Call for Applicants for Training Program entitled “Tropical Forests in the Americas: Transdisciplinary Approaches to Changing Environments”
In partnership with the Santa Catarina Research Foundation (FAPESC), the Inte-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI) has opened the call for the training program titled “Tropical Forests in the Americas: Transdisciplinary Approaches to Changing Environments”.
The target audience includes researchers, policymakers, civil society organizations and community leaders involved in processes of knowledge co-production within tropical forests in the Americas interested in gaining skills in developing transdisciplinary collaborations and grant writing. Applications that have direct engagement with the demands of the people whose livelihoods depend on those forests, especially indigenous peoples and other traditional populations, will be well evaluated. This call aims at transdisciplinary teams working to produce innovative solutions to issues related to the following thematic areas: deforestation, sustainable development, and locally led economy; ecosystem function, connectivity, and climate change; environmental justice and governance.
The program has two phases: 1) an online course that encompasses asynchronous modules and synchronous live sessions; 2) seed grants for transdisciplinary research projects. The first phase will begin in June 2024 with a free-of-cost course in English and Spanish (with interpretation), and lead to a certificate issued by the IAI. The objective of the course is to enhance the capacity of professionals and institutions across the Americas to adopt transdisciplinary approaches to address the environmental change processes threatening tropical forest ecosystems and the people whose livelihoods depend on them. After the completion of phase 1, IAI and FAPESC will each support up to 5 projects through seed grants. The project teams will receive mentorship and networking support from the IAI.
Two types of applications are possible: 1) Transdisciplinary (TD) teams composed of academic and non-academic researchers and 2) individual non-academic stakeholders. Individual applicants and TD team leaders must be based in an IAI member country. The list of IAI member countries can be found here https://www.iai.int/en/structure/focal-points.
The call for expressions of interest is open until May 20, 2024.