ADEME Mobilising Commons for Ecological Transition

Funding to support collaborative projects between stakeholders which support ecological transition.

France’s Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) contributes to the implementation of public policy regarding the environment, energy and sustainable development. It provides expert advice to businesses, local authorities and communities, government bodies and the public at large, to enable them to establish and consolidate their environmental initiatives. As part of this work, the agency helps finance research projects related to the environment, energy and sustainable development.

ADEME’s Call for Commons aims to bring together all willing stakeholders to pool resources and jointly develop open resources (the commons) that can advance the ecological transition, more fairly, faster and cheaper than in isolation. The Call for Commons was designed as part of ADEME’s innovation strategy. This mechanism is particularly useful in limiting the risks inherent in innovation, as economic pressure is spread across all stakeholders gathered around the commons, and it is possible for the project to be taken over by other project leaders thanks to open licenses and available documentation, thus contributing to the advancement of knowledge. 

This call is funded jointly by ADEME and the Macif Foundation, with additional support provided by France Tiers Lieux and the Institut national de l’information géographique et forestière (IGN – National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information).

Proposed projects should address at least one of the following six challenges posed by ADEME:

1. Culture and media
2. Food and forests
3. Building, housing and urban planning
4. Mobility and logistics
5. Material recycling
6. Environmental assessment for digital ecodesign

ADEME looks to only fund digital commons projects, while the MACIF Foundation will only fund projects that apply to the two specific challenges (mobility and logistics and/or building, housing and urban planning). These challenges are open to non-digital commons – candidates may propose a product, process, organisational, marketing, economic, or social model innovation, with the ultimate goal being to bring about a positive change in behavior for the ecological transition.