In support of the African Union’s climate, environment, and sustainability goals and priority areas for Agenda 2063, the National Research Foundation, South Africa (NRF) has led the development of this Belmont Forum Collaborative Research Action (CRA). The estimated duration of the projects is three years.

Deadline: 2 September 2024

Successful proposals must address and deliver on at least one of the three themes: i) Water – Energy – Food – Health Nexus; ii) Pollution; and iii) Disaster Preparedness, Responsiveness, and Recovery.

In addition to the three call Areas, green and blue economy was identified as a cross-cutting issue, and education and awareness were identified as cross-cutting activities to be encouraged.

Proposals should include a strong and deliberate linkage between the societal and
environmental aspects within global environmental challenges to ensure that they
meet the Belmont Challenge for international transdisciplinary research to provide
knowledge for understanding, mitigating, and/or adapting to global environmental
Change.

Consortium

Given the complexity and scope of these challenges, research consortia must be truly
transdisciplinary, thus including researchers from: a) social sciences/humanities/economics, b) natural sciences/physical sciences/engineering/technology, c) societal partners (i.e., citizens, industry, civil society organizations), using a participatory, co-designed and co-implementation approach. Additional knowledge holders are welcome to be part of the proposing consortium once this minimum criterion is met.

For each consortium, at least two countries must be from the African continent. For consortia with a large number of countries participating, a recommended minimum of 50% should be from the African continent.

Funding

Each funding organization’s eligibility requirements and amount to be funded can be found in the annexes for this call (according to the country; details here).

Portugal is eligible to be funded by:

• Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC/UNESCO): Participants in research actions that specifically address ocean-related themes that align with the priorities identified in the Ocean Decade Africa Roadmap. IOC/UNESCO will provide in-kind contributions to support, training, and mentoring. Additional details on this funding are here.
• Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI): Submissions are welcome from researchers or research groups seeking time aboard the research vessel Falkor (too) to conduct oceanographic research or technology development projects aligned with SOI’s Strategic Framework. Additional details on this funding are here.

Supporting documents Additional information on this call can be found here. Training modules are available for proposers on the Belmont Forum YouTube channel. Before starting to prepare proposals, applicants are advised to contact their funding organization(s) as listed in the annex documents for the call.