Porto Challenges
During the third round of CommuniCity Open Calls, the City of Porto will present a total of 12 challenges. Porto Digital will award grants of up to 12,500 Euros to a maximum of five applicants. The remaining applicants will receive grants awarded by OASC. The open call documents from both grant awarding entities are very similar, with only some minor variations due to national laws.
Below are all the Porto challenges, along with their evaluation criteria, pilot hosts, and any additional information. If you have any questions, please join the Info Events, check the Q&A section. Furthermore, before submitting your application, review the tips for a successful application on the “Read this first” page.
Porto Challenge 1: How to enhance digital literacy?
Marginalised groups with low to no digital literacy are at a significant disadvantage and risk in today’s increasingly digital world. This lack of digital skills limits their access to essential services, employment opportunities, and social inclusion. Additionally, as Artificial Intelligence technologies become more pervasive, these communities are often left behind and unable to understand or leverage these advancements.
The challenge presented by Porto Digital lies in developing an effective, engaging, and accessible solution to enhance digital literacy and AI awareness among marginalized groups. This solution must bridge the knowledge gap, empower individuals with the skills needed to navigate the digital landscape confidently and raise awareness of the city’s efforts to expand Wi-Fi access. This is especially relevant to social housing and public spaces, thereby promoting greater digital inclusion and equity.
Porto Digital will host one pilot in collaboration with a social housing community.
Minimum scores and weightings:
1. Impact
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 30%
2. Implementation quality and efficiency
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 15%
3. Excellence
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 15%
4. Co-creation
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 25%
5. Technology
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 15%
Porto Challenge 2: How can healthcare, autonomy, and safety of the elderly be improved?
Portugal is one of the European Union countries where the aging index has increased the fastest in recent years. The municipality of Porto reflects this trend, with a significant number of elderly residents living alone, particularly in social housing. These individuals often face challenges related to mobility, autonomy, health, and well-being.
Domus Social seeks practical technological solutions to assist the elderly, enhancing their quality of life, particularly in health and well-being. The solution could, for example, enable scheduling phone calls, setting medication reminders, booking medical appointments, and providing health and wellness information. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, the solution should foster trust and combat isolation. However, the main goal is to promote the health, autonomy, and safety of users, improving their quality of life through technology, while complementing and facilitating the assistance provided by family members or other caregivers.
Domus Social hosts one pilot in collaboration with elderly residents of social housing.
Minimum scores and weightings:
1. Impact
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 20%
2. Implementation quality and efficiency
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 20%
3. Excellence
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 15%
4. Co-creation
Minimum score: 3 | Weighting: 25%
5. Technology
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 20%
Porto Challenge 3: How can technology streamline the circular economy for marginalized communities?
The circular economy is a current priority for the Municipality of Porto. The objective is to make current initiatives more accessible and inclusive, aligning not only with the city’s sustainability goals but also strengthening community bonds and supporting those in need.
Thus, the municipal entities of Porto — Domus Social and Porto Ambiente — are looking for an innovative and user-friendly technological solution that will streamline the circular economy. The ideal solution should optimize the circular economy of furniture, electronic devices, and other goods among residents and municipal platforms. By utilizing artificial intelligence, it would be easier for citizens to inventory, catalog, and publish their items, matching supply and demand. The ideal solution would also integrate vulnerable and technologically excluded populations into this exchange, enabling, for example, rehoused residents in municipal housing to furnish their homes. Domus Social and Porto Ambiente will host one pilot in collaboration with residents of Porto
Minimum scores and weightings:
1. Impact
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 20%
2. Implementation quality and efficiency
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 20%
3. Excellence
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 15%
4. Co-creation
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 20%
5. Technology
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 25%
Porto Challenge 4: How can a climate prediction system help small-scale farmers grow better crops?
In Porto, recent observations by local community gardeners have revealed significant and unexplained changes in both wild and cultivated plants, raising concerns about the underlying causes and effects. The lack of a reliable method to understand these new phenomena presents a serious challenge to small-scale local farming practices and food security, especially for residents with limited financial resources.
Associação da Soalheira is looking for a sophisticated system that utilizes advanced technology to monitor crops and analyze the impact of climate change on agricultural spaces over time. By leveraging Artificial Intelligence, the solution would ideally continuously track environmental variables, such as temperature, humidity and soil quality, and integrate climate data with crop performance metrics. Additionally, it should provide actionable insights through a user-friendly interface to help farmers and gardeners adapt their practices in response to predicted changes.
Associação Soalheira will host one pilot in collaboration with community gardeners in the area of Campanhã.
Minimum scores and weightings:
1. Impact
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 20%
2. Implementation quality and efficiency
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 10%
3. Excellence
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 10%
4. Co-creation
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 30%
5. Technology
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 30%
Porto Challenge 5: How to enhance access to local social and cultural activities?
In Campanhã parish, there is a significant challenge in comprehensively collecting and disseminating information about the various cultural, social and community-based projects taking place. This information gap hinders community engagement and limits participation, particularly among vulnerable residents.
