Impact Innovation: Water Wise Societies Pre-studies 2026 Innovative solutions with customers

Now Water Wise Societies is asking about Sweden - on the way towards the mission of sustainable water for all by 2050.

• Do you have an idea or concept for an innovative solution that can contribute to the transition to sustainable water?
• Is there clear potential for customer benefit and market potential?
• Do you have one or more potential customers who are interested in helping develop the solution?

Then apply for funding in this call for proposals to investigate the feasibility and potentialof developing and utilizing an innovative solution together with a potential customer. The solutions should be able to contribute to the transition to sustainable waterand have clear customer benefit and market potential .Potential customers can be both Swedish and foreign. Initial tests of solutions can be funded when needed to explore feasibility.

The aim of the call for proposals is to create a foundation for follow-up projects. These will in turn lead to the further development, commercialization and widespread use of innovative solutions that can contribute to sustainable water for all.

Funded project must start on November 30, 2026 and end no later than October 31, 2027. They must be able to lead to a project of the nature of industrial research or experimental development.

The call for proposals is carried out within the Water Wise Societies program, which is part of Impact Innovation. Impact Innovation is a joint initiative from the Swedish Energy Agency, Formas and Vinnova to meet major societal challenges through innovation and collaboration.

Read more about Impact Innovation

Water Wise Societies is driving Sweden's transition towards sustainable water for all. Via Vinnova, the Swedish Energy Agency and Formas are funding initiatives to drive change in the water sector through:

• innovation
• policy development
• capacity development
• research
• and internationalisation

The program's mission Sustainable Water for All 2050 means that water should be available in the right quantity and quality, and that it creates good conditions for people, the environment, ecosystems and business - despite a changing climate.

Pre-studies within Water Wise Societies are a recurring effort to finance exploratory studies on themes that are particularly relevant to contributing to the transition to sustainable water. In 2026 there are two offers: "Industry collaboration for sustainable water" and "Innovative solutions with customers".

For continued development and innovation after completed project, Water Wise Societies has other and upcoming calls for proposals that support development and testing as well as implementation and transition. Continued projects can also be financed through other funders or own funds.

Contribute to Water Wise Societies's mission, goals and assignments through innovative solutions

To achieve the mission, innovative water solutions need to be developed and used in practice in Sweden and internationally.

Water Wise Societies has identified that there are several companies and other organisations in the water sector with ideas for solutions that can contribute to the transition. For the solutions to be used, they need to be in a market and correspond to customer needs and demand. The likelihood of this increases when innovative solutions are explored in collaboration with a potential customer.

However, it is not enough for an innovative solution to be relevant to an individual customer. In order to contribute to transformation, the solution needs to have potential to be widely used. That is, it needs to be relevant to a large group of customers or users, or to a few large and market-dominant organisations, in Sweden or internationally. Therefore, potential customers who are involved in exploring innovative solutions need to represent a broad need.

The call for proposals aims to give organisations with an idea for an innovative solution the opportunity to plan and evaluate the potential for further development work together with a potential customer. Funded project will, among other things, analyze strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and risks of continued development work. The projects will also identify the resources required for further development work and the prospects for its success.

Through this, Water Wise Societies wants to contribute to the continued development of innovative solutions that can contribute to sustainable transition in line with the program's mission.

Project shall:

• Apply ideas for innovative solutions that demonstrate clear customer benefit. The solutions should be broadly applicable and different from existing solutions.
• Carried out by companies, research institutes, universities or university colleges.
• To be carried out in collaboration with at least one potential customer whose needs are relevant to a broad market, in Sweden or internationally. The customer's needs and benefits should concretely guide the project's design and learning.
• Consist of activities required to evaluate the feasibility of a proposed further development project. The projects shall:
  - Explore and plan research and development activities needed to realize the solution
  - Analyze the market potential of the innovative solution and plan how it can be realized.
• Result in clear lessons learned and data that can form the basis for continued development work, for example in the form of a follow-up project.
• Belongs within the Water Wise Societies area and contributes to solving one or more of the program's missions.

