Institutionalize a Green Fund (ARCMD0006)

Commitment ID

ARCMD0006

Commitment Title

Institutionalization of a Green Fund

Problem

The City of Mendoza and its Metropolitan Area face growing environmental challenges related to climate change, sustainable land management, biodiversity preservation, efficient use of water resources, and the need to incorporate applied innovation into local public policies. Although technical capacities exist within universities, research centers, and specialized organizations, these are not always systematically aligned with the concrete needs of urban and environmental management. At the same time, the lack of stable funding and coordination mechanisms limits the ability to scale innovative solutions, transfer knowledge to the territory, and generate sustained impacts over time.

Status quo

Since 2023, the Municipality of the City of Mendoza, in coordination with Banco Galicia, has implemented the Green Fund for Environmental Sustainability, which already has three consecutive editions. The program has funded applied research and linkage projects with territorial impact, progressively increasing its budget scale, the number of actors involved, and the diversity of topics addressed. The experience has demonstrated the viability of the public–private cooperation model, the instrument’s convening capacity, and its potential to generate innovative solutions to local environmental problems. However, the Fund still operates as a programmatic initiative and has not yet been fully institutionalized as a permanent public policy, with formalized rules, processes, and governance mechanisms to ensure its sustainability and replicability over time.

Action

The commitment consists of institutionalizing the Green Fund for Environmental Sustainability as a permanent public policy of the City of Mendoza, consolidating a stable mechanism for financing, calls for proposals, evaluation, monitoring, and accountability of environmental innovation projects. The action involves formalizing governance processes, strengthening transparency and participation criteria, expanding coordination with the scientific system, the private sector, and civil society organizations, and ensuring the program’s budgetary continuity. The overall objective is to consolidate an open innovation platform that enables the generation, scaling, and transfer of environmental solutions applied to the territory, strengthening the municipality’s capacity to address complex environmental challenges through intersectoral collaboration.

How will the commitment contribute to solving the public problem described above?

The institutionalization of the Green Fund will transform a successful experience into a stable public policy instrument, reducing fragmentation of initiatives and strengthening coordination between scientific knowledge, the private sector, and public management. Expected results include: a formalized regulatory and operational framework; a transparent and participatory system for calls and evaluation; a sustained portfolio of environmental innovation projects with territorial impact; mechanisms for monitoring and evaluating results; and greater budget predictability. As concrete outputs, the approval of institutional guidelines, the periodic implementation of open calls, annual project funding, the generation of public progress and results reports, and the strengthening of local collaboration networks for environmental sustainability are anticipated.

What long-term goal as identified in your Open Government Strategy does this commitment relate to?

Primary Policy Area

Civic Space

Primary Sector

Land & Spatial Planning, Public Services (general)

What OGP value is this commitment relevant to?