CLIMABOROUGH Tender / FAQ
Frequently asked questions about CLIMABOROUGH Tender
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8. Pilots
CLIMABOROUGH Tender / FAQ
Frequently asked questions about CLIMABOROUGH Tender
0. Questions about the procurement instrument and process in general
No. It is a call for tender and there is no cofinancing expected from your side. You will be paid against delivery of the proposed Solutions.
Although involving 8 European Cities, the process is owned by ANCI Toscana, the Association of Tuscan Municipalities based in Florence, Italy.
You can contact us at the following email address: climab@climaborough.eu
This call is launched in the context of the CLIMABOROUGH project, coordinated by ANCI Toscana, and funded by the European Union through its agency CINEA, under the Horizon Europe programme for research and innovation.
You can find more information on the project at this URL: https://climaborough.eu/
However, neither the European Union nor CINEA can be held responsible for any part of the process described herein.
The list is indeed final. It includes the following 8: Athens (EL), Cascais (PT), Differdange (LU), Grenoble (FR), Ioannina (EL), Maribor (SI), Sofia (BG) and Turin (IT).
2,4 million Euros, VAT excluded.
Yes, there will be 8 lots of the same amount, 300.000 Euros, one per participant City.
Two (provided they pass the evaluation – see Phase 4).
Yes. It is named Innovation Partnership and is described in Art. 31 of the European Directive on Public Procurement 2014/24/EU.
Available at: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A32014L0024
This Call is governed by the EU directive on public procurement, 2014/24/EU, and by the national legislation of Italy where the Contracting authority ANCI Toscana resides. In case of conflict between the European and the national legislation, the former will prevail.
During contract execution, the regulations of the country the successful Tenderer belongs to, also complemented by those of the country hosting the testing environment, shall apply to such aspects as the salaries and working conditions. In case of conflict between the two, the former will prevail.
There is no identified competent court here. In case of litigation, the arbitration will be sought of the Florence Chamber of Commerce.
The contract notice was published on the Official Journal of the European Union on 18 October 2023. See: https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:632428-2023:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0
The call documents can be retrieved here: https://climaborough.eu/public-procurement/tender/
Exclusively via the following, dedicated platform: https://anci-toscana.grantplatform.com/
The competition is structured in 5 phases. For each of them, we present a separate Q&A set here.
Exclusively English.
In accordance with the GDPR, the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, all data and information received during the process from every applicant, including any specific part marked as confidential, will be managed by ANCI Toscana and the Host City with electronic means, only to the purpose of awarding the competition according to its specific phases and the rules associated with each.
In accordance with the GDPR, the EU General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, you can revoke your consent to personal data management at any time. However, if you do it before the competition is finalised, it will be impossible for you to (continue to) participate. If you do it afterwards, we can’t guarantee that all data and information about you are deleted, as we need to keep the records of all the competition phases, to the purpose of transparency and to receive any external audit from the European Commission or other agencies or in case of a litigation, by the order of some Court or the Florence Arbitration Chamber.
1. Questions about Phase 1 of competition
Phase 1 is the candidature phase, during which any economic operator (single or associate) can ask the Contractor to be invited to submit a Technical Offer, and to this purpose, provides a set of documents to qualify.
Candidatures can be presented until 30 November 2023 at 23:59 Brussels time, exclusively using the dedicated platform: https://anci-toscana.grantplatform.com/
Yes, provided they reside in countries holding an association agreement with Horizon Europe.
The most recent list of such countries can be retrieved from: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/common/guidance/list-3rd-country-participation_horizon-euratom_en.pdf
Switzerland and the UK are also included.
Yes, this is possible without limitations, provided all members reside in an eligible country.
The main condition is to run an established business under the national legislation, without any recent impediment to contract with public administration.
No, this is not required.
Not necessarily, for example not in case of public R&D institutions.
Yes, if you are a natural person. For all other entities the answer is still yes, unless the national legislation allows you to invoice us for your services without a VAT number, which some legislations allow doing (though it is pretty uncommon). This exceptional condition has to be separately examined on a case by case basis.
