Deadline: 31-Aug-2025
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization invites eligible organizations to submit activity proposals under the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development (2024–2033), aiming to activate science for inclusive sustainable development across Southeast Asia.
Focus: Harness the full potential of sciences in pursuing sustainable development; advance their scientific understanding of nature, humanity, and their interconnections; promote the use of scientific knowledge to drive transformative progress; and build an inclusive science culture, where everyone has the right to participate in and benefit from scientific advancement.
The proposed activities must contribute to specific targets of the Sustainable Development Goals and at least one of the following expected outcomes of the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development: the global community is empowered through scientific literacy, actionable scientific knowledge is produced and used to accelerate progress towards the SDGs in alignment with human rights, basic sciences are advanced through global collaborative research initiatives, open science is widely and equitably used to democratise scientific processes and access to scientific knowledge, and national innovation systems are transformed in order to respond better to the needs of science and society.
The proposed activity shall be scientifically and technically sound, with practical and implementable activities and achievable objectives. It can focus on specific fields or span across multiple disciplines at local, national and subregional levels to address emerging or ongoing challenges with significant socio-economic and environmental implications. Activities may include science popularization campaigns, scientific workshops, or training courses. Proposals may cover one or more priority areas such as artificial intelligence and big data for sustainable development including climate modeling, precision agriculture, health surveillance, disaster forecasting, biodiversity conservation, misinformation detection and policymaking; green energy and environmental technologies such as hydrogen, solar, sustainable materials and low-carbon processes; life sciences and health technologies including genomics, personalized medicine, digital health and One Health frameworks; smart agriculture and food security with emphasis on climate-adaptive practices and inclusive approaches; biodiversity and ecosystem-based solutions promoting conservation, restoration and nature-based approaches; quantum science and technologies for sustainability including environmental monitoring and early warning systems; science literacy and science culture with a focus on education, communication and trust in science; and science-driven policy ecosystems designed to strengthen resilience, protect scientists, and ensure governance reforms responsive to societal needs and evidence-based policymaking.
Eligibility is limited to non-profit science institutions from Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste. The maximum funding for a proposal is USD 1,000, and the implementation period of the activities should be up to three months, starting from October and concluding by the end of 2025. The selection process by the UNESCO Regional Office in Jakarta will be finalized, and results will be shared with the selected applicants by the end of September 2025.
UNESCO Regional Office in Jakarta seeks partners in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Timor-Leste to co-implement activities by the end of 2025 within the framework of this international decade. Proposals should be submitted, together with a cover letter addressed to the Director of the UNESCO Regional Office in Jakarta, no later than 31 August 2025.
For more information, visit UNESCO.
