The first Learning Event webinar on the Sustainable Use of Marine Resources, Conservation, Climate Mitigation and Adaptation took place in July 2024. The webinar featured fascinating presentations on three marine habitat projects funded by GCBC:
The Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) is pleased to announce the first in a series of learning events to highlight the innovative research being done by GCBC funded projects.
We will be joined by three GCBC project leaders to discuss the sustainableuse of marine resources, conservation, climate mitigation and adaptation in an hour-long Zoom webinar. The webinar will focus on sharing learning from three marine habitat projects:
Deep-ocean resources and biodiscovery: enabling a sustainable and healthy low-carbon future (DEEPEND project)
With vast reservoirs of minerals present in the deep sea, mining in our oceans could start within the next decade; yet little is known about the biodiversity and Marine Genetic Resources (MGR) present in these deep-sea regions. DEEPEND looks to develop a long-term project to understand the true value of biodiversity in deep-sea regions at risk from mining and climate change.
Speaker: Dr Adrian Glover (Natural History Museum)
GlobalSeaweed – Supporting livelihoods by Protecting, Enhancing and Restoring biodiversity by Securing the future of the seaweed Aquaculture industry in developing countries (SUPERSTAR)
This project directly addresses the acute problem of lack of protection and overharvesting of wild seaweeds. Project outputs will be used by the seaweed industry, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) and policymakers, with the aim of ensuring increased protection, enhanced climate resilience and the sustainable management of wild and cultivated stocks and their associated habitats in south-east Asia and globally.
Speaker: Professor Elizabeth Cottier-Cook (Scottish Association for Marine Science)
ENHANCES = ENHANcing Coastal Ecosystem Services
This project works with partners in Suriname and Guyana on coastal protection through mangrove conservation. It operationalises novel in-situ and remote-sensing technologies that map and quantify the health, status and distribution of mangrove species at the local and regional scales, whilst monitoring changes and thresholds to generate new understanding. This data is used to generate consensus on local coastal protection strategies and methods using a gamification platform co-developed with local stakeholders for knowledge-sharing and equitable debate.
Speaker: Dr Isabella Bovolo (Durham University)
The webinar comprises three project presentations, followed by an interactive panel session /Q&A
by Claudine Domingue, Communications & Engagement Manager, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
GCBC Phase 1 and RGC1 projects meet for knowledge sharing, learning and networking
Underpinning GCBC’s mandate to unlock the potential of nature to deliver resilience to climate change and improve livelihoods is the need for funded projects to explore scalable solutions and develop trans-disciplinary partnerships within the programme.
In its role as Strategic Science Lead for GCBC, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (RBG Kew) organized an all-day Research Symposium of talks and presentations to encourage collaboration between projects, hosting project leads from both established and newly funded projects. Representatives from the 14 projects who were funded as part of Phase 1 of the GCBC programme (2022 – 2024), as well as 13 projects announced as the recipients of the Research Grant Call1 (RGC1) funding in January 2024 were invited to attend.
The Research Symposium on 21 March 2024, also included staff from GCBC’s funding body – the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), and Fund Management Lead DAI Global. With so many projects spread across the globe, we were fortunate to welcome many project representatives in person and several more were able to join online.
We were gifted with a beautiful spring day in which to congregate in Kew Garden’s historic Cambridge Cottage.
After a warm welcome from Kew’s Dr Monique Simmonds, OBE and Deputy Director of Science – Partnerships, the day officially began with insightful opening remarks from Professor Gideon Henderson, Chief Scientific Adviser at Defra.
Monique Simmonds with Gideon Henderson who reminded us all how urgently these programmes are needed and their potential benefits to us all.l to r: Frida, Jessica, Constanza with Tim Wheeler.
Prof Tim Wheeler, newly appointed Deputy Director of International Science at Defra, spoke next and hosted the first panel of the day focussing on three of the seven projects awarded grant funding as part of Phase 1. These projects are identifying evidence gaps, new metrics, and policy options; with their outputs helping to shape GCBC’s priorities and guide future research and investments.
Continuing with Phase 1 projects, the second panel of the morning was chaired by Dr Elizabeth Warham, Head of GCBC for Kew. These projects had focussed on research outcomes and impact for farmers and communities.
l to r: Richard, on stage with Elizabeth Warham, and Yves discuss the Bio+Mine project.l to r: Richard, on stage with Elizabeth Warham, and Yves discuss the Bio+Mine project.Carolina presents her project.
Helen is the Policy lead for Sexual Exploitation Abuse & Harassment (SEAH) Safeguarding for Defra ODA programmes.
