# Budget Justification - LIFE Programme Strategic Nature Projects (SNaP)

**Program**: LIFE Programme Strategic Nature Projects (SNaP)  
**Call Topic**: Circular Economy Sub-programme  
**Grant Requested**: €1,089,000 (60% rate) or up to €1,724,250 (95% rate for SNaP)  
**Duration**: 18 months (Months 1-18)  
**Project**: City Resource Graph - Industrial Symbiosis Platform  
**Deadline**: 5 March 2026 (Full Proposals)  
**Date**: November 2025

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## Executive Summary

This budget request covers an 18-month implementation project for the City Resource Graph platform - a Strategic Nature Project (SNaP) aligned with LIFE Programme's Circular Economy sub-programme. The grant request ranges from €1,089,000 (standard 60% rate) to €1,724,250 (95% rate for Strategic Nature Projects), with total project cost of €1,815,000.

The project demonstrates **tangible environmental benefits** through industrial symbiosis, waste reduction, resource efficiency, and climate-neutral processes - core objectives of LIFE Programme's Circular Economy sub-programme (€73M allocation in 2025).

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## Budget Overview

| Category | Amount (EUR) | Percentage | Justification |
|----------|--------------|------------|---------------|
| **Personnel** | €1,335,000 | 73.55% | Core team of 12 specialists for 18 months |
| **Infrastructure** | €300,000 | 16.53% | Cloud infrastructure, tools, equipment for scaling |
| **Subcontracting** | €50,000 | 2.75% | Legal, accounting services |
| **Travel** | €40,000 | 2.20% | Partner meetings, stakeholder engagement |
| **Marketing** | €85,000 | 4.68% | Communication, dissemination |
| **Other** | €5,000 | 0.28% | Communication, software licenses |
| **TOTAL PROJECT** | **€1,815,000** | **100.00%** | **18-month implementation project** |

**Grant Request Options**:
- **Standard Rate (60%)**: €1,089,000
- **Priority Area (75%)**: €1,361,250
- **Strategic Nature Project (95%)**: €1,724,250

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## Detailed Justification by Category

### 1. Personnel Costs (€1,335,000 - 73.55%)

**Team Composition**: 12 team members (Year 1 base team) extended over 18 months

#### Engineering Team (€1,110,000)
- **Backend Engineers (4)**: €700,000
  - Platform development, matching engine, graph database (Neo4j)
  - Critical for circular economy resource matching implementation
  
- **Frontend Engineers (2)**: €350,000
  - User-facing platform, map visualization, Progressive Web App (PWA)
  - Essential for stakeholder engagement and user adoption
  
- **DevOps Engineer (1)**: €175,000
  - Infrastructure management, deployment, monitoring
  - Critical for scalable, production-ready implementation
  
- **Data Engineer (1)**: €175,000
  - Data pipelines, ETL processes, knowledge graph integration
  - Essential for automated data ingestion and environmental impact monitoring

#### Leadership & Business Team (€225,000)
- **CTO/Founder (1)**: €210,000
  - Technical leadership, project management
  - Proven track record: EXIST Business Start-up Grant recipient
  
- **BD/Sales Manager (1)**: €175,000
  - Stakeholder engagement, partnership development
  - Critical for circular economy ecosystem building

#### Domain Experts (€315,000)
- **Domain Expert - Circular Economy (1)**: €157,500
  - Industrial symbiosis facilitation, regulatory compliance
  - Essential for circular economy alignment and environmental impact validation
  
- **Domain Expert - Industrial Symbiosis (1)**: €157,500
  - Industrial symbiosis expertise, stakeholder engagement
  - Critical for domain knowledge and replication strategy

**Personnel Justification**: The team combines technical expertise (Go, Neo4j, PostGIS), domain knowledge (circular economy, industrial symbiosis), and proven track record (EXIST grant). This balanced team is essential for implementing a Strategic Nature Project with tangible environmental benefits and clear uptake plan.

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### 2. Infrastructure & Equipment (€300,000 - 16.53%)

#### Cloud Infrastructure (€270,000)
- **Months 1-6**: €30,000 (Phase 1-2)
  - AWS EKS/GCP GKE, managed Neo4j, PostgreSQL/PostGIS
  - MVP infrastructure for pilot deployment
  
- **Months 7-12**: €90,000 (Phase 3)
  - Scaling infrastructure for enterprise features
  - Environmental impact monitoring infrastructure
  
- **Months 13-18**: €150,000 (Phase 4)
  - Production infrastructure for replication scale
  - Multi-region deployment for replication toolkit

**Justification**: Cloud infrastructure supports scalable implementation and replication across multiple locations - essential for Strategic Nature Project impact and uptake.

#### Development Tools (€18,000)
- GitHub Enterprise, IDEs, CI/CD tools
- Essential for team collaboration

#### Monitoring & Security (€10,000)
- Monitoring tools, security compliance
- Critical for production operations

#### Third-party Services (€8,000)
- Stripe (payment processing), Mapbox (map visualization)
- Essential for platform features

#### Hardware/Equipment (€6,500)
- Laptops, development equipment
- Essential for team setup

**Infrastructure Justification**: Infrastructure costs support scalable implementation and environmental impact monitoring - critical for Strategic Nature Project success and replication.

