The Commonwealth Blue Charter Project Incubator is now accepting applications under its first Small Grants Round.
The Commonwealth Blue Charter Project Incubator supports the development of governments’ projects under the Commonwealth Blue Charter that accelerate their transition to fair, sustainable and inclusive marine conservation and maritime development, while mitigating and adapting to climate change.
The Incubator supports Commonwealth governments and their partners developing solutions that address shared ocean issues. While the grants are modest (£5k – £50k), the scope is large, and can include project-related capacity building, the writing of larger project proposals, ‘rapid assessments’, and proof-of-concept pilot projects. In summary, the Project Incubator:
- Encourages the development of projects under each of the Commonwealth Blue Charter Action Group themes;
- Focuses on the entire project cycle, including rapid assessments, proof-of-concept and small-sized projects;
- Assists in the development of funding proposals for medium-sized and larger projects;
- Provides mentoring and technical support;
- Facilitates project partnerships with non-governmental entities;
- Encourages planning for sustainability and scaling up, including regional initiatives;
- Supports ideas that dare to be different –innovative and cooperative solutions;
- Supports meeting global ocean commitments including ’30 by 30’ and the UN SDGs;
- Encourages the engagement of women, youth, LGBTI, Indigenous Peoples and local communities;
- Follows best practices, including transparency, accountability, and inclusivity.
The Commonwealth Blue Charter is an agreement by all 56 member countries to actively cooperate to support ocean action and meet commitments for sustainable ocean development. Its work programme is implemented through 10 Action Groups, led or co-led by 16 champion countries. To date, at least 46 Commonwealth countries have joined one or more Action Groups.
The Commonwealth Blue Charter Project Incubator was launched at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in June 2022 and managed by the Commonwealth Secretariat, in close cooperation with Blue Charter members and Action Groups. The initiative is supported by an initial contribution from the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation, with additional commitments from Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Vibrant Oceans Initiative.
Location:
United KingdomBenefits
- Grants range from £5k to £50k, as well as providing training and technical assistance, as required.
Eligibilities
- Participating Commonwealth countries must be members of the relevant Blue Charter Action Groups before the project begins;
- Multiple-country / regional submissions are welcome, but the majority of countries must be Commonwealth members;
- There can be only one lead entity, which will receive and manage the grant / technical support.
Eligible Regions: Commonwealth countries
Application Process
- Please complete the form, sticking within the word limits.
- By completing the form you consent to the use of this information as part of the Project Incubator application process. There are three pages: Basic Information; Project Details; and finally, Data & Privacy. You need to fill out all the required (*) questions before you will be able to go to the next page. Please make sure to go through all three pages in order to submit.
- Please note that the online form cannot be saved mid-way through an application but needs to