The 18th Annual Meeting of the Environment for Development (EfD) Initiative
The EfD initiative is committed to producing high-quality research and active international research interaction. This is achieved by creating an environment where discussions can take place openly, research results can be constructively criticized, and feedback is generated. One important strategy to promote such research interactions is through research meetings such as the annual meeting. The EfD Annual Meeting is a forum to bring together researchers from EfD centers, their collaborators, and other key stakeholders for the exchange of research ideas, discussion of research proposals, and presentation of results from EfD projects.
Environment for Development (EfD) is an international initiative focusing on the application of environmental economics in the Global South. The overall objective of EfD is to support poverty alleviation and sustainable development in the Global South through academic programs, research, and policy interaction. EfD centers are hosted by leading local academic research institutions in 12 countries across the Global South: Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica (including countries in Central America), Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Vietnam. EfD has partnerships with Duke University (USA), Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC) (Germany), Portland State University (USA), Resources for the Future (USA), Toulouse School of Economics (France), Environmental Economics Program in China (EEPC), Peking University (China), University College Dublin (UCD) (Ireland), and Wageningen University and Research (WUR), Wageningen, (Netherlands). The network is coordinated by the EfD Global Hub, located at the School of Business, Economics, and Law, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. EfD currently supports two PhD programs at Addis Ababa University and the University of Rwanda.
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
We invite proposals that focus on EfDs research themes (that is, agriculture, air quality, biodiversity, carbon pricing, climate change, conservation, energy, fisheries, forestry, resource extraction, gender, health, land, urban, waste, and water). Though the proposal targets challenges emanating from or affecting the environmental sector, the overriding social goals are poverty reduction and gender equality. The 2025 research allocation is sponsored by Sida, and this call focuses on :
- Applied research capacity for sub-Sahara African centers: Earmarked research funds for new centers and centers from the least developed countries in SSA (Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, and Nigeria). Support for these centers to create required research capacity as well as address pressing poverty-environmental issues in these countries. The proposed research should focus on the countries listed above and be linked to one of the research themes of the collaborative programs (check under programs at https://www.efdinitiative.org/ ) or to the intersection between trade or migration and the environment.
Special attention will be given to projects where the outcome is relevant beyond the country where it is implemented. In particular, projects that include syntheses of knowledge that lead to more general policy recommendations applicable also in poor and vulnerable countries are encouraged. Projects involving several EfD centers (particularly a mix of centers with different levels of research experience and resources) are of interest. All proposals should illustrate the practical ways of maximizing the policy impact of the study. The EfD research committee favors policy-relevant projects with high potential for publication in reputable peer-reviewed international journals.
Before submission of the proposal, the following must be done at each center;
- The proposal should be discussed within the center and it should be in line with the priorities in the center’s Policy Research Review.
- There should also be a policy dialogue with relevant stakeholders to ensure that there is potential for the research to be used in future policy considerations.
- Center directors need to provide a letter of support explaining how the set of proposals relates to the center’s policy research review and describing the policy dialogue leading up to submission.
Research proposals for 2025 funding in all EfD research themes, will be developed and submitted in a one-stage process, where a full proposal should be submitted through Editorial Express (www.editorialexpress.com/efd) by July 1st, 2024 at the latest. Please strictly use the full proposal template (download here). Any proposal that does not use the proposal template will be returned/rejected.
Proposals will be evaluated by the research committee via a standard peer-review process. Based on this review and assessment of the proposal in line with Sida’s priority research areas, together with the extent to which the proposed research fulfills the stated policy research review priorities, the EfD research committee will select the most promising proposals for presentation at the annual meeting. Final funding decisions will be made after the presentation and discussion. Please note that the EfD research fund will be allocated on a competitive basis.
The proposals should preferably be developed in collaboration between senior, international, and young researchers (post-docs and graduate students/Junior Researchers). Researchers interested in submitting a proposal are encouraged to get in touch with the leaders of the collaborative programs to discuss opportunities for collaboration. Evidence of projects supporting and mentoring female scholars and new scholars will be viewed positively in the evaluation process. The duration of the proposed project is expected to be one to two years and the budget is between USD 40 000 - 50 000. A maximum of six proposals will be funded. Submissions from centers (that is, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, and Nigeria) should not exceed three proposals per center. Note that all proposals from EfD countries should be presented and passed through a local peer-review process at each center before submission to EfD’s Global Hub. EfD research committee members are not eligible to submit funding proposals.
Selected applicants based on the full proposal will be notified by the second week in August 2024, after which registration for the annual meeting will be open. The final draft of invited proposals must be submitted on September 1st at the latest to be included in the final program of the annual meeting.
CONTACT
Questions related to research proposal presentations can be directed to Franklin Amuakwa-Mensah (franklin.amuakwa-mensah@efd.gu.se ).