Global Grant Call for System Demonstrators – co-designing a new funding instrument

Cities have so far run a long series experiments. The real barrier isn't ideas — it's the structural gap between isolated pilots and the integrated, investable pathways that drive lasting urban transformation. This session introduces the System Demonstrator framework, developed through Viable Cities, Dark Matter Labs and UN-Habitat across Stockholm, Lund, Bogotá, Bristol and Makindye Ssabagabo. System Demonstrators combine policy, procurement, governance, finance and infrastructure into whole-systems interventions designed to change the underlying conditions of urban transitions — not just demonstrate what's possible within them.

We will present action research from the university and urban partners that have accompanied the framework building so far, but participants will be invited to co-design a new global grant call framework: a coordination instrument enabling funders across regions to align principles, eligibility criteria and learning agendas — without pooling capital or surrendering institutional autonomy.

The session is designed for funders, policymakers, urban practitioners and researchers ready to move from fragmented funding to coordinated, scalable urban action.