The key challenge statements for the Circular Economy Living Lab are:

• Construction and demolition waste
  How might we increase resource recovery in construction, that stimulates local businesses and local jobs, whilst contributing to a future ready community and a circular economy in Casey?
• Food waste
  How might we eliminate organic food waste and enable food security, promoting the development of local businesses and jobs, whilst contributing to a future ready community and a circular economy in Casey?
• Built environment asset maximisation
  How might we extend the cycle length of assets in the municipality (council and non-council owned assets) through technical innovation, maximising and monitoring their use, promoting local business opportunities to transition towards a more circular economy in Casey?

Benefits are expected for the broad community, but projects may address a specific target group or area in the City of Casey.

See the challenge brief for more information.

All the following legal entities: established businesses, registered start-up businesses, not-for-profit organisations, social enterprises, co-operatives, research institutions, universities or schools, community groups.

Find out more about eligibility criteria here

Any organisation based in Australia is eligible to apply for the grant, however, project activities must take place in the City of Casey.

We advised on various aspects related to eligibility, assessment, funding, and project delivery at our information and networking sessions.

If you missed them you can access all the useful resources from the sessions here.

As this is a competitive grant, we cannot review application drafts or provide feedback on your application. Please make sure you read the guidelines thoroughly and review the resources provided.

If you still have questions you can email us at smartcity@casey.vic.gov.au

We will answer via email within 48 hours, or we will reach out to organise a 30 minutes call via Teams where possible.

Applications must be submitted exclusively via SmartyGrants form.

Read the full application form on SmartyGrants here

Applications will be reviewed and assessed by a City of Casey internal panel to shortlist those that best align with the grant requirements and assessment criteria.

Following that, shortlisted applicants will be invited to present their idea to the Casey community at the Pitch Night on 29 September 2022. During this event Community members will be able to provide feedback and contribute to a public vote, which will be considered in the final decision.

Find out about the Key Assessment Criteria in the Grant Guidelines.

Successful applicants will be informed by Mid-October 2022 and projects/trials will be expected to kick-off within one month of formal approval by the City of Casey and contracts sign-off.

Check the Key Dates for more details.

A Living Lab is a place-based approach to driving innovation through co-design with partners, community, and Council. It enables businesses, academia, community, and start-ups to collaborate on local challenges and develop solutions that will address them at scale. A Living Lab requires three components:

1. Problem: Complex problem that our community faces and is only likely to increase with our growth

2. People: A range of people from business, community, not for profits, educations, etc. that could address the problem

3. Place: A physical location that can bring innovation to life and create a testbed for our community.

The Circular Economy Living Lab successful applicants will run a six-month trial in the municipality to ensure that the proposed solution effectively addresses the problem it is trying to solve, while benefitting the local community and creating positive outcomes for the local economy.

Feedback from the community and analysis at the end of the trial will enable the evaluation of the project's success, in order to assess opportunities to scale up the solution.