Program objectives and missions

Water Wise Societies has three interim goals and ten missions that together will contribute to achieving the mission Sustainable Water for All 2050:

1. Resilient supply and management of water in society
   - Safe supply and management of water
   - Ensure good drinking water quality
   - Adapt society to flood and drought
   - Build and manage society in harmony with water
2. Wise water use- Ensure sustainable water withdrawals
   - Reduce water use and leakage
   - Recycle and reuse water and its resources
3. Healthy lakes, streams and groundwater- Reduce negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems
   - Prevent and reduce the spread of hazardous substances
   - Reduce eutrophication in lakes and streams

For more information about the missions and the “From Source to Coast” system, see Water Wise Societies's website.

Contribute to a sustainable system transition

All project within Water Wise Societies will contribute to sustainable societal transformation in line with Impact Innovations's ambitions in this regard.

This means that the projects should:

• contribute to both ecological, social and economic sustainability,
• stimulate collaboration between private, public and non-profit actors, and

• contribute to Sweden's and the world's common objective in Agenda 2030.

Together we will show how innovation can create a sustainable, competitive and water-wise society in Sweden and internationally.

An innovative force in a sustainable world

Equal funding of innovations

Your project should integrate gender equality both in how your project team is composed and how you implement the project. This means that you need to:

• take into account the gender balance within the project team
• assess whether aspects of sex and gender are relevant to the design of the project, and if so, in what way.

By integrating different perspectives, more inclusive and relevant solutions are developed. This strengthens both the innovation capacity and the project's results.

Gender equality as a tool for innovative social development

The call for proposals is aimed at organisations that have ideas for innovative solutions - companies, research institutes and universities. or university colleges – and to potential customers in the system “from source to coast”. See description on Water Wise Societies website. The projects will be carried out in collaboration between the developing organisation and the potential customer.

Customer refers to an organisation that may want to buy or use the solution developed in the project in the future. A potential customer should have needs that are representative of a broad future market for the solution. Potential customers do not have to be end users but can be the next step in the value network. More actors can participate if necessary.

All organisations that have eligible costs in the project must be listed in proposal as participants. This means that they need to book and report auditable costs for the project.

Actors who will participate to a lesser extent, for example in a reference group, can collaborate without being participant. They are then not included in the project's finances, but their participation is described in the project description.

Main applicant ( coordinator) and participants are always legal entities. Natural persons or individual companies cannot participate as coordinator or participants.

The following provisions apply:

• The lead applicant is an organisation with an idea for an innovative solution. It can be a company, research institute, university or university college.
• Multiple participants are allowed but not required.
• At least one potential customer must submit a letter of intent indicating their intention to actively participate in the design and activities of the project. The letter of intent must also describe the potential customer's needs and interests.
  • The potential customer does not need to participate as participant.

Collaboration with potential customers should be based on an expressed and shared understanding of the project's objective and active collaboration. The customer may receive a contribution for their participation in the project.

The participating customer must be external to the main applicant. This means that the potential customer must not have an ownership interest or influence in the applicant company.

If consultants are to be used, they must be external. That is, the consulting services must be purchased from external actors on market term. Participants in the project may not purchase services or goods from another participant.

Foreign actors can participate as participants on the following term:

• A foreign actor cannot be coordinator.

• In order for foreign actors to be granted funding, they must have a Swedish business registration number and that the costs of participating in the project are incurred in a Swedish branch or establishment.

If the solution in question is subject to disposal or ownership rights, the applicant company must have the right to develop and commercialize the solution at the start of the project.

We finance:

• Activities carried out together with a potential customer to explore potential and feasibility of an intended future development work. These activities should constitute a major part of the project costs.
  • It also includes analysis of the market potential of the innovative solution and what is required for it to be realized.

To a lesser extent, we can also finance:

• Early tests of the solution
• Development of knowledge to fill important knowledge gaps

The above applies to the extent that these activities are needed to evaluate the potential of a future follow-up project to develop and utilize the innovative solution.

Funded project will investigate what knowledge, actors, resources and competencies are required in future development work. The project will also analyze strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and risks.

