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With its flexibility, the Innovation Programme can address relevant themes and/<br />
or geographical areas and assess different responses to common developmental<br />
challenges in real time. This enables the <strong>Cities</strong> <strong>Alliance</strong> to analyse different project<br />
experiences, identify best practices and lessons learned, and disseminate them at<br />
the global level.<br />
The <strong>Cities</strong> <strong>Alliance</strong><br />
Innovation<br />
Programme<br />
provides seed<br />
funding for projects<br />
as well as access<br />
to networking and<br />
learning that helps<br />
grantees transform<br />
their communities<br />
and cities.<br />
ACTIVITIES IN <strong>2018</strong><br />
The bulk of Innovation projects from the Migration and the City call closed in <strong>2018</strong>,<br />
except for two projects (one in Argentina, the second in Jamaica) which will close<br />
cin 2019.<br />
In September <strong>2018</strong>, <strong>Cities</strong> <strong>Alliance</strong> hosted a web-based knowledge exchange<br />
for the grantees of the Migration and Inclusive City. The exchange allowed <strong>Cities</strong><br />
<strong>Alliance</strong> to gain a thorough understanding of the funded activities and their<br />
results, and the comparative approach made it possible to identify common<br />
challenges, best practices, and lessons learned. For the grantees, the webinar was<br />
an excellent opportunity for learning and networking. <strong>Cities</strong> <strong>Alliance</strong> also organised<br />
a professional training on project sustainability to help the grantees learn how to<br />
secure follow-up funding.<br />
Preparations were also finalised for the 2019 Call for Proposals on Secure Tenure<br />
in African <strong>Cities</strong>, funded by the <strong>Cities</strong> <strong>Alliance</strong> member Omidyar Network. The<br />
proposed Call will focus on African cities and aims to reach local NGOs and social<br />
entrepreneurs – a vital role players often overlooked in traditional development<br />
assistance programmes.<br />
BOX 3:<br />
Promoting<br />
Innovation:<br />
From the<br />
Catalytic<br />
Fund to the<br />
Innovation<br />
Programme<br />
In <strong>2018</strong>, the Catalytic Fund transitioned<br />
into a broader innovation programme<br />
and Fund. The Innovation Programme<br />
marks the Catalytic Fund’s ultimate<br />
transition into a truly innovative, flexible<br />
funding window. Its Call for Proposals<br />
can be tailored to different target groups<br />
and grant sizes to support innovative<br />
approaches to urban transformation.<br />
Between 2011 and <strong>2018</strong>, the Catalytic<br />
Fund supported 31 innovative projects<br />
in 48 cities across 32 countries with an<br />
overall investment of US $6.1 million.<br />
It focused on various themes: Urban<br />
Development and Slum Upgrading,<br />
Youth and the City, Know Your City, and<br />
Migration and the Inclusive City.<br />
These investments promoted innovation<br />
across a range of technology, new<br />
partnerships, sports and culture,<br />
information for transformation,<br />
innovative policies, and capacity building<br />
and empowerment<br />
Many of our funded projects<br />
demonstrate a long-lasting impact<br />
beyond project closure as their<br />
approaches were upscaled or<br />
institutionalised. Others changed<br />
government policy in the long run, led<br />
to follow-up funding, or became the<br />
starting point for new programmes.<br />
Additionally, Catalytic Fund projects<br />
established partnerships that opened<br />
doors for new <strong>Cities</strong> <strong>Alliance</strong> projects<br />
or programmes, such as a grant to the<br />
municipality of Monrovia that led to the<br />
Liberia Country Programme.<br />
22 <strong>Cities</strong> <strong>Alliance</strong>
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