Deadline: 7-Jan-22
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) are seeking applications for the grant program to Improve understanding of the economics of biodiversity.
NERC and ESRC are seeking to support a portfolio of interdisciplinary research projects across the environmental, economic and social sciences to advance research in the economics of biodiversity.
Scope
This opportunity is supported under the Economics of Biodiversity programme. This programme aims to inform decision making by addressing critical gaps in the current understanding of the economic values, benefits, and costs that society associates with, and derives from, biodiversity. Biodiversity comprises all living components in ecosystems and is a core element of the natural world.
The programme will explore how economies are embedded in nature and how nature and biodiversity are integrated into economic models and decision-making processes by:
- examining how multiple pluralistic values associated with biodiversity are captured, derived, applied and utilised
- investigating the ways in which socio-economic and ecological systems are interlinked or coupled, and how this can help build and maintain resilience of these systems in response to increasing disturbances
- exploring how different evidence-based biodiversity valuation methods (including those beyond monetary valuations) can be embedded within mainstream local and national decision making in the UK, whilst also reflecting upon the needs of future generations and meeting global biodiversity and development targets.
Projects will generate new, and harness existing data and evidence. They will work with stakeholders to inform the types of interventions required to maintain, enhance and optimise biodiversity and its value in supporting human activities in highly interconnected socio-economic and ecological systems.
Proposals must be interdisciplinary to explore and capitalise upon different disciplines and inform research and catalyse changes in real-word decision making. There must be demonstrable awareness of how biodiversity and ecosystems connect to wider societal factors, for example:
- achieving net zero carbon emissions
- adapting to a changing climate
- improved human health and wellbeing
- creating jobs
- social cohesion
- ‘levelling up’ opportunities across society.
Themes
Your project must focus on at least one of the following themes:
- how biodiversity is valued by decision makers
- biodiversity, natural capital and resilience
- tools to help decision makers manage natural assets.
Funding Information
- NERC and ESRC have provisionally allocated £4 million to this funding opportunity. The maximum funding per project is £1 million (at 100% full economic cost) with a duration of up to three years. They will fund 80% of the project’s full economic cost, that is, up to £800,000 per project.
- Projects should be no longer than 36 months in duration and start no later than 1 August 2022.
Eligibility Criteria
UKRI research and fellowship grants for all schemes may be held at:
- approved UK higher education institutions (HEIs)
- approved research council institutes (RCIs)
- independent research organisations (IROs)
- public sector research establishments (PSREs).
For more information, visit https://beta.ukri.org/opportunity/improve-understanding-of-the-economics-of-biodiversity/