Call for research expressions of interest

Commons and citizen participation from a social and environmental justice perspective

This call is dedicated to research projects that address the contribution of the commons to democratic issues and citizen participation. Research questions will be addressed through the lens of social and environmental justice.
This call is dedicated to teams of researchers and social actors engaged both in the production of new research and in a public policy dialogue with public actors, at an appropriate level (central, deconcentrated, decentralized).
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Femmes au Mozambique

The call is open until July 23, 2023.

Find all the detailed information in the framework note.

Call for expressions of interest

Objectives: 

The research projects will focus in a complementary manner on: 

  • The democratic and citizen participation practices within the commons. 
  • The transformative power and inspirational value of the commons through their interactions with public actors and their power to act within public action, with regard to the way in which public actors associate the commons with the creation and implementation of public policies. 

Eligible project leaders: 

AFD encourages applicant teams to call on a variety of partners to meet the requirements of this call. The application should specify the team's lead institution: it can be an academic institution (university, research center, laboratory, think tank, etc.) or a social actor that would lead/facilitate the public policy dialogue. 

Geography concerned: 

The research projects will have to be based on empirical analyses allowing highlighting and analyzing the existing commons. These analyses will be carried out if possible in countries according to the following priorities: 

  • In priority 1: South Africa, Vietnam, Indonesia, Senegal, Morocco, Colombia, Rwanda
  • In priority 2: India, Ecuador, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Balkans - Serbia, Dominican Republic, Brazil, Nigeria, Niger, Uganda
  • In priority 3: Bolivia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Angola, Papua New Guinea, Mauritius, Armenia, Central African Forest States

Applicants may propose more than one country. 

Sectors involved: 

All types of commons can be studied: land-based commons, urban commons, social commons, cultural commons, digital commons, knowledge commons, ecological commons, etc. 

Available budget: 

The budgets requested by each research project proposal should not be less than EUR 30,000 and not exceed EUR 200,000. Co-financing is encouraged. 

Duration of the project: 

The time frame for the payment of funding is set at a maximum of three years.

Timeline

Opening of the call for expressions of interest: 26/05/2023
Deadline for requests for clarification: 30/06/2023
Closing of the call for expressions of interest: 23/07/2023
Responses from the selection committee: 15/09/2023

The various stages of the process are as follows:

  • The deadline for requests for clarification is June 30, 2023 at 11:59 pm. Questions should be sent via the contact form. Answers will be made available in the FAQ’s which will be updated every 2 weeks. 
  • The call for expressions of interest will be open until Sunday, July 23, 2023 at 11:59 pm. 
  • Responses from the selection committee will be returned to all applicants by September 15, 2023.
  • Successful applicants will then be invited to submit a more complete proposal that will be discussed with AFD before being submitted to AFD's Committee on Research Projects and Partnerships (CPPR) for validation.
  • The signature of the contract is expected in November 2023 after a negotiation phase.
     

Submit a proposal

  1. Download the framework note of the call for expressions of interest (PDF document) as well as the Appendix 1 of the call (Word document).
  2. Fill in the online application form, making sure to provide all the requested elements, and upload the proposal in PDF format, following the outline requested in the framework note of the call.

Contact

Our team is at your disposal for any question