Before our lunch break, Helen Poulsen, the Senior Social Development Adviser in Defra’s ODA Hub, gave us a thought-provoking presentation on the importance of considering gender equality and social inclusion as the GCBC grantees develop their projects.
After lunch – and for many, a stroll through Kew’s gardens – we returned for an afternoon of 5-minute flash talks by our newest grantees, facilitated by Samantha Morris, GCBC Project Manager for Kew. Ten of the 13 RGC1 projects attended both in-person and online giving us an informative overview of their upcoming work.
l to r: Bettina, Aster and Samantha listen to Mark Grindley’s talk online.
l to r: Ryan Goldrick and Thomas Shaw (Defra), Subira Bjørnsen (Cadmus), Edward Gould (Defra).
Defra’s Jamie Carr, Bettina, and Aster – who travelled from Peru and Ethiopia for the symposium – chat during a break.
As Strategic Science Lead for GCBC, one of Kew’s goals is to encourage and nurture collaboration and learning within project groups and between research projects, and, by every measure, the research symposium achieved that result.
Our thanks to all the symposium participants and our Defra and DAI partners who attended.
All funded projects are listed here on the GCBC website: Projects – GCBC
* The GCBC is funded by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) with International Climate Finance and managed in partnership with DAI as Fund Management Lead. The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew is the Strategic Science Lead.
GlobalSeaweed – Supporting livelihoods by Protecting, Enhancing and Restoring biodiversity by Securing the future of the seaweed Aquaculture industry in developing countries (SUPERSTAR)
Delivery partner: SAMS, NHM, University of Malaya, and others
Project summary: Directly address the acute problem of lack of protection and overharvesting of wild seaweeds. The operationally and policy-relevant project outputs will be used by the seaweed industry, Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs) and local, regional and global policymakers, with the aim of ensuring increased protection, enhanced climate resilience and the sustainable management of wild and cultivated stocks and their associated habitats. This will increase biodiversity, protect livelihoods and safeguard the future of this vital industry in seaweed-producing, developing countries in south-east Asia and globally.
Project summary: This project aims to inform site management and protection strategies for Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in Ecuador by generating robust knowledge on the ecosystem services delivered by these sites and their beneficiaries, as well as their exposure and resilience under climate change. This new evidence of the impacts on livelihoods of climate change and different management or protection options, and the resulting recommendations, will directly support more effective implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework ‘30×30 target’, and lead to better-informed decision-making for nature and people
Summary: This research will deliver positive impacts on biodiversity, poverty alleviation and improved ecosystem resilience through strengthening the adaptive governance capacity of inland fisheries in Malawi and Uganda. The research will take a transdisciplinary co-production approach, working closely with the departments of fisheries, NGOs and local communities in all activities, and facilitate South-South learning. The project will include assessment of adaptive governance capacity at national, district and community levels, studies on information generation and changing fishing practices, and learning from action research involving pilot biodiversity protection interventions and network meetings. New evidence will be generated and plans for adaptive governance developed.
The Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) is thrilled to introduce its second Research Grant Competition (RGC2), which was officially launched on February 5th, 2024. This round invites research applications focusing on ‘Unlocking Nature – Driving innovation in how biodiversity can support climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods through practice and governance.’
Applications are encouraged from different types of Delivery Partners and must be led by an organisation with offices in an ODA-eligible country, or one that forms part of a consortium with organisations that have an office in an ODA-eligible country(ies).
The GCBC seeks to encourage new and innovative partnerships:
• Which are equitable and ensure research is informed by local demand
• Which are inter and transdisciplinary
• Which build research capacity in ODA-eligible countries
If you are seeking new delivery partners for your proposal, register for this upcoming webinar on Wednesday, February 21st which will focus on the Research Grant Competition 2 (RGC2) new partnerships and consortium.
This will be an interactive session. Attendees will be introduced to some principles and examples of good partnerships and consortiums. This will be followed by an opportunity for peer-to-peer sharing to help catalyze new partnerships.
If you are seeking new partners for your project proposal, please be prepared to answer:
• What you could offer a new partnership or consortium
• What you are looking for in a new partner or consortium
This webinar will be offered in two timeslots: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. (UTC) and 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (UTC).
We particularly encourage potential grant applicants from the Global South to attend.
Organisations with a proven track record in addressing poverty reduction, gender equality, and social inclusion within the context of biodiversity conservation are strongly encouraged to apply.