Only the winners of the call for tender will (see Phase 4), otherwise it is not requested for the submission of a candidature.
Not as an access credential, unless that can be considered as evidence of market recognition on topics related to the call for tender.
An official (or even unofficial, but signed by your legal representative as a proof of truthfulness) balance sheet for the year in question will be more than enough.
There can be no single definition, due to the heterogeneity of the services required in each lot. Yours must be the choice, and we will reserve the right to accept or deny it (or ask for more clarifications).
Contracts, invoices, payments, letters of acknowledgment by the client, etc. Yours must be the choice, and we will reserve the right to assess it.
There can be no single definition, due to the heterogeneity of the services required in each lot. Yours must be the choice, and we will reserve the right to assess it.
Exclusively the presented CVs.
Same as in every English vocabulary.
Same as in every English vocabulary.
Patents, trademarks, quality certifications, letters of acknowledgment by the client. Yours must be the choice, and we will reserve the right to assess it.
No later than 31 December 2023.
Only the economic operators (single or associate) receiving the approval of their candidatures will be invited to the next Phase 2.
At least 6 of them (provided we receive enough).
We have modified the ESPD template and added some statements at the end of it. therefore we prefer / require the form template made available on our website.
Yes, this is exact. More precisely, in the case of a consortium, or other form of temporary grouping, the turnover is calculated as the participating economic operators’ total revenues in the most recent available financial year.
The answer is yes, we do require each member of the consortium to create a separate profile on the platform and upload the ESPD + any accompanying documents. We suggest using a single acronym for the proposal, to facilitate our job of rejoining the various distinct applications, although there should be enough information in the ESPD templates of each. The acronym should be placed in the “Start here” section of the platform.
You can choose what is best for you, provided you clearly identify the person / organisation having the mandate of acting on behalf of the other consortium members.
No, there is no maximum number, however the CVs must be relevant and each can get up to 4 points with a maximum of 20 as overall score.
You can choose what is best for you, provided you clearly identify the person / organisation having the mandate of acting on behalf of the other consortium members.
The purpose of the candidature phase is to identify and evaluate all the economic operators that will ultimately, in their different roles, execute the contractual job.
Therefore, it has to be clarified upfront if all the members of the “business network” will be involved in some of the proposed activities or not.
If only one of them does not intend to participate as such, but for instance, they are only willing to offer some of their references to facilitate the candidature of other network members, then the former will fall under the category of “involved third parties” and must be identified as such. Of course in that case, the remaining network members will have to be presented as forming a consortium or “other form of temporary grouping” and the advantage of mentioning a “business network” will no longer exist.
If on the other hand, all the members of the “business network” are 1) available, 2) willing and 3) identified in their specific roles pertaining to the contractual phase (inclusive of e.g. CVs of involved people etc.) then there is no obstacle to the participation of the entire “business network” as composed of N members. However, each of the N members will have to upload the required documentation for the evaluation of their joint candidature, as specified in articles 3.3-3.4-3.5 of the tender regulations.
The lot number and name is available in the following document attached to the tender: Attachment 2 – Specific requirements.
The tenderer shall include the CVs of the staff employed in the tender proposal, being them contracts of work and contracts by project. Costs of the staff employed shall not be reported to the CLIMABOROUGH project coordinator. Nevertheless, funding provided through the CLIMABOROUGH project shall respect the EU and national labour rights and principles.
All participants need to provide the documents. Moreover, the applicant should pay attention to the FAQ n. 1.26 and 1.27.
We will need an official declaration from your State Authority certifying that there has been a disruption in your business due to the fire and that no evidence exists of turnover or any other financial information for the fiscal year in question. Otherwise you will be subject to the same requirements as any other participant in the call.
There is no need to translate any document into English, exception being made for the law of establishment of a public entity, which must be accompanied by a short summary in English.
There is no requirement for a professional risk indemnity insurance as an eligibility criterion in this Call.
If the scientist holds a VAT number, she can join as a subcontractor and upload her own ESPD – with attachments – to the system. Otherwise you may add her CV to your staff, and foresee a different agreement with her in case the Call is awarded to you, however bear in mind that she may not withdraw from the contract at a later stage.
