Call for EOIs:  Lead of Research Consortium Promoting Socially Inclusive Climate Adaptation and Resilience in ASEAN

Deadline: 9-Jul-24

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) are pleased to launch this call for expressions of interest (EoI) to lead and implement research that enhances urban resilience to climate change in member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

This call is held under the CLimate Adaptation and REsilience (CLARE) framework research programme, primarily funded by the UK FCDO with 15% co-funding from IDRC. This call is the first stage of a process through which CLARE expects to partner with one institution that creates and leads a consortium of applied research projects in lower-income (ODA-eligible) ASEAN countries while promoting collaboration with institution in non-ODA-eligible countries.

This call proposes to respond to this challenge, in collaboration with the ASEAN Working Group on Climate Change. It will contribute to the Working Group’s commitment to “explore opportunities for collaborating on research and development in climate adaptation, supporting innovation and exchanging technical expertise”, and to “strengthen engagement on science and technology on regional priorities such as climate adaptation.”

​​Key Objectives

• This call is for an organization that would lead the selection, contracting and monitoring of upcoming research under CLARE, focusing on supporting partnership and collaboration amongst researchers, policymakers and local communities that drive evidence-based and socially inclusive practical actions toward urban climate resilience for the most vulnerable populations in ASEAN, focusing on ODA-eligible ASEAN countries. Specifically, the research will aim to:
  • enable socially inclusive and sustainable actions to support resilience to climate change and natural hazards, including through nature-based solutions;
  • scaling up research and innovation efforts to provide better information on climate risks, better decision-making tools, guidance, and better climate adaptation solutions to enable transformational change in ASEAN countries.
• This will be done through implementation of research that directly informs action through evidence, data and tools supporting urban climate resilience. In particular:
  • Research will use transdisciplinary approaches. Projects integrate climate hazards, risks, as well as economic, institutional, cultural and political drivers that shape potentials for solutions for more inclusive and resilient urban futures and identify windows of opportunity for implementing resilient, transformative pathways.
  • Research will be co-created with key users and contribute to strengthening capacity of those developing and applying the research, according to the Adaptation Research for Impact Principles (i.e. research designed to have direct impact on the ground, promoting action that enhances climate resilience in urban areas).
  • Project will report against the CLARE theory of change and the UK International Climate Finance indicator on the number of people supported to better adapt to the effects of climate change.
  • Research teams, methodologies and uptake will integrate principles for gender equality and inclusion.
• The above requirements could be met by employing lab-type approaches, “inclusive spaces where stakeholders, practitioners and researchers come together to co-design and test ideas, co-produce knowledge and co-evaluate solutions.” Other approaches also will be considered.

Scope

• The following is an indicative description of the activities to be performed by the Applicant Organization.
  • Set up and manage 
    • develop and implement a call for proposals for (3 to 6) research projects in ODA-eligible ASEAN countries. These projects can be single or multi-country and must jointly cover most or all of these ASEAN countries
    • develop and manage a Peer Review Committee, made up of a multi-disciplinary and diverse panel of experts, to assess applications to the call for proposals
    • create and support an Advisory Committee to guide and support this work
    • provide grants to successful research teams (henceforth called sub-grantees) and support them to implement their respective projects
    • manage grants to sub-grantees, including sub-grantee monitoring and evaluation
    • produce interim and final technical and financial reports
  • ​​Support to research cohort (sub-grantees)
    • provide technical and methodological assistance to sub-grantees as required, and undertake a needs assessment to identify capacity constraints of all the sub-grantees
    • ensure activities integrate gender equality and inclusion approaches into their proposed research projects, and provide technical assistance as required
    • plan and run workshops and other capacity-support activities designed to collectively tackle common issues and facilitate cross-project collaboration where appropriate
    • support sub-grantees in finding engagement and knowledge-translation opportunities with climate adaptation initiatives that may benefit from their research results and methods
    • assist all sub-grantees in data management, decide on open access to data, and comply with requirements (aims and rules) for open access of publications
    • facilitate and support sub-grantee reporting and aggregate sub-grantee reporting into a report to CLARE
    • connect sub-grantees to other resources (knowledge, financial) as required
  • ​​Contribute to advancing knowledge and policy dialogues
    • play an active role in and organize knowledge-sharing activities to support understanding, uptake and scaling of climate adaptation research to inform policy and practice, including through the ASEAN secretariat
    • facilitate the production and sharing of research outputs, stocktaking, synthesis, guidance material, policy briefs, etc.
    • ensure research publication in appropriate venues in accordance with the principles of open access
    • carry out relevant and select analyses to support the aims of CLARE and increase the impact of the research carried out in the region
  • ​​International collaboration and engagement
    • identify opportunities for projects’ outreach particularly in the ASEAN context
    • engage in global and multi-disciplinary exchanges and organize joint initiatives and events as appropriate
    • coordinate with other CLARE projects including the Research for Impact Hubs
    • coordinate with the CLARE team i.e. FCDO and IDRC and program governance, as well as ASEAN stakeholders
  • ​​Monitoring and evaluation
    • report against the existing CLARE framework for results tracking and the synthesis of lessons learned from across the different projects under the consortium
    • ensure timely reporting against the CLARE reporting framework.

Funding Information

• Through an Applicant Organization, CLARE intends to fund a consortium of researchers in the ASEAN region, with a budget of up to the equivalent of GBP2 million (CAD3.4 million).
• The contract duration will not exceed 24 months, including all research activities and final reporting.