Examples of activities:

• Investigate market needs and potential.
• Analyze conditions for developing the solution
• Mapping and contacts with other actors
• Early testing
• Investigate what is required for the solution to be implemented and put to use, for example how it can be offered in a market.
  • This includes, for example, who will own the solution, whether a company should be started to take the solution further, possible licensing, management, how any maintenance services should be handled, etc.
  • It can also be about market conditions such as regulations, de facto standards, business models, etc.
• Plan the follow-up project (R&D project): project planning, budgeting, estimating resource requirements, risk analysis, etc.

We do not finance:

• Distinct research projects. However, Research may occur when this is justified to achieve the project's objective.

• Routine or recurring changes to existing solutions even if the changes may represent improvements
• Ongoing operations and related operating costs in the business

What costs can we finance?

Our funding is subject to state aid rules. The rules govern what types of costs we can finance. These are called eligible costs.

In this the call for proposals, these types of costs are eligible:

• Salary costs: Gross salary paid, employer contributions and other salary costs.
• Equipment, land and buildings: Costs for instruments, equipment and rent for premises other than regular business premises.
• Consulting and licensing costs: Costs for consulting services, knowledge and patents purchased or licensed from external parties. These costs may not exceed 20 percent of an organization's budget.
  • In case of special needs, for example if the project requires specialist expertise, we can accept a higher percentage. This must be justified in proposal, and the justification will be taken into account in our assessment.
• Other direct costs: Costs for, for example, materials, supplies and travel that are necessary to carry out the project.
• Indirect costs (overhead): Costs that are linked to the project but do not arise directly, such as premises and cleaning. Indirect costs may amount to a maximum of 30 percent of salary costs. Universities, university colleges, research organizations and government agencies may have higher permitted levels, depending on activities.

Costs incurred for contact with Water Wise Societies and participation in the program's activities may be included in the eligible costs. It is estimated that this includes a maximum of 20 hours of work during the project period.

For more detailed information about which costs we can finance, see Instructions for eligible costs

What eligibility requirements apply to costs we finance?

In order for your costs to be eligible for support, the following applies:

• They must be factual, reasonable and necessary for the activities in the project.
• They must be booked correctly and under a separate project code in the accounting. You may not cover project costs with other public funding or your own funds intended for other project.
• An organisation may not claim another organization's costs as its own.

Please note that participant may not purchase services or goods from another participant within the project.

For more detailed information on which eligibility requirements, limitations and exclusions apply, see our general terms and conditions.

state aid rules govern how much of the costs we can finance. This is determined individually for each organisation. We therefore differentiate between how much funding the project can receive, and how much a participating organisation can receive.

How much funding can the project receive?

You can apply for a maximum of 11 months in this call for proposals. The project can receive a maximum of SEK 500,000 in funding. The project's aid intensity may not exceed 70%.

How much funding can a participating organisation receive?

Descriptions in the following sections about what support we can provide are simplified. For full information, see Rules for funding | State aid to economic activities (companies) | Vinnova.

The amount of funding a participating organisation can receive depends primarily on:

• the organisation's size and activities
• which activities the organisation will carry out in the project.

In this the call for proposals we provide support to both organisations that carry out economic activities ( state aid) and organisations that do not carry out economic activities according to EU state aid rules.

How is it determined whether an organisation is engaged in economic activities or non-economic activities?

An organisation that offers some kind of service or product on a market is considered to be engaged in economic activities. It does not matter how the organisation is financed: whether it is public or private, or whether it has a profit motive. It also does not matter what legal form the business has. For example, whether it is a limited liability company, a trading company, an economic association, a non-profit association or a foundation.

Non-economic activities. This means that the organisation does not offer a service or product to a market. This usually includes universities and university colleges, research institutes and other public organisations.

If an organisation carries out both types of activities, these should be kept separate in the accounts, so that the support only goes to the part that is eligible for support.

If you are unsure whether an organisation in your project is conducting economic activities, contact call manager. However, The organisation is responsible for assessing whether it is conducting economic activities.

Support to organisations that do not conduct economic activities

In this the call for proposals we provide support to organisations that do not engage in economic activities. This usually includes universities and university colleges, research institutes and other organisations that do not offer a service or product on a market.

In this call for proposals we can fund up to 100 percent of such organisations' eligible costs.

Can municipal water and sanitation companies apply for funding as non-economic activities?