It is enough if one of you uploads it on the platform on their profile, however please use a single acronym to make sure that we can know that you are together.
CVs are a minimum requirement, but you have the right to propose more documents.
No, this evaluation is done on the CVs and documents requested. Some checks will be done in the negotiation phase, however please note that a CV needs to be accurate, we will make random checks. You can add on ESPD links to more documents.
As you wish
It is not necessary in this phase, it may be requested before the signature of the contract.
They need to be submitted now (phase 1).
Please do as you can, merging PDFs is a request, but you can upload more files if you have technical problems.
Option 1 is the correct one (representative of the entity)
All the documents can be provided in original language, with the exception of the law of establishment of public bodies that needs to be supported by a summary in English as per art. 3.3.
The fact that the legal representative is the same is irrelevant. What distinguishes the two companies is that they hold different VAT / registration numbers. So each company must keep its own profile. If the same company does two applications for the same lot, both will be rejected.
Yes, we will consider the group as if it was a single company
The terms are unequivocal, both in the accounting literature and in legislation. Italy adheres to the European Union’s convention, so there is no problem in using the Italian equivalents “patrimonio netto” and “totale attività”.
You will need to provide any documents that report your annual revenues and that apply to your case. In the ESPD, you will need to report the data referring to your business.
It is mandatory to disclose the identity of all subcontractors at the candidature phase.
No, to neither of them.
The reliance on capacities of other entities is not the same thing as forming a group or consortium of joint applicants. Examples are provided in Annex 1 e.g. a parent or sister company or a subcontractor. If no such a case exists, then the answer should be No.
No, we don’t want you to submit any certification, unless it is electronically available, in which case you may want to indicate the link to the relevant source.
In principle you should be able to reply NO to all questions except the last one, which is waiting for a YES. If such is the case, there is no need to upload anything. Otherwise, there is no obligation to provide any documentation, unless it is electronically available, in which case you may want to indicate the link to the relevant source.
There is no predefined length. We expect the description to be informative enough to assess the similarity of the service and allow to grade its quality and value as described in Annex 1 Tender regulations – §§ 3.5a and 3.8.
For the purposes of § 3.5a of Annex 1 the service must have been delivered in 2022 or 2023.
For the purposes of § 3.8 the year is not relevant.
The reliance on capacities of other entities is not the same thing as forming a group or consortium of joint applicants. Examples are provided in Annex 1 e.g. a parent or sister company or a subcontractor. If no such a case exists, then the answer should be No.
No, we don’t want you to submit any certification, unless it is electronically available, in which case you may want to indicate the link to the relevant source.
In principle you should be able to reply NO to all questions except the last one, which is waiting for a YES. If such is the case, there is no need to upload anything. Otherwise, there is no obligation to provide any documentation, unless it is electronically available, in which case you may want to indicate the link to the relevant source.
What counts is the turnover, thus what is reported as turnover and only in the referred periods.
You should not include the grants.
You need to provide them via goodgrants, using the option “K. Other documents not mentioned above”. Please note that in this section you can put together all documents not foreseen in the previous ones.
A bank guarantee cannot substitute for the fulfillment of the economic and financial requirements. In order for the mother company to merge its data with those of the daughter both have to upload the ESPD.
The inclusion of workers CVs is recommended to increase your chances of being selected, but it’s not obligatory.
If both companies upload their ESPD the financial figures of both will be summed up.
What matters (to you) is that the signatory must validly engage your company in the continuation of the tender procedure.
Every application is independent and must be considered as a single one.
2. Questions about Phase 2 of competition
Phase 2 is the negotiation phase, during which selected Candidates are invited to submit a Technical Offer only, which will be discussed bilaterally with representatives of the Contractor and the Host City.
By socio-technical solution we mean a solution that combines technological aspects (such as those related to hardware, software, communication networks, data availability etc.) with social ones (i.e. related to people, groups and communities).