Stay updated on RGC2 and our webinar series by subscribing to the GCBC newsletter on our website or follow us on X at @gcbc_org or on LinkedIn
The Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) is thrilled to introduce its second Research Grant Competition (RGC2), which was officially launched on February 5th, 2024. This round invites research applications focusing on ‘Unlocking Nature – Driving innovation in how biodiversity can support climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods through practice and governance.’
Applications are encouraged from different types of Delivery Partners and must be led by an organisation with offices in an ODA-eligible country, or one that forms part of a consortium with organisations that have an office in an ODA-eligible country(ies).
The GCBC seeks to encourage new and innovative partnerships:
• Which are equitable and ensure research is informed by local demand
• Which are inter and transdisciplinary
• Which build research capacity in ODA-eligible countries
If you are seeking new delivery partners for your proposal, register for this upcoming webinar on Wednesday, February 21st which will focus on the Research Grant Competition 2 (RGC2) new partnerships and consortium.
This will be an interactive session. Attendees will be introduced to some principles and examples of good partnerships and consortiums. This will be followed by an opportunity for peer-to-peer sharing to help catalyze new partnerships.
If you are seeking new partners for your project proposal, please be prepared to answer:
• What you could offer a new partnership or consortium
• What you are looking for in a new partner or consortium
This webinar will be offered in two timeslots: 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. UTC and 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (UTC).
We particularly encourage potential grant applicants from the Global South to attend.
Organisations with a proven track record in addressing poverty reduction, gender equality, and social inclusion within the context of biodiversity conservation are strongly encouraged to apply.
Stay updated on RGC2 and our webinar series by subscribing to the GCBC newsletter on our website or follow us on X at @gcbc_org or on LinkedIn
The Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) is a UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme that funds research into nature-based solutions to climate change and poverty reduction.
We are pleased to announce the official launch of the GCBC second Research Grant Competition (RGC2)!
For this call, we are looking for project concepts with a total budget between £100k and £1m (GBP) and a duration of 12 – 36 months, commencing from November 1, 2024. There is scope for different sizes (£100k-£250k; £250k-£500k; £500-£750k; £750-£1m) depending on the type or nature of the research to be funded. This will range from the smaller desk-based and locally focused projects to larger initiatives with research replicated in different localities/ countries and upscaling/ replicating proven solutions in an innovative approach.
GCBC invites project concept submissions that focus their research at the intersection of the GCBC’s three focus areas:
Climate change
Livelihoods and poverty alleviation
Biodiversity
The call will fund a portfolio of projects in ODA-eligible countries in the programme’s three focus regions (Latin America and the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and Pacific, and Sub-Saharan Africa), including Small Island Developing States (SIDS); which address the evidence gaps and from which the learning, solutions, tools, and methodology can be upscaled and replicated in other regions or countries.
We are looking for submissions that include novel and innovative approaches and project proposals relevant to the overarching theme and related sub-themes. View the Theme Paper
Throughout the application period, potential applicants are invited to join our informative webinars.
Theme paper: This paper sets out the rationale and background for the theme of the second GCBC Research Grant Competition (RGC2) and the sub-themes where there are opportunities for interventions, that can make a difference in applying a systems approach. View the Theme Paper
Research strategy: This Research Strategy sets out the vision through the theory of change and ambition for a systems approach (Section 2) for the GCBC programme to ensure that new scientific evidence, knowledge and partnerships developed support the poor directly or indirectly, with improved livelihoods and resilience to climate change, while sustainably managing and using biodiversity. View the Research Strategy
Join us online this Monday, February 5th to get all the details about the second GCBC Research Grant Competition (RGC) Application Process.
The Global Centre on Biodiversity for Climate (GCBC) is thrilled to introduce its second Research Grant Competition (RGC2), which will be launched in February 2024. This round invites research applications focusing on ‘Unlocking Nature – Driving innovation in how biodiversity can support climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods through practice and governance.’
Leading up to RGC2’s official launch and throughout the application period, potential applicants are invited to join our informative webinars (starting the week of January 22nd 2024). This upcoming webinar will focus on the Research Grant Call 2 (RGC2) application process. Attendees will be introduced to the e-platform, concept note forms, selection criteria, and evaluation process.
We particularly encourage potential grant applicants from the Global South to attend. Organisations with a proven track record in addressing poverty reduction, gender equality, and social inclusion within the context of biodiversity conservation are strongly encouraged to apply.
This webinar will take place on Monday, February 5, 2024, and will be on the topic of ” The RGC2 Concept Note Application Process.”
It will be offered in three timeslots to ensure that it is accessible to participants in Southeast Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America.
