So you’ve entered and been selected as a finalist – what should you expect next?
We expect that entrants will be able to commit approximately 9 days per month of a mid-level manager (approx 0.5 FTE) over 6 months (or equivalent), and that all the required activities can be completed in the 6-month development period.
To be fair to all entrants, we expect finalists to engage fully in the programme and take advantage of the opportunities it provides. We also expect finalists to be able to talk publicly about their involvement in the challenge, and we will work closely with your communications team where relevant to support this.
Entrants will receive a range of support, to include a regional analysis, systems thinking training, support and facilitation to deliver stakeholder engagement, expert guidance on potential solutions and opportunities to visit a working reinvented toilet in the UK. We will work closely with finalists to adapt this support to best meet their needs.
Finalist Onboarding & Set Up – End of January to February 2027
At the end of January 2027, we will contact successful finalists about next steps.
First, organisations will need to sign a grant agreement to be confirmed as finalists in the Challenge. We will provide clear information around this agreement, and it will be from Nesta, a registered charity in England and Wales 1144091 and Scotland SC042833. This grant agreement will release your £40,000 award, which can then be paid into your organisation’s bank account.
We’ll have onboarding calls with you to talk you through the 6-month development period, and answer any questions you may have. We will ask you to share any data or information that you’re able to on non-sewered sanitation issues in your area or region, and we will then commission a regional analysis to begin in parallel while you work on mobilising your team.
This phase will end with an in-person cohort kick-off session, which will include workshops and training. Reasonable travel expenses will be covered, and we will seek to arrange the meet-up location to minimise travel for all finalists.
Engage & Explore – April to May 2027
In April and May, you will begin to deeply engage with local stakeholders – conducting interviews and carrying out final planning and preparation before executing regional workshop(s) to convene relevant local stakeholders to gather perspectives, insights and information. Where required, additional funding to hire venues and pay for catering can be made available, and you will be supported by facilitators for these sessions.
Based on the information you know at this stage around regional issues, you will be provided with expert guidance on potential solutions, including reinvented toilet technologies, for you and your organisation to evaluate together with relevant local stakeholders.
You will begin to build out your vision: beginning to explore what local action and deployment could look like, the kinds of organisations that would need to be involved and the likely business or service models, costs for different stakeholders and potential ownership or stewardship approaches that would most likely be successful. You will engage your organisation in your findings and build consensus and agreement internally.
You will have your second cohort in-person meet-up. If relevant and/or useful, we will also welcome you and/or any relevant stakeholders to visit a reinvented toilet in action on a secure UK site. Reasonable expenses will be covered for finalists, and additional funding may be available for priority local stakeholders.
Activate – June 2027
In June, you will be busy building your final vision and preparing for submission.
You’ll be completing the synthesis analysis, engagement and modelling into a regional vision, gathering input and feedback from priority stakeholders where relevant.
You’ll write up your final analysis and vision, and also explore what the next steps could look like together with the Challenge team.
You’ll have your final cohort meet-up and receive presentation training in preparation to share your findings with the judges and any other stakeholders you wish to share your work with.
You will submit your work by Friday 25th June, followed by a call with the Challenge team the week after to discuss any final support that could help you as an organisation as the programme wraps up.
Celebrate & Share – July 2027
In July 2027, the winner of the challenge will be announced. However, we will seek to share and celebrate the achievements of all the finalists, and we will also produce a publicly shareable report based on your analysis and findings, providing a platform to highlight some of the issues in your region and potential solutions you have found to help overcome them.
This report will include details of the potential of reinvented toilet technologies in the UK, but will not require any endorsement or support from any finalist organisation of any particular company or technology.