The Campanh’UP team seeks a cutting-edge AI-driven solution to gather, organize, and disseminate information about local socio-cultural initiatives, particularly community-based events and projects. The solution should effectively disseminate information to all residents, with a focus on those facing social exclusion. It should also serve as a tool to strengthen partnerships and networks among local social and cultural stakeholders. Furthermore, it should enable residents and local actors to access information easily and facilitate the dissemination process by organizations.
Projeto Campanha’UP and Associação do Porto de Paralisia Cerebral (APPC) will host one pilot in collaboration with the residents.
Minimum scores and weightings:
1. Impact
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 30%
2. Implementation quality and efficiency
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 15%
3. Excellence
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 5%
4. Co-creation
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 20%
5. Technology
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 30%
Porto Challenge 6: How can AI support the therapeutic needs of children?
Virtual reality offers a promising avenue for enhancing pediatric occupational therapy. Immersing children in virtual simulations aims to provide a more engaging and effective therapeutic experience.
Thus, the Porto Association for Cerebral Palsy (APPC) is looking for an innovative and inclusive AI-based solution to support the therapeutic needs of the children they assist. The solution should personalize, monitor, and optimize individual therapies by using virtual simulations of various contexts and daily activities. By leveraging new technologies’ exploratory and experimental potential, children’s motor and cognitive skill development can be enhanced. Ideally, therapeutic sessions would be enhanced by effectively adapting them to real-life environments through interactive elements and an intuitive interface. Additionally, artificial intelligence could be utilized for data collection and analysis to refine therapeutic plans, predict future needs, and proactively adjust therapies. Finally, the technological solution should create a dynamic and adaptable environment tailored to the needs of each child and family, ensuring that therapies are adjusted efficiently and responsively to optimize outcomes.
The Porto Association for Cerebral Palsy will host one pilot in collaboration with their clients.
Minimum scores and weightings:
1. Impact
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 25%
2. Implementation quality and efficiency
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 10%
3. Excellence
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 5%
4. Co-creation
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 35%
5. Technology
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 25%
Porto Challenge 7: How to improve the transportation services for individuals with mobility limitations?
The daily transportation management for the users of the Porto Association for Cerebral Palsy (APPC) currently relies on a manual, time-consuming, and inefficient logistics process.
In this context, APPC is looking for an innovative technological solution to automate the internal management of transportation services for individuals with mobility limitations. This solution should aim to minimize costs, time, material and human resources spent on this practice, as well as prevent incompatibilities, delays, and service failures. The process involves allocating vehicles based on their characteristics and the specific needs of the users, as well as coordinating between various vehicles and routes. Ideally, this solution would provide more efficient, faster, and reliable services for individuals with mobility limitations, reducing waiting and travel times, and improving comfort and the quality of time spent on journeys.
The Porto Association for Cerebral Palsy will host one pilot in collaboration with individuals with mobility limitations.
Minimum scores and weightings:
1. Impact
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 25%
2. Implementation quality and efficiency
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 10%
3. Excellence
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 5%
4. Co-creation
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 35%
5. Technology
Minimum score: 2 | Weighting: 25%
Porto Challenge 8: How can the accessibility and fluidity of routes be improved for residents with reduced mobility?
The Municipality of Porto has regularly updated geographical information regarding parking spaces for individuals with reduced mobility and their companions. Sharing this information is crucial for trip planning, allowing residents with reduced mobility to efficiently navigate to various points of interest, such as health establishments, leisure spots, and commercial areas. While this information does not provide real-time occupancy or availability data for parking spaces, disseminating data to the target audience can help residents to identify more convenient parking alternatives near their destinations.
To achieve this, the Mobility Department of the Municipality of Porto is seeking a digital platform to disseminate existing geographical information and data. A mobile application could be one such solution, ensuring that users have access whenever needed and that the information remains up-to-date.
Regarding the selection of a technological solution, it must meet several requirements. The solution should be user-friendly, stable, and functional. The pilot team must be available to monitor the solution with the target audience and make necessary adjustments if any usage difficulties arise.
The Mobility Department of the Municipality of Porto is hosting one pilot with residents with reduced mobility and their companions.
Minimum scores and weightings:
1. Impact
Minimum score: 1 | Weighting: 25%
2. Implementation quality and efficiency
Minimum score: 1.5 | Weighting: 20%
3. Excellence
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 10%
4. Co-creation
Minimum score: 1 | Weighting: 25%
5. Technology
Minimum score: 1 | Weighting: 20%
Porto Challenge 9: How to improve the use of the biowaste street containers in Social Neighbourhoods?
Porto has a network of more than 600 street containers for biowaste, with electronically controlled access. To participate in the project (“Orgânico”), the citizen fills out an adhesion form and is given two access cards, as well as a small bin to use in the kitchen. By using the access cards, the lock in the container opens, and the access is registered in the lock software associated with the card number.
To enhance the usability of the street containers, Porto is looking for a new way of opening containers by utilizing mobile phones. By making the recycling process more intuitive and accessible, it serves better the marginalized communities and encourages their active participation in sustainable practices. The overarching goal is to help these communities understand and engage in biowaste recycling, thereby improving the quality of municipal services.