Such solutions may exist at any maturity stage – from idea to prototype to full product/service – or if one prefers so, hold any possible TRL (Technology Readiness Level) from 0 to 9 as a point of departure. However, the final TRL expected at the end of the procurement should be no lower than 7 (“system demonstrated in an operational environment”). This should be taken into careful account, considering that the duration of the solution deployment phase onsite will hardly be longer than one year.
The socio-technical solutions envisaged are clustered in two thematic hubs, one focused on the transition “from waste to circularity”, the other addressing the shift “from isolated energy and mobility systems to integrated services”.
They should assist citizens and/or urban policy makers in taking climate friendly decisions and actions supported by specific data and information on the carbon footprint of human activities in the selected operational environments.
Yes, they are, in the form of minimum requirements to be fulfilled by every Solution proposal (in the form of a Technical Offer) that is submitted by the deadline.
Technical Offers can be presented until 31 January 2024 at 23:59 Brussels time, exclusively using the dedicated platform: https://anci-toscana.grantplatform.com/
A bilateral negotiation will take place, with full respect of business confidentiality, to improve the quality of received Technical Offers above the minimum requirements.
During the month of February 2024.
Negotiations will occur bilaterally and the other participants will not be kept reciprocally informed about their respective dates and outcomes. No information exchanged during the talk will be made public, although the session may be recorded.
3. Questions about Phase 3 of competition
Phase 3 is the proper tendering phase, during which Candidates are invited to submit a revised Technical Offer accompanied by a Financial Offer, which the Contractor will evaluate in the next phase of competition.
The Technical and Financial Offers can be presented until 31 March 2024 at 23:59 Brussels time, exclusively using the dedicated platform: https://anci-toscana.grantplatform.com/
No later than 30 April 2024.
The two best ranked Tenderers per lot will be awarded (see next Phase).
Because we expect those solutions to imply diverse methodological approaches and hold different degrees of initial maturity (as measured by the TRL – Technology Readiness Level), while it is required that they should converge to a minimum TRL of 7 by project’s end.
4. Questions about Phase 4 of competition
Phase 4 is the award phase, at the end of which two Solution proposals per Host City, showing the highest quality vs price ratios, will be awarded by the Contractor and the Tenderers will be invited to sign a Partnership Agreement.
A contract with the two best ranked Tenderers per lot will be signed (see next Phase) until 31 May 2024 and an advance payment of 50% of the Financial Offer will be paid until 30 June 2024.
5. Questions about Phase 5 of competition
Phase 5 is the Solution deployment phase in the Host City environment, initiated by an advance payment paid by the Contractor.
The foreseen duration of the Partnership Agreement will be 12 months, starting from June 2024 and until end May 2025, without the possibility of any extension.
At the end of the phase of deployment, all solutions are purchased by ANCI Toscana and will be put at the free disposal of the respective Cities.
The Partnership agreement will regulate the post-project phase in such a way to ensure that the City will continue using the deployed solutions and the respective proposers may transform them into market products or services on a larger scale at their ease.
The Partnership agreement explains that better. It refers to the post-deployment phase, when the City hosting the experimentation will have the right (not the obligation) of buying copies of the final Solution at a specified price, which will be determined through the calculations shown in that Annex.
6. Questions about the Preliminary Market Consultations
The purpose of those events was not the reception of offers, but the discussion of the challenges posed by the 8 Cities and the reception of ideas, suggestions and recommendations that have helped ANCI Toscana shape this Call for tender. In particular, advice on the state of arts, market capabilities, ongoing/past R&D projects etc. was more than welcome.
These can all be retrieved starting from: https://climaborough.eu/public-procurement/open-calls/
Contents include any material submitted prior to and/or after the event, the final list of participants, as well as the audio/video recordings of the online and onsite sessions, which may include specific questions made and answers received. All such data and information are made public, unless specific restrictions for confidentiality apply, by request of the participants themselves.
It is not necessary, but it can be advisable, to stay tuned with the immediate antecedents of this call for tender. Generally speaking, although some details have been changed, the challenges presented by the City representatives during the 8 Preliminary Market Consultations are still interesting to hear from the voices of those who will host the experimentations of the proposed Solutions.
