IIED Call for proposals for research grants on building urban resilience to climate change, due on 30 August 2014

Call for proposals for research grants on building urban resilience to climate change

17 July 2014

Individuals and research institutions based in Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam are being invited to apply for funding for research in urban centres.

The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is seeking proposals (PDF) for original research projects in those countries that can contribute to an improved understanding of urban climate resilience.

In particular, projects with a particular focus on health and climate change in cities, and sanitation and other urban services in the context of climate change are being sought.

A partner in the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), IIED is seeking to support local institutions, researchers, practitioners and other stakeholders to build knowledge and evidence of practice in order to develop urban climate resilience in Asian cities. 

The institute will work with researchers to help produce and share knowledge and evidence through working papers, policy briefs, peer-reviewed journal articles and other media, to reach and inform key local, national and international stakeholders. The intention is also to build the capacity of local researchers and institutions to design and carry out research and documentation on urban climate change resilience.

Research proposals must be relevant to either health and climate change in cities, or sanitation and other urban services in the context of climate change.

Health and climate change in cities

There remains a need for further understanding of how residents of urban areas may experience health problems due to indirect and direct effects of climate change on existing health risks. 

What role do social and ecological factors play in determining health of urban residents, and how might climate change affect these factors? In what ways might the systems (such as basic services and infrastructure), agents (community groups, individual households and local businesses) and institutions (legal frameworks, planning regulations) in urban areas build resilience to the potential direct and indirect effects of climate change on health?

Sanitation and other urban services in the context of climate change 

There is a continuing need for improving access to shelter, infrastructure and basic services in a way that is accessible to the lowest-income urban residents, who are often most vulnerable to climate change. Through what processes can these deficits be filled, in cities which are often densely populated, lacking infrastructure, growing, in a context of uncertainty around climate change?

While research projects need not be solely focused on the ACCCRN cities, research should be of relevance to ACCCRN cities and should help to build the capacity of local researchers and institutions in a variety of disciplines. Where appropriate, collaborations between researchers, practitioners and government agencies are encouraged.

Further information:

• A total pot of $200,000 USD is available to fund proposals, and IIED expects to fund from eight to 12 projects with budgets in the range of $15,000-25,000 USD per project
• Successful applicants will be expected to produce a working paper (up to 15,000 words) and a policy briefing paper (2,000 words) to be published in the Asian Cities Climate Resilience series, in English. IIED will provide editorial support in the publication process. See examples of past papers in the series
• IIED will facilitate a process of review of the working papers. Initial drafts of the working papers and briefing papers need to be submitted by 1 February 2015, with final drafts submitted by 1 April 2015
• Wherever possible, project outputs should be in a form allowing wider dissemination of findings, such as peer-reviewed journal articles, in order to contribute to knowledge around building urban climate resilience.

Submission process

Proposals should be sent to Diane Archer by email (diane.archer@iied.org) not later than 30 August 2014 outlining the following:

• Objectives of the research, background information and policy relevance
• Methodology
• Key partners
• Timeframe (note that final working papers and briefing papers must be complete by 1 April 2015)
• Anticipated outputs (such as working paper, policy brief, academic journal paper, other)
• Proposed budget (provide an indicative budget using the outline categories show on pages 2-3 of the announcement document (PDF) as applicable, providing additional detail for each category as appropriate)
• Other relevant information.

Disbursements will usually be made as follows: 30 per cent on signing the contract, 40 per cent at an agreed point in the project, and 30 per cent on satisfactory completion of the project. However, there may be room for flexibility in this depending on the type of costs and the lengths of the projects. Disbursements would usually be made to a registered institution or organisation (such as a university or non-governmental organisation) rather than to personal bank accounts.

Selection process

Proposals will be reviewed by a panel on a competitive basis. Applicants will be contacted by 19 September 2014.

Contact: Diane Archer (diane.archer@iied.org)

Further Details: http://www.iied.org/call-for-proposals-for-research-grants-building-urban-resilience-climate-change