The program area “seed funding” makes grants to partner NGOs to deliver small-scale agricultural projects that have strong local impacts in the developing world. In addition to grant for agriculture, past projects include several that address water, forests, biodiversity, and related issues in environment and natural resources. Applying organizations must be registered charities in the UK. Grants are up to £30 thousand per year for three years. Link
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World Bank — Public-Private Infrastructure in Water, Energy, and Transportation
The World Bank’s Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) welcomes submissions on topics pertaining to private-sector participation in infrastructure, public-private partnerships, and sub-national finance for energy, water, and transportation. PPIAF is looking for knowledge products that provide lessons learned or best practices which can be applied across countries and across regions. Proposals are strongly encouraged to include co-financing. Proposals with a focus on gender or climate change are also strongly encouraged. The deadline for submissions is 10 February 2017. Link
Buckminster Fuller Institute — Buckminster Fuller Challenge 2017
The Challenge is an annual prize of US$100 thousand to invite ideas to radically advance human well-being and ecosystem health. Entries in prior years include several in energy, water, agriculture, natural disasters, etc., with relevance in developing countries. The application deadline is 31 March 2017. Link
Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition — Research on Sustainable Food 2017
The Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition sponsors BCFN YES! (Young Earth Solutions) as an international competition for young researchers on the theme of sustainable food systems. The program offers one-year research grants up to €20 thousand to PhD and postdoc researchers worldwide from any background and nationality. The maximum age is 35. Subject areas include climate change, resilient agriculture, sustainable water management, ecosystem services, food policy, and many others. The competition encourages the participation of teams from different disciplines and countries who wish to combine their expertise in innovative approaches. The deadline for proposals is 28 June 2017. Link
World Bank — WeMENA Supporting Women Social Entrepreneurs
WeMENA announces a challenge to help women advance solutions across eight cities in the Middle East and North Africa to build resilience to climate change. The cities are Alexandria, Amman, Beirut, Byblos, Cairo, Casablanca, Ramallah, and Tunis. The challenge categories include agriculture and food security; sustainable energy and the environment; water and sanitation; and several others. Participants in the challenge will receive business training, mentoring, and the chance to compete for a share of US$150 thousand in cash awards. The competition is open to women participating as individuals, as teams, or on behalf of a legal entity. The deadline for submissions is 17 January 2017. Link
World Academy of Sciences — Sustainability Case Studies
In partnership with the Elsevier Foundation, TWAS calls for case studies which present issues and challenges for sustainable development through real-life situations. The contest is open to current TWAS and OWSD PhD Fellowship recipients. The categories are green and sustainable chemistry; energy; agriculture and food security; water and sanitation; science education and the workforce; and climate change and disaster and risk reduction. The winner in each category will be awarded US$1 thousand. The deadline for submissions is 01 February 2017. Link
Indo-US Science and Technology Forum — Research on Monitoring Water and Air Quality
The IUSSTF invites applications for the “Research Initiative for Real-time River Water and Air Quality Monitoring.” This initiative aims to develop technologies for sensing, communication, and analysis of large-scale data collected from autonomous networks of perpetual or long-lived sensor nodes, followed by integration and deployment of this information for water and air quality monitoring in real-time. Indian research groups are encouraged to collaborate with academic counterparts in the USA and/or European Union. The deadline for proposals is 10 March 2017. Link
European Commission — Improved Nutrition in Lao PDR
The EC will make grants to improve food and nutrition security among rural households and create sustainable agricultural wealth at the village and household level in Laos. Actions include attention to improved plant-based and animal-based agriculture, safe local water supply, and others. The lead applicant should be a nonprofit organization in the EU or in one of the eligible countries of the DCI Regulation (i.e., EU pre-accession countries, countries of the European Economic Area, and many developing countries and territories). Grants will be allocated geographically up to a maximum of 10 million euros per consortium for certain regions. Reference EuropeAid/153320/DD/ACT/LA. The deadline for concept notes is 13 March 2017. Link
EarthCorps — International Program 2017
EarthCorps invites applications from emerging environmental leaders around the world to participate in an environmental service program in the USA. Participants from the USA and other countries take part in field projects such as tree planting, trail construction, stream restoration, and removal of invasive plants. Projects are located in the state of Washington (i.e., not Washington, DC). Applicants should be 18-28 years of age, with a university degree in an environmental field (or equivalent work experience), and speak conversational English. International participants receive a living stipend, health insurance, and accommodations with host families. However, each participant is responsible for her/his travel to Seattle, Washington. Priority consideration will be given to applications received by 09 January 2017. Link
French Institute for Development Research — Support for International Research Teams 2017
The IRD announces funding to support multidisciplinary international teams (laboratoires mixtes internationaux, LMI) to undertake research that corresponds to IRD’s thematic priorities. These priorities include agronomy and biodiversity; bio-invasions and climate change; sustainable urban development; the ocean-climate interface; micro-biomes in agro-ecosystems; management of water resources; coastal and marine management; and others. Several themes have geographical priorities. IRD will annually provide each LMI with €40 thousand. The deadline for letters of intent is 31 January 2017. Link