambition and cost-efficiency. The price score accounts for 10% of the overall score. Proposals requesting €30.000 or less have a score of 10 (maximum). Proposals with a request of €60.000 have a score of 0 (minimum). Proposals requesting more than €60.000 are not taken into consideration.

The price score for a proposal can be calculated by:

The final score for a proposal is a calculation where the content is weighed for 90% and the price for 10%:

Proposals will be ranked based on their total score, and applicants will receive feedback. The highest-ranking proposals will be selected for funding, subject to availability.

The consortium aims to integrate diverse and inclusive currencies across Europe, and we prioritize representation from a wide range of regions. To achieve this goal, the consortium intends to include currencies from underrepresented regions. Therefore, if a currency from a currently unaddressed region scores up to 0.5 points lower than a currency from a region that has already been positively evaluated, the consortium reserves the right to prioritize contracting with the currency from the underrepresented region. This approach ensures that small differences in scores do not outweigh the strategic objective of fostering diversity and inclusivity across Europe.

The Evaluation Committee will evaluate each application in a transparent and fair way, respecting the confidentiality of any information identified as confidential at the time it is provided. Evaluations will be performed applying the highest ethical and moral standards.

The applicant’s contact person (provided in the form) may be contacted during the evaluation to provide further clarification on all aspects of the application.

The contact point for questions to the Local for Local team will be through the EU tender portal or email (info@localforlocal.io). Answers to questions will be presented on the EU portal and Local for Local website as needed. If the proposal is awarded, the details of the action plan of beneficiary will be discussed during the contracting period with the consortium.

The applicants will be informed about the decision

made by the Evaluation Committee in February 2025

via email. The notification can be:

·

Not selected:

your application has not been selected for the programme, based on the evaluation criteria.

·

Not selected (in reserve list):

your application has not been selected for the programme but has been put in reserve list, in case one of the selected companies does not reach the grant signing.

·

Selected:

your application has been selected for the programme. The Local for Local consortium partners will engage in a contract negotiation regarding the specific terms and conditions of the service.

The final decision will also be published on the Local for Local website.

Within 2 working days of the reception of the communication,

applicants may submit a request for redress

if they believe that there has been a shortcoming in the way their proposal has been evaluated that may affect the final decision on whether they are selected as beneficiary or not.

A designated internal review committee of the Local for Local project will examine requests for redress, which must be:

1.Related to the evaluation process or eligibility checks.

2.Clearly describe the complaint and reasons for potential consideration.

3.Received within the time limit (2 working days) from the communication of the result is delivered.

4.Sent by the same enterprise legal representative that submitted the proposal.

The committee will review the complaint and will recommend an appropriate course of action. If there is clear evidence that a shortcoming(s) could have affected the eventual decision, it is possible that all or part of the proposal will be re-evaluated by the internal review committee.

The evaluation score following any re-evaluation will be regarded as definitive. This score could be lower than the original score.

Only one request for redress per application will be considered by the committee. All requests for redress will be treated in confidence and must be sent to

info@localforlocal.io

.

Procedures and Timeline

Step

Timeline

Program Announcement

01-12-2024

Third party call opened

01-12-2024

First informative meeting

16-12-2024, 16:00 CET

Second informative meeting

13-01-2025, 16:00 CET

Sending in your application

All project proposals must adhere to the specific conditions and guidelines outlined in the Work Programme and related call for proposals. This includes compliance with all regulatory, ethical, and financial reporting requirements as mandated by the European Commission.

Applications can be uploaded at

https://localforlocal.io/

. A designated upload environment is available, where documents can be uploaded. The filled in Application form (Annex I) and declaration of honour (Annex II) should be given a recognizable name, aggregated in a single ZIP file, and uploaded to the website. Only documents provided before the submission deadline will be considered. An alternative to the localforlocal.io website is through the EU tender portal but with the same formatting as the Local for Local website.

While the call is open, we organize three informative meetings. In such a meeting we explain the plan and ambition of the Currency Ecosystem, and you can ask questions about the application. The information for joining the call will be posted on the Localforlocal website and other socials. The meetings are organized at 16:00 on 16-12-2024, 13-01-2025, and 27-01-2025.

We look forward to receiving your application,

The NGI Local for Local consortium