The question has not been legally tested in Sweden. However, there are good reasons to view municipal water operations in Sweden as legal monopolies, which would mean that municipal water companies can use non-economic activities as basis for support.

Two conditions are that:​

• The projects must be carried out within the part of the business that is based on the legal monopoly.
• The organisation must distinguish between costs, funding and revenues from activities that are of an economic and non-economic nature. Otherwise, cross-subsidization of economic activities may occur.

Support for organisations with economic activities

In this the call for proposals we provide support for feasibility studies.

Feasibility studies can be simply described as an evaluation. It analyzes the following:

• Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and risks in an upcoming research and development project.
• What resources are required to carry out the project.
• How likely it is that the project will succeed.

How much of the costs can we finance?

The organisation's size and type of activity determine the proportion of costs that we can finance. This is called the maximum support level.

Support levels for feasibility studies

• Small business: 70%
• Medium-sized company: 60%
• Large company: 50%

We can only grant applications that meet our formal eligibility requirements.

Some of the requirements need to be met at the time of application in order for us to assess your proposal. If these eligibility requirements are not met, we will reject proposal immediately.

For certain formal eligibility requirements we may allow additions to correct obvious errors. This is provided that the action does not result in a substantive change to proposal.

Eligibility requirements on participants

• All participating organisations must be legal entities. Individuals or sole proprietorships cannot participate. Foreign legal entities can participate if they have a branch or establishment in Sweden and the costs are incurred by the branch or establishment.
• The coordinating party must be a Swedish legal entity and conduct activities in Sweden. Furthermore, the coordinating party must be a company, research institute, university or university college.
• At least one participant must participate in the project. This includes the coordinating party.

Eligibility requirements on proposal

• Proposal must be written in Swedish or English.
• The proposal must be accompanied by a statement of intent from a potential customer for the solution that the project concerns.
• Proposal should follow the instructions under the heading "How to apply" in section 9.
  • We may allow certain additions regarding this eligibility requirements.
• Proposal must contain all requested attachments.
  • We may allow certain additions regarding this eligibility requirements.

Applications that meet our eligibility requirements will proceed to assessment. In the assessment, we look at how much potential your idea has, how realistic it is and who will implement the project.

What do we assess?

When assessing applications, we look at three main criteria:

• Potential: We analyze what effects and what value we can expect from the project.
• Actors: We assess the participants' competence and ability to implement the project and achieve the desired results and effects.
• Feasibility: We assess how realistic and credible the project plan is, both for implementing the project and for achieving the desired results.

Potential

• Relevance: To what extent does the project proposal involve evaluating the feasibility of a possible future development work? Does it involve an idea for an innovative solution in the Water Wise Societies area?
• Innovation: Is the idea of the innovative solution new or significantly better than existing solutions? Does it have a sufficient degree of innovation (i.e. not ordinary business development)?
• Results: How credible is it that the project proposal results in lessons learned and data that can form the basis for continued development work, for example in the form of a follow-up project?
• Funding for Water Wise Societies: How credible is it that the innovative solution can ultimately be widely used? How much can this contribute to one or more of Water Wise Societies's missions?
• Analysis in the project proposal: How credible is the project proposal's description of problems and opportunities? Is it clear what the project will lead to and how it will be evaluated?
• Gender equality perspective: To what extent are solutions defined taking into account a gender equality perspective and can thus contribute to increased gender equality?

Actors

• Actors' ability: To what extent does the actors actor have the ability and resources to implement the project (in-house or through relevant contacts and networks)?
• Potential customers: To what extent should the project be carried out in collaboration with one or more potential customers whose needs are relevant to a broad market, in Sweden or internationally?
• Project manager and project team: How good are the project manager and other key people considered to be to lead and implement the project?
• Team gender equality: How well and equally is the financial contribution, participation, power and influence distributed between women and men in the project team?

Feasibility

• Project plan and budget: To what extent is the project based on a credible project plan and budget? Is the plan concrete and realistic in terms of time? Are the costs reasonable in relation to planned activities?

