Tag: funding

Experimentation Fund from the Systems Innovation Learning Partnership

November 9, 2022 | Grants

The Systems Innovation Learning Partnership (SILP) is launching a call for ideas for its Experimentation Fund to support experiments advancing knowledge and understanding of systems innovation practices, methodologies, and approaches.

Aim and focus area

The fund aims to advance knowledge of the potential applications and limitations of systems innovation practices and approaches. This is done by funding and supporting the learning journeys of systems innovation experiments.

The SILP is particularly looking for applied experiments in the field of development cooperation, focusing on the needs of those living in poverty and tackling issues related to environment and climate change (adaptation and mitigation), human rights, conflict, gender equality and disadvantaged communities. However, the fund does not limit the range of systems that the experiments might address, or potential points of leverage, but looks for the potential to learn about applicable methods and processes for systems innovation.

About the fund

Applicants will have the opportunity to access funding up to 100,000 Euros and will be supported to test their ideas in a learn-by-doing approach, providing a safe-to-fail context so that learning can be captured quickly and effectively.

The selection of ideas and experiments will follow a two-stage grant making process in which a diverse set of organisations and people passionate about the fund’s objectives will co-design and participate in forming the cohort. The final group of experiments to be funded will be chosen as a cohort, taking a portfolio approach to the selection to ensure the cohort’s diversity and that projects compliment each other to allow rich learning to happen.

To accelerate learning around systems innovation, the fund offers a bespoke learning programme for co-learning and reflection for participants. The learning programme is designed to use the strengths of the cohort’s diversity, whether that’s the focus of each project, the context in which they are being applied or the organisations delivering them. This way, we can encourage and support knowledge sharing, peer coaching, and building the experimenters’ capacity and capabilities in the practice of leading systemic change

Who can apply

Applicants from nongovernmental organisations, civil society organisations, small and medium enterprises, research labs or incubators, regions and cities, or educational institutions (schools, vocational training institutes, higher education institutions) based and/or working in ODA countries. For more information, please see Eligibility and Assessment Criteria overview.

Deadline

Call for ideas closes on 7 December 2022, 18.00 CET.

About SILP

SILP is an initiative by EIT Climate-KIC and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). The partnership brings together organisations and people working to tackle complex issues to collaborate, experiment, learn, and share ideas that help to activate innovation across whole systems. Our activities aim to not only share tools and methods that have had success in enabling systemic change, but to shift mindsets and support people to transform the way we address the world’s most pressing issues.

Apply and learn more

Bridging science and policy is essential to achieve the 2030 Agenda

August 31, 2022 | News

On 22^nd of August, during the DevRes conference in Uppsala, SweDev and the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs organized a seminar on bridging science and policymaking in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda. Janet Vähämäki, Director of SweDev co-chaired the dialogue together with Måns Fellesson at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Prominent speakers contributed with their expertise including Thomas Elmqvist, Chair of the Sida Scientific Advisory Board, Ingrid Öborn, Chair Committee for Development Research (VR), Anders Hagfeldt, Vice-chancellor at Uppsala University, Ole Petter Ottersen, President of Karolinska Institute, and Gabriel Wikström, National coordinator for the 2030 Agenda.

The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) along with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development (FfD) both highlight the importance of science-based decision-making.

Watch the recording

Seminar recorded by Johan Söderlund in Uppsala University Hall, 22 August 2022.

Janet Vähämäki, Director of SweDev, introduced by referring to two studies from SweDev:

“The studies present similar findings; neither researchers, nor policy-makers know so well what is current with the other. However, there is a wish from both sides to be more connected with each other. Interestingly, 89% of the policy-makers perceive research as very important, yet 72% say that they do not have time to read and keep up with research”.
Janet Vähämäki, Director of SweDev.

In the Swedish Development Policy Platform – the overall guiding document for the Swedish development cooperation – it is addressed that to reach Swedish policy ambitions and the 2030 Agenda, Sweden should build broad engagement and inclusive partnerships between actors in Sweden.

Måns Fellesson, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, supported this statement and said that: “From the policy side, we would like to emphasize the importance of research. Research and innovation are central components in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda.”

The seminar discussed the challenges of the interaction between research and policy.

“One main challenge we have today is different timelines in policy and research. Researchers should ask themselves: Why is this important and what will it take to implement this research?”
Ole Petter Ottersen, President of Karolinska Institute.

Måns Fellesson argued that: “A lot of scientific research performed at Swedish universities has direct bearing on the 2030 Agenda, but we also need to make use of the research. This is essential and the reason for this seminar today.”

“The Swedish Research Council is working on the impact of research. Our experience is that it’s essential to bring in policy-makers and communication experts early in research projects.
Ingrid Öborn, Chair of the Committee for Development Research at the Swedish Research Council.

“Policy should also consider perspectives from national partners in low- and middle-income countries, as noted in the new Government strategy,” Indrid Öborn explained.

Ingrid Öborn, Thomas Elmqvist, Anders Hagfeldt, Gabriel Wikström.

A multi-stakeholder platform and co-creation

The panellists agreed that one of the main problems is the lack of cooperation between policy-makers and researchers. A multi-stakeholder platform for Sweden, co-creation, long-term visions, communication and longer funding periods – could be one way forward according to the discussion.

Main needs identified by the panel moving forward

Create a multi-stakeholder platform with researchers, policy-makers, civil society and the private sector to discuss problems and solutions. This platform should be used to invite, engage and challenge the different stakeholders on local and global aspects addressed in either research or in policy implementation.

Funding and incentives are needed to bring in policy actors and communication experts early in the research projects, and more long-term funded research is needed.

Researchers need to identify long-term impacts of their research and think about the feasibility of implementing research findings/ideas into practice.

