Deadline: 17 December 2017
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is seeking proposals from qualified experts or NGOs for a project on Quantifying plastic fluxes and stocks within the Mediterranean basin.
The objective of the project is to identify and quantify the most critical types of plastics and plastic products discharged into the Mediterranean Sea. Data collected will be used to develop a systemic but context-pertinent strategy along the entire value chain of the plastic sector. Upstream (design, waste prevention and minimization), midstream (engagement of users) and downstream (waste management) solutions will all be addressed.
Objectives
Applicants will be expected to meet the following objectives:
- To revise the estimate of the quantity of plastic currently accumulated in the Mediterranean Sea (in different compartments like water column, sediments, shoreline, surface, biota)
- To make the first estimate of the yearly input of plastic into the Mediterranean Sea and to identify the priority hotspots for actions (per country, per type of plastic and density, per industry).
- To develop a plastic footprint methodology that can be used to evaluate and monitor the plastic footprint of industries or countries, as well as to quantitatively assess the efficiency of a series of mitigation campaigns that are currently undertaken around the Mediterranean basin.
Project Proposal Requirements
Project proposals sought must contain the following:
- Clear objectives and feasible implementation plan;
- A strong technical and science component combining both top-down (developing hotspots analysis based o MFA and LCA approaches) and bottom-up approaches (generating synthetic metrics out of field studies and oceanographic data); and
- Track record of the applicant.
Eligibility Criteria
Applications are sought from individual experts or NGOs with the following competences:
- A good understanding of sustainable consumption and production topics, Life Cycle Assessment, life cycle based indicators and hotspots analysis.
- Proven expertise and experience in the assessment of national value chains related to plastics and issues related to marine plastics.
- Proven expertise and experience in research and development of methods relating to similar issues such as identification of hotspots for a specific sector.
- Proven experience in carrying out data collection, analysis and consultation in different countries.
- Published high quality reports or peer-reviewed journal papers related to the mentioned methodologies.
- Excellent communication skills.
- Fluency in both written and spoken English.
How to Apply
Applications should be sent at the address given on the website.
For more information, please visit IUCN Call for Proposals.