No. The call for tender is open to all economic operators who fulfil the conditions established herein, no matter whether they have been participating to any Preliminary Market Consultation or have submitted any solution proposal or nothing at all.
7. How to make further inquiries
Not at all. Please contact us every now and then to check for updates.
You can contact us at the following email address: climab@climaborough.eu
8.1 Athens (EL)
Taking into account the amount of funding we estimate as well that 2-5 schools will be described by the proposers. This depends also on the cost of your solution, but in general we are inline that this is a feasible estimation.
8.2 Cascais (PT)
Yes, there are already containers where citizens can put their textiles. These containers are run by charitable organisations that donate the collected clothes. This system is not supervised by waste entities.
We don’t have a final figure now. We’re waiting for a case study to be carried out by an external organisation.
Private social solidarity institutions and other organizations like Humana Portugal, Ultriplo and H Sarah Trading.
The sorting is either done by the collecting entities or, if they are considered waste, they are sorted by TRATOLIXO in some occasions. Part of the sorting results are unknown to us.
We only have one sorting center, but textile collectors sort out for themselves, which is an issue for us.
Quality of textile to be reintroduced as second-hand clothing or waste.
We are unaware of the destination of the textile waste.
Yes, but we are unsure of the quantities or the processes as this is an individualized action by textile valorisation NGOs.
There are no requirements, only within the city boundaries but we aim to further the pilot near schools and commercial areas.
Yes, through gamification or vouchers to exchange for other goods.
8.4 Grenoble-Alpes Metropole (FR)
If this is necessary, it must be highlighted in the proposal.
8.7 Sofia (BG)
The solution should gather and analyze data for at least one year as per the contract duration. After the specified period ends, the continuation of operation, including the transferring of ownership would depend on various factors such as the outcomes, feedback, resources, budget, necessary changes or improvements and other considerations in accordance with the procurement rules and the local legal framework.
Yes, all hardware should be a part of the solution and should be held by the contractor.
By GPS-based data we meant that the solution should provide the data with location of available parking spots (occupancy monitoring) as well as for the search traffic for available parking spot. Please note that you should not consider the Preliminary Market Consultations challenges specifications, but only the tender ones.
As reported in the the specific requirements (attachment 2): “The smallest group of buildings that is surrounded by streets is considered as a city block”.
The correct link is https://www.sofiatraffic.bg/media/uploads/SZ_zona_prilozhenie%2010.png
as stated in the description for the Sofia tender in Climaborough project website – https://climaborough.eu/public-procurement/tender/sofia/
You will receive the license plate numbers which have a permit for residential parking in the specific subzone depending on the location of the experimentation. The resident permit is not for a specific parking spot, so no GPS coordinates could be provided. The residents are allowed to park within the specific subzone depending on the location of their address. See the map in the previous point for subzones’ borders
Any extrapolation is fine if it represents the accurate share of residents’ cars occupying the designated area of the experimentation, especially during the day.
You will receive the license plate numbers of the EVs having sticker allowing them free parking in the short-term parking zones. We do not have permits for EVs registered after December 2022 due to the fact that after that date all newly registered EVs have a dedicated EV number starting with the letters “EA” on their license plate. No GPS coordinates could be provided due to the fact that EVs do not have specific parking spaces.
8.8 Torino (IT)
it is up to the bidders to explain how they intend to comply with the requirement referred to in Attachment 2 (point 6)
During the negotiation and in any case before signing the contract the City of Turin will ensure that none of the proposals have overlaps, and this applies to all the winning proposals in all the lots.
No, we currently only have data at city level. We have a general annual figure, the percentage of which is under 1% of the total waste collected for each of these 2 waste fractions.
It is not compulsory but of course it would be beneficial, especially in the long term. You can nonetheless propose a different way and/or a separated practice, at least for the experimentation phase.
No, the City cannot do that but you decide to share your email contact publicly. Moreover, by looking into the proceedings of the Preliminary Market Consultation you can find other applicants that are interested in the challenge.
We can confirm that there is not any specific regulation defined, this is something that you need to propose, in accordance with your solution.
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