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### 3. Subcontracting (€50,000 - 2.75%)

#### Legal Services (€35,000)
- Company registration, contracts, IP protection
- Essential for legal compliance

#### Accounting/Finance (€15,000)
- Financial management, LIFE Programme grant reporting
- Essential for grant compliance

**Subcontracting Justification**: Professional services ensure legal compliance and proper grant reporting - essential for LIFE Programme funding requirements.

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### 4. Travel & Conferences (€40,000 - 2.20%)

#### Business Travel (€38,000)
- Stakeholder meetings (utilities, municipalities, industrial parks)
- Replication site visits
- Essential for stakeholder engagement and replication strategy

#### Conferences & Events (€2,000)
- Circular economy conferences
- Dissemination and knowledge sharing

**Travel Justification**: Travel supports stakeholder engagement, replication site visits, and dissemination activities - essential for Strategic Nature Project uptake and replication.

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### 5. Marketing & Sales (€85,000 - 4.68%)

#### Marketing Campaigns (€50,000)
- Communication and dissemination activities
- Stakeholder awareness and engagement

#### Sales Materials (€13,000)
- Presentations, case studies, replication toolkit materials
- Essential for replication and uptake

#### Website & Branding (€22,000)
- Website development, branding materials
- Essential for professional presence and dissemination

**Marketing Justification**: Marketing and communication activities support dissemination and replication - critical for Strategic Nature Project uptake plan.

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### 6. Other Costs (€5,000 - 0.28%)

#### Communication & Software Licenses (€5,000)
- Phone, internet, software licenses
- Essential for team communication

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## Environmental Impact and Circular Economy Alignment

### Tangible Environmental Benefits ✅

1. **Waste Reduction**
   - Industrial symbiosis enables waste-to-resource matching
   - Reduces landfill waste and incineration
   - **Measurable Impact**: Track waste diverted from landfill (tons)

2. **Resource Efficiency**
   - Enables resource sharing between businesses
   - Reduces primary resource extraction
   - **Measurable Impact**: Track resources saved through matching (m3, kWh)

3. **Recycling Enhancement**
   - Improves recycling rates through better matching
   - Enables circular material flows
   - **Measurable Impact**: Track recycling rates improvement (%)

4. **Climate-Neutral Processes**
   - Reduces transportation through local matching
   - Enables heat/energy sharing
   - **Measurable Impact**: Track CO2 emissions reduced (tons)

5. **Industrial Symbiosis**
   - Core focus of platform
   - Enables cross-company circular solutions
   - **Measurable Impact**: Track symbiosis matches created and environmental impact

### Circular Economy Sub-programme Alignment ✅

- **Waste Reduction**: Core platform functionality
- **Resource Efficiency**: Matching engine optimization
- **Recycling**: Enhanced recycling through better matching
- **Industrial Symbiosis**: Primary focus of platform
- **Climate-Neutral Processes**: Transportation reduction, energy sharing

### Clear Uptake Plan ✅

1. **Pilot Implementation**: Initial deployment in Berlin (20 businesses)
2. **Scaling Phase**: Expansion to 200-400 businesses
3. **Replication Strategy**: Replication toolkit for other cities
4. **Stakeholder Engagement**: Municipal partnerships, utility partnerships
5. **Dissemination**: Knowledge sharing, best practices, replication support

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## Alignment with LIFE Programme Requirements

### Circular Economy Sub-programme ✅
- Aligns with Circular Economy sub-programme objectives
- Waste reduction, resource efficiency, recycling, industrial symbiosis
- Climate-neutral processes

### Tangible Environmental Benefits ✅
- Clear environmental impact metrics
- Measurable outcomes (waste reduction, emissions reduction, resource efficiency)
- Environmental impact assessment completed

### Clear Uptake Plan ✅
- Pilot implementation strategy
- Replication toolkit development
- Stakeholder engagement plan
- Dissemination strategy

### Strategic Nature Project (SNaP) ✅
- Potential for 95% co-funding rate
- Strategic nature of circular economy implementation
- Replication potential across EU member states

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## Grant Request Calculation

### Total Project Cost: €1,815,000

**Grant Request Options**:
- **Standard Rate (60%)**: €1,089,000
- **Priority Area (75%)**: €1,361,250
- **Strategic Nature Project (95%)**: €1,724,250

**Own Contribution**:
- **At 60%**: €726,000 (40%)
- **At 75%**: €453,750 (25%)
- **At 95%**: €90,750 (5%)

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## Grant Request Summary

- **Grant Requested**: €1,089,000 (standard 60%) or up to €1,724,250 (SNaP 95%)
- **Total Project Cost**: €1,815,000
- **Duration**: 18 months (Months 1-18)
- **Deliverables**: Full platform with environmental impact monitoring, replication toolkit
- **Environmental Impact**: Measurable waste reduction, resource efficiency, emissions reduction
- **Replication Strategy**: Toolkit for replication across EU member states

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*This budget aligns with LIFE Programme's Circular Economy sub-programme objectives and demonstrates tangible environmental benefits with clear uptake and replication plan for Strategic Nature Project status.*