CLARE Theory of Change

• Goal – To enable socially inclusive and sustainable action to build resilience and reduce vulnerability to risks from climate change and natural hazards for the most vulnerable through action-oriented research and capacity strengthening.
• Objectives
  • To accelerate immediate action on climate adaptation and resilience by maximizing the uptake of existing knowledge at multiple scales through development of climate services, tools, technology and innovation to inform policy and practice.
  • To drive the development of new knowledge to support adaptation and resilience of the most vulnerable through transdisciplinary research that builds novel coalitions of actors dedicated to supporting urgent and future climate action.
  • To enable capacity to support sustainable climate-resilient development in the  Global South along the whole chain from research to action, across scales and regions.
  • To support socially inclusive practical action by addressing social, economic and political barriers to adaptation.
• CLARE links up short- and long-term issues by working across three interlinked themes:
  • Understanding climate risk: Improving the understanding of the risks associated with climate and natural hazards that addresses gaps in the underpinning science.
  • Risk-informed early action: Supporting early action to reduce impacts of climate variability, reducing humanitarian impacts on lives and livelihoods.
  • Developing in a changing climate: Enabling long-term, sustainable and equitable economic and social development in a changing climate.
• Projects will encompass one or more of these themes and promote the following approaches that underpin CLARE’s efforts, and commit projects to address some of the above-listed assumptions:
  • Support for research for impact through dedicated investments in research uptake, including demand-led approaches, co-production and brokering. CLARE endorses the Adaptation Research for Impact Principles.
  • Gender equality and inclusion are integral to just and sustainable action. Transformative research and knowledge that addresses barriers experienced by the most vulnerable is critical for increasing resilience to climate-related risks.
  • Diverse coalitions and equitable partnerships are critical to link research to action and to strengthen capacities along the research-to-action value chain. CLARE recognizes that Southern-led research is more likely to have an impact on adaptation policy and practice in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.
  • Capacity strengthening across the research-to-action value chain to improve implementation of evidence-based climate action, and support effective equitable and socially inclusive climate adaptation.
  • Co-ordinated and multi-level knowledge management, including investments in knowledge infrastructure and knowledge-exchange processes is necessary to support adaptive program management and research uptake.
  • Transdisciplinary systems approaches to evaluating human-environment dynamics, impacts and potential adaptation and resilience-building responses will lead to more robust, inclusive and sustainable outcomes.
  • Facilitate cross-program collaboration and learning through a portfolio approach.
• Impact
  • Poor and marginalized communities are more resilient
    • Indicator: 
      • The extent to which CLARE is likely to lead to transformational change in capacity of key actors that builds the resilience of communities vulnerable to and affected by climate change
      • Number of people supported to better adapt to the effects of climate change
• Outcomes
  • Increased adoption of climate adaptation solutions
    • Indicator: 
      • Number of government plans, policies or strategies that better integrate adaptation or improve climate resilience
      • Number of tools, data, technologies, models and approaches that are adopted by relevant actors
      • Number of organizations, institutions and communities that have adopted tools, data, technologies, models and approaches
      • ‘Case-stories’ that demonstrate increased influence and adoption of adaptation evidence and solutions
  • Strengthened agency to do and use research for action
    • Indicator: 
      • Percentage of female and male researchers reporting strengthened capacity to do research
      • ‘Case stories’ that demonstrate strengthened agency of local governments, research bodies, practitioners and key stakeholders to do and use research
      • Monetary value of additional financing (in-kind and cash) secured
      • Sustainability of cross-sectoral partnerships and collaborations
• Outputs
  • Collaborative partnerships
    • Indicator: 
      • Number of organizations and inter-disciplinary partnerships that are part of CLARE
      • Number and percentage of CLARE partnerships that represent diverse research teams and/or include transdisciplinary focus
      • Number of engagement and outreach events for the purpose of sharing and encouraging use of evidence by key stakeholders
  • Capacity strengthening
    • Indicator: 
      • Number of capacity-strengthening activities, attendees participating, and countries involved
  • New and improved science
    • Indicator: 
      • Number of publications, working papers and grey literature produced
      • Number of adaptation solutions (tools, data, technologies, models, approaches) created or significantly improved
      • Quality of projects and activities on gender equality and social inclusion
  • Tools and technologies co-developed and tested
    • Indicator: 
      • Number of organizations and people involved in co-developing and testing adaptation tools, data, technologies, models and approaches
      • Degree to which research is built with intended knowledge users, and intent to ensure findings are useful for knowledge users
      • Percentage of female and male users involved that report high satisfaction
  • New and existing knowledge is brokered and disseminated
    • Indicator: 
      • Number of knowledge-brokering services delivered and organizations that receive those services
      • Percentage of organizations receiving knowledge-brokering services reporting high satisfaction

Eligible Countries

• Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Applicant Organization to this call must meet the following criteria:
  • It must be headquartered in an ASEAN member state (Member States – ASEAN Main Portal).
  • It must have independent legal status (or “legal personality”) and be capable of contracting in their own right and name, receiving and administering funds, and have authority to direct proposed project activities. Applicants must be able to demonstrate legal status through written documentation. Legal status will only be reviewed if and when applicants are selected following technical selection.
  • It must have the ability to transfer funds to organizations outside their country, and in the ASEAN region.
• The call is not open to individuals, to government ministries, and agencies or branches, offices and chapters of international organizations including the UN and CGIAR. Regional or country offices of international organizations are ineligible to apply even if these offices are registered as independent legal entities in their countries of location.

For more information, visit IDRC.