Research needs to be higher on the political agenda and spreading research results needs to be valued and encouraged at the universities.

Policy-makers should use the research that already is available, and efforts should be made to increase “research literacy” among policy-makers.

Engaging in policy processes as a researcher needs to be both funded and rewarded.

Researchers and policy-makers should use “co-creation” (implementation research, embedded research etc) approaches.

Secondments of researchers to development and decision-making bodies is needed and more researchers should be integrated/employed into governments and municipalities.

“Slow science” is essential for understanding the complex problems the world is facing today and should also be allowed.

Individual researcher might have a short-term vision for his/her own research, but every researcher should be part of a research community with long term goals and visions.

The seminar was attended by around 120 researchers, policy-makers and international scholars and held during DevRes2022 in Uppsala.

Read the report from the seminar

Written by Ylva Rylander, SweDev and SEI. Edited by Janet Vähämäki, Director of SweDev.

Bridging research and policymaking in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda

More about DevRes 2022

Call for applications: Co-operative Research Programme

May 6, 2022 | News

Are you organising an international conference or workshop on state-of-the-art research issues in agriculture, food, fisheries or forests in 2023?

Or would you like to spend time working with researchers in another country to help your research project, maybe as part of a sabbatical?

Apply for funding from the OECD CRP (Co-operative Research Programme: Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems).

Application

The deadline to apply is Saturday 10 September 2022, midnight (Paris time).

Please note the guidelines and conditions, selection criteria and research themes for funding for fellowship award and conference sponsorship. Applications must be submitted through the appropriate online application forms. PDF forms are provided to help prepare applications before going to the online forms.

Applicants must be residents in one of the countries participating in the Programme. Please consult the files which give general information on the country’s research institutes and universities.

Applications relevant to the work of the OECD Committee for Agriculture and other bodies are particularly welcome:

Sustainable productivity growth and food security and nutrition;
New technologies and practices for food production; Food loss and waste;
Antimicrobial resistance; One Health approach to agriculture and food systems;
Innovations in the transfer and development of agricultural knowledge, including Indigenous and traditional knowledge
Digital technologies and digitalisation;
Climate change, including pathways to net zero, carbon sequestration in agriculture, forestry and land use, water use;
Plant and animal breeding to enhance sustainable productivity growth and resilience to climatic events; Diversity of crop production;
Fisheries and aquaculture productivity, sustainability and resilience.

What is the Co-operative Research Programme: Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems (CRP)?

The OECD’s Co-operative Research Programme: Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems (CRP) exists to strengthen scientific knowledge and provide relevant scientific information and advice that will inform future policy decisions related to the sustainable use of natural resources in the areas of agriculture, food, fisheries and forests.

Learn more and apply

Studies within thematic areas prioritised by the EBA

April 21, 2022 | Grants

Turbid waters spill out into the Gulf of Mexico.

The Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA) has decided to allocate funds for studies within any of its prioritised areas (poverty and its drivers; environment and climate; steering of Swedish aid). Funds are available for researchers active at institutions based in Sweden in order to conduct studies of direct relevance for the MFA, Sida and/or other Swedish development cooperation actors.

Background and motive

EBA works with a ”double independence” in the sense that the Expert Group independently decides what to analyse and evaluate, while commissioned authors and experts independently answer for conclusions and possible recommendations in published studies. To the EBA, it is essential to collaborate with knowledgable and competent authors, experts in their respective fields.

To increasingly use the resource base of researchers active at institutions in Sweden, the EBA allocates funds for studies specifically authored by researchers. EBA is not providing research grants in the way research foundations do, but finances specific studies of relevance for Swedish international aid. The current initiative aims at increasingly engage researchers in formulating proposals and conduct studies at the request of the Expert Group.

The choice of theme and research questions are left to the applicants. However, the proposal shall be included in any of the following themes:

• Poverty and its drivers
• Environment and climate
• Organising and steering of Swedish aid

The proposed studies shall focus on Swedish development aid and be relevant for the MFA, Sida and/or other actors in Sweden’s development cooperation. Applicants shall have documented expertise within the proposed field. Funding is allocated to separate studies, and not as additional funding to already financed research.

Application process, budget and timetable

The application is made in two separate steps. In a first round a project idea is briefly presented, with full author CVs annexed. Final day for project ideas is Sunday 22 May, 2022, at midnight.

A review committee invites short-listed applicants to provide a full application.

The costs of each study may not exceed SEK 700 000 (excluding VAT). The timing of the study may be freely decided, however to be relevant to Swedish development aid, it might be important to link the study to events or ongoing processes, which may impact on the timing.

About EBA

The Expert Group for Aid Studies (EBA) is a governmental committee with a mandate to analyse and evaluate Swedish international development aid. The EBA contributes knowledge to improve Swedish development cooperation and sheds light on current issues and themes which have not received enough attention. EBA also arranges seminars in areas of relevance for Swedish development cooperation.

Members of the Expert Group are: Helena Lindholm (chair), Johan Schaar (vice chair), Sara Johansson de Silva, Kim Forss, Torgny Holmgren, Magnus Lindell, Joakim Molander, Julia Schalk, Staffan Lindberg and Janet Vähämäki.

More information

New EBA call for project proposals

April 21, 2022 | News

Are you a development researcher based in Sweden with expertise in poverty issues, environment and climate or the steering of Swedish aid? Do you have an idea that is of relevance to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Sida and other Swedish development cooperation actors?

Find out more

The application is made in two separate steps. In a first round a project idea is briefly presented. Final day for project ideas is Sunday 22 May, 2022.

A review committee invites, after selection, short-listed applicants to provide a full application by 22 June, 2022. Final date to provide full applications is 14 August, 2022.