In practice, the technology should facilitate the use of the containers and collect data on the number of users who have access. This platform should also serve as a communication channel between the municipality and residents, integrated into existing platforms. Residents should be able to search for information about the nearest container and receive updates on progress. The municipality should be able to access data on the usage patterns of street containers, the number of steps each participant must take to deposit biowaste, and other relevant information.
Porto Ambiente will host one pilot in collaboration with the users the bio waste containers in the area of Campanha.
Minimum scores and weightings:
1. Impact
Minimum score: 3 | Weighting: 30%
2. Implementation quality and efficiency
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 10%
3. Excellence
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 25%
4. Co-creation
Minimum score: 1 | Weighting: 20%
5. Technology
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 15%
Porto Challenge 10: How to monitor and improve thermal behaviour and resilience?
Campanhã faces significant climate and social challenges, including rising temperatures and a vulnerable population. The primary goal of this challenge is to improve the thermal performance and resilience of Quinta de Salgueiros, a crucial green space in Campanhã, where many residents come from marginalized neighbourhoods. The overarching goal is to actively engage the local community in the co-creation and development of the park. Resident involvement is essential, as they will shape and utilize this urban space.
Departamento do Ambiente is seeking a solution that involves strategic distribution of thermal sensors across different project areas and an App or a platform to measure and assess thermal variations as well propose solutions related to the thermal data. The project areas include open areas, woodland (dense and sparse), clearings, paved areas, and unpaved areas. This large-scale thermal assessment aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of how planting designs influence temperature changes.
The piloting phase will start with a comprehensive site assessment, incorporating community input to ensure the park meets residents’ needs. A Virtual Learning Lab will be established for continuous observation, allowing residents to participate and learn from the project, empowering them to make informed decisions.
Community involvement is vital, as residents will benefit from the park’s cooling effects and improved thermal resilience. By focusing on urban thermal management through native trees and green spaces, we aim to show how collective action and local knowledge can create a more sustainable and comfortable living environment.
Minimum scores and weightings:
1. Impact
Minimum score: 4 | Weighting: 25%
2. Implementation quality and efficiency
Minimum score: 3 | Weighting: 25%
3. Excellence
Minimum score: 3 | Weighting: 25%
4. Co-creation
Minimum score: 3 | Weighting: 15%
5. Technology
Minimum score: 3 | Weighting: 10%
Porto Challenge 11: How to monitor and give users awareness of their energy consumption?
Energy consumption platforms offer a valuable tool for empowering residents in social neighbourhoods. By enabling effective energy management, these platforms can significantly reduce costs and enhance financial stability for vulnerable communities.
Therefore, the challenge is to develop a website, platform, or app that allows users to monitor their energy consumption. The platform should allow users, especially those from marginalized communities, to track their energy usage daily, monthly, quarterly, and annually. Users can input data in three ways. First, they can directly obtain quarter-hourly consumption data from the national Distribution System Operator (E-Redes) in a tab-separated text file with user consent. Second, they can use energy monitoring devices like Shelly to gather hourly, monthly, and yearly data, including consumption by room or appliance. Finally, users with photovoltaic installations can input data to track their renewable energy savings.
The platform would ideally use AI to calculate costs based on user-defined rates. It could also feature tips on energy efficiency and an AI-powered virtual assistant. The platform should be scalable and adaptable, allowing the addition of data sources like temperature monitoring and the ability to conduct energy poverty surveys. Importantly, it must be free to use, ensuring accessibility for vulnerable populations.
Energy Agency (AdEPORTO) will host one pilot in collaboration with its clients.
Minimum scores and weightings:
1. Impact
Minimum score: 1 | Weighting: 20%
2. Implementation quality and efficiency
Minimum score: 1 | Weighting: 25%
3. Excellence
Minimum score: 1 | Weighting: 35%
4. Co-creation
Minimum score: 1 | Weighting: 5%
5. Technology
Minimum score: 1 | Weighting: 15%
Porto Challenge 12: How to empower seniors by making them more digitally included?
As technology rapidly advances, many essential services, including healthcare, banking, administration, and municipal services, are transitioning online. Similarly, cultural, community, political, and social activities are increasingly moving online. Seniors with limited digital skills may struggle to access information and participate fully in community life, potentially leading to isolation. Therefore, digitally empowering seniors is crucial for promoting their autonomy, reducing dependence, and fostering individual well-being, social cohesion, and intergenerational connections.
The Corujeira Daycare and Social Center is seeking an innovative and inclusive solution to promote digital inclusion among the senior population of Campanhã, with a special focus on its users. The technology should create a flexible and responsive environment that effectively meets the specific needs of seniors. It should digitally empower seniors to easily access community services and cultural activities and engage in civic participation. It also boosts their active participation in decision-making processes, ensuring that their needs and perspectives are considered and reinforcing their sense of belonging and purpose in life.
Centro de Dia e Convívio da Corujeira will host one pilot in collaboration with Seniors residing in Campanhã and the users of the Corujeira Daycare and Social Center.
Minimum scores and weightings:
1. Impact
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 10%
2. Implementation quality and efficiency
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 30%
3. Excellence
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 20%
4. Co-creation
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 30%
5. Technology
Minimum score: 0 | Weighting: 10%