Call for education and public awareness projects 2023

The Protocol of Cooperation between the Belgian Development Cooperation (DGD) and the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (RBINS) aims to contribute through its programme CEBioS to a better knowledge of biodiversity linked to sustainable development and to reach a better implementation of international environmental conventions in developing countries.

In the framework of its 'public awareness' component, CEBioS desires to strengthen the activities of CHM National Focal Points in their contribution to the implementation of the CBD. National CHMs play an essential role in the education and information of the general public and policy makers, on the value of biodiversity and on the opportunities offered by the Convention.

In 2023, 5 to 7 projects will be financed through the call. This number will depend of the type, size and quality of proposed projects.

The call is open to organisations and CHM National Focal Points of partner countries of Belgium: Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, D.R. Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Morocco, Niger, Palestine State, Rwanda, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda.

Themes in 2023

The suggested themes have been chosen in accordance to the first objective of the Strategic Plan 2011-2020 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (Aichi target 1) and the 21st Target of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework:

Projects financed in previous years can be visited on the national CHM websites or through the following link “Selected projects of the Public awareness calls from 2005 – 2022”

Type of support

CEBioS will finance the selected projects up to 80% of their estimated costs. The remaining 20% will have to be provided by the local partner.

Payment of instalments

The last payment will only be made after reception of original justification of expenses and the final report (receipts and supporting documents).

Project promoter and partners

The official project promoter must contact the CHM National Focal Point of the submitting country to ensure that the results of the project will be posted on the national CHM. An approval letter of the supervisory authority or director must be joined to the application file.
Collaboration or subcontracting with a local partner is possible. In this case, such collaboration or subcontracting must clearly be indicated in the application. The involvement of education and/or communication specialists is an asset.

Preparation of a proposal and submission instructions

Projects must be submitted to RBINS by 18 June 2023 at the latest, at the electronic address cbd-chm<at>naturalsciences.be.
Alternatively, and only if there are e-mail problems, the application can be sent by regular mail at the address mentioned at the end of this document.

Projects must be submitted using the following template.

To prepare the budget you have to use the model for budget (budget template) and read carefully the vademecum. The budget should be included in the proposal but also be sent as a separate Excel file.

Reporting

A report of activities and a financial report must be submitted to CEBioS at the end of the project. A sample of the available educational material will be joined to the report of activities (e.g. posters, brochures, T-shirts, etc.).

Information on and generated by the project should be made available on the national CHM website, so that a large audience is made aware of the achievements.

The deliverables are:

• A project implemented according to the terms of the contract
• Implemented project and narrative report, including indicators as requested by CEBioS
• Financial report following the template provided by CEBioS (Excel)
• Financial reports not using the template will not be taken into consideration.

A financial report that doesn't respect these instructions will not be accepted. If a project passes the agreed up on budget there will be no additional funds available! 

Indicative dates for the examination of proposals and for the execution of the projects

Contacts

The following persons will oversee the evaluation and follow-up of projects, with the support of experts of the RBINS Education Department and of DGD:

• Luc JANSSENS de BISTHOVEN, programme coordinator for the DGD – RBINS programme CEBioS
• Han DE KOEIJER, National focal point for the CHM
• Pierre HUYBRECHTS, science programme officer CEBioS and national focal point for the GTI

In order for each of these persons to be informed at all times of the status of the application, projects and all related correspondence can only be submitted through the generic e-mail cbd-chm <at> naturalsciences.be.

Physical address:
Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences
Rue Vautier 29
1000 Brussels
Belgium
E-mail: cbd-chm<at>naturalsciences.be

Template for public awareness project