Pre-announcement of the 2019 call of the GBIF Capacity Enhancement Support Programme (CESP)

This programme provides co-funding to GBIF Participants for collaborative projects targeting capacity enhancement and exchange through mentoring, training and advocacy activities, promotion of data use among research and policy communities, and the production or adaptation of documentation and guidance material. You can browse projects supported by this programme here.

 Full information about the call will be made available on GBIF.org in January 2019, but please consider already contacting potential partners to discuss project ideas. 

 Looking for project partners? If so, please post your request on the GBIF Community Forum in the nodes category explaining the capacity goals you are planning to address and the type of involvement you are looking for. We invite all nodes to follow the discussions to look for ways to get involved in the programme.

 Please note that this call is only open to representatives of GBIF participants.

 Timeline

·        Representatives of GBIF Participants will be invited to submit short concept notes from 14 January – 24 February 2019.

·        Those selected will be invited to prepare full proposals in March - April 2019, and the final selection of projects will be communicated in early May.

·        The projects will be implemented from June 2019 to June 2020.

 Thematic focus

·        The call is designed to align with the GBIF Capacity Enhancement Framework.

·        Applicants will use the capacity self-assessment guidelines for national biodiversity information facilities to identify capacity needs to target through project proposals and to track progress.

·        Projects are based on combining one or more of five eligible types of action (mentoring activities, regional training support, GBIF advocacy actions, documentation and promotion of data use among research and policy communities).

·        Applicants will be encouraged to align projects with the GBIF Implementation Plan 2017-2021 and Annual Work Programme 2019.

 Funding available

·        The maximum amount of funding per project is €25,000 for projects involving three or more Participants, and €15,000 for projects involving one or two Participants.

·        All projects are expected to contribute co-funding.

 Change from previous calls

In response to the recommendations of the 2018 review of the first five years of CESP, approved by the governing board at GB25, the 2019 will differ from earlier CESP calls in the following respects:

 ·        All project teams will complete capacity self-assessments when preparing full proposals and as part of the reporting process.

·        The GBIF Secretariat will start using an online grant management system in 2019, making project reporting easier.

·        The Secretariat will work with the Nodes Steering Group to establish an editorial board to provide peer review for GBIF documentation, including any documentation produced through CESP projects.