Call for Proposals: Space for Sustainability in Sport and Mass Events

Objectives

• The objective of this call for proposals is to foster the development of innovative applications and services with high market potential that address the sustainability challenges inherent in sport and mass events. These solutions are envisioned to support diverse stakeholders—from event organizers, federations, and venues to sponsors—who are committed to reducing the environmental footprint and enhancing social responsibility at large-scale events, including sports championships, music festivals, and conferences. This is not an exhaustive list of users. The initial areas of interest include, but not limited to, the following:
  • Carbon Reduction
    • Mobility, logistics and transport services in line with the carbon reduction KPIs set by the event and frameworks and with the need to host a high number of users for a short period of time. E.g. autonomous electric transport of people and goods, tracking of traffic and logistics and their related emissions.
    • Measuring and validating direct emissions attributable to the event
  • Nature and biodiversity protection
    • Security of the access to the construction sites, e.g. tracing the authorised vehicles, checking the compliance of materials and tools to the regulations, verifying the compliance of environment and places within the sites.
    • Monitoring the progress of construction sites and in particular land use and landscape transformations.
    • Promote a new level of intelligence for the sustainable use of resources in snowmaking, to achieve significant savings in water and electricity use. This is achieved by ensuring accurate planning of the amount of snow required per area and slope. Continuous comparison of planned and actual quantities and other important factors can ensure optimal planning of snowmaking, saving resources.
  • Circular Economy
    • Services supporting the transition towards circular and smart cities for the sustainability of the hosting locations. like impact of large events on green spaces and urban heat islands, traffic and transportation management of the host venues and air quality control.
    • Tracking the supply chain by providing deep insights into each individual segment of it to assurance that the products are produced in an environmentally sustainable and ethical way. Having access to an accurate, complete view of the supply chain makes it easier to pursue proactive changes such as shifting production methods to become more sustainable or pressuring a supply partner to improve its labour practices.
    • Services tracking waste management to ensure accurate waste segregation, contributing to lower carbon output across the supply chain, particularly in managing Scope 3 emissions, which encompass waste disposal and its impact.
  • Sustainable Infrastructure
    • Planning of sustainable new building/infrastructures (transport, energy and other utilities, connectivity) based on assessment of their environmental impact, and aiming at versatility and flexibility of their use after the events to ensure a return of the investment in the long-term.
    • Support the planning and placement in case of temporary and demountable venues where no long-term venue legacy need exists or can be justified (e.g. mapping of the locations and analysis of the logistics, environmental impact analysis, efficiency of the buildings, monitoring of the working sites status).
    • Renewal, adaptation and enhancement of the use of existing facilities (e.g. smart building, digitalisation and safety of access).
  • Impact of environment on events
    • Measure of impact and risk of weather events and environmental changes on the events like extreme weather events, impact of air quality on the athletes or changes produced by the event in the host venue.

What they offer?

• They offer funding and support to companies, both for business case assessment and for the development of new, space-based services. Their offer includes:
  • Zero-equity funding
  • Technical and commercial guidance
  • Access to their network and partners
  • ESA brand credibility

Types of Activities

• This Call for Proposal covers two types of activities:
  • Feasibility Studies which provide the preparatory framework to identify, analyse and define new potentially sustainable services. The applications and/or services covered by the proposed Feasibility Studies must:
    • Be customer – and user-driven: proposals should demonstrate a clear understanding of user needs and present a strong potential for sustainability.
    • Leverage integrated space assets: propose a service demonstrating the benefits of the utilisation of integrated space assets.
    • Include a plan to test business hypotheses: a plan should be included that details how the user desirability, technical feasibility, and commercial viability of the service will be tested.
    • Target marketed readiness: Aim to evolve the targeted applications and services to marketability and operational roll-out, potentially through a Demonstration Project after successful completion of the Feasibility Study
  • Demonstration Projects dedicated to the implementation and demonstration of preoperational services. The applications and/or services covered by the proposed Demonstration Projects must:
    • Be customer- and user-driven: Active user involvement is essential throughout the project, including their participation in defining requirements, validating results, and contributing to the pilot activities.
    • Showcase the value of space assets: Proposals must clearly demonstrate how the utilisation of space technologies provides a distinct advantage, with a strong potential for long-term sustainability.
    • Deliver measurable socio-economic benefits: The project should quantify its impact, highlighting improvements in efficiency, sustainability, or other key outcomes that align with user and societal needs.
    • Ensure user participation: Representatives from the target user communities must actively engage in the project, including participation in the pilot phases to ensure alignment with their requirements and expectations.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Agency will admit for evaluation only (Outline and Full) proposals from a bidding team composed of a company and/or organisations (be it Prime or Subcontractor) residing in any of those states that subscribe to the Programme under which you wish you submit your proposal:
  • for the ARTES 4.0 BASS Generic Programme Line: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom
  • for the ARTES 4.0 Space for 5G/6G and Sustainable Connectivity Strategic Programme Line: Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada.
  • for the ARTES 4.0 Space Systems for Safety and Security (4S) Strategic Programme Line: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Canada.

For more information, visit ESA.