• Collaboration: How well are the project partners judged to collaborate? This only applies if there are multiple participants in the project proposal. To what extent does the project plan show active collaboration with a potential customer? To what extent are the customer's needs and benefits judged to have guided the project's design and learning?
• Market and use: To what extent does the project plan include activities to analyze the market potential of the innovative solution and how it can be realized?
• Perspectives on sex and gender: How well have perspectives on sex and gender been integrated into the project plan?
• Consulting services and licenses: How well is the need for consulting services and licenses justified? This only applies if an organization's budget includes more than 20 percent consulting and license costs.

How do we assess?

Once we have received the applications, we review them. We will screen out any applications that are incomplete or do not meet our eligibility requirements.

The applications that are correct and complete are distributed among different evaluator and assessed in competition with each other. The evaluators are appointed by us based on their expertise in the field. Each proposal is assessed by at least three evaluator.

Once the evaluators have reviewed the applications, we have an assessment meeting where the evaluators recommend which applications should be granted.

How does it affect an organization's financial status?

Before we decide on funding we also make a comprehensive assessment of the organizational and financial status of those who receive funding.

We use information we receive from credit reports, currently from Dun & Bradstreet. We may also ask small and medium-sized businesses to demonstrate that they have the financial capacity to carry out the project.

In our assessment we check this:

• That organisations that are granted funding for payroll costs are registered as employers with the Swedish Tax Agency. If such registration does not exist when we make a decision, you must be able to show that a notification has been made. We do not approve retroactive registration.
• That organisations is not insolvent, or undergoing liquidation or corporate restructuring. You must also not have any significant unpaid debts with the Swedish Enforcement Authority.
• That the project manager is employed by the coordinating party in the project.
• That a limited liability company has not used up half or more of its share capital.

Once we have assessed all applications, we will send you a decision either granting or rejecting your proposal. Since applications are assessed competitively, you may be rejected even though you meet all eligibility requirements and criteria.

In the decision we state how large a proportion of the costs we will cover for each organisation.

You cannot appeal our decision, but you are welcome to apply to us again at another time.

What happens if you are granted funding?

If we grant your proposal, you must follow our general terms and conditions for funding. The terms include, among other things:

• That you will sign a special document in which you approve your participation and commit to carrying out the project.
• That you report how things are going, your costs and achieved results to us during the project period.
• If you are multiple parties, you must have a written project agreement that regulates your mutual rights and obligations in the project. All parties must sign the agreement before the project starts. Since it can take time to develop and negotiate an agreement, we recommend that you start this as soon as possible.

See our general terms and conditions

You also need to follow the special conditions that apply to this the call for proposals:

• The project must, upon request, have contact with the Water Wise Societies program office or another actor designated by the program office during the duration of the project. This may, for example, involve participating in meetings or responding to surveys. The scope is a maximum of 20 hours and the costs of participation are eligible for support.

• When providing information about the project and when publishing project results, it must be stated that the work was carried out within the Impact Innovation program Water Wise Societies – an initiative of the Swedish Energy Agency, Formas and Vinnova.
• In connection with the final reporting of the project to Vinnova, a summary of the project results must be sent to the Water Wise Societies program office according to the template available at www.impactinnovation.se. The summary must be freely distributed and published on the website of the Swedish Energy Agency, Formas, Vinnova and Impact Innovations and the program office. The summary must not contain confidential or otherwise sensitive information.

We may also decide to add supplementary special conditions for individual project. In that case, they will be stated in the decision.

Could you have to pay back funding?

If you have received more money than you are entitled to or if you do not follow our term, you may be liable for repayment.

When the call for proposals closes, your proposal will be registered as. We will then send an email confirmation to the person responsible for the user account, as well as to the project manager and the signatory. If you have not received a confirmation within 24 hours of the call for proposals closing, please contact us.

Once the call for proposals is closed, you cannot change anything in proposal. You can only supplement if we ask you to.

Who can read your proposal?

Your proposal will be read by employees at Vinnova and the evaluator participating in this the call for proposals. Everyone works under a duty of confidentiality.

Applications submitted to us become public documents. This means that we must disclose them if requested. However, we keep certain types of information confidential if disclosure could be expected to cause financial harm to the individual. This applies to information about business and operational conditions, inventions or research results.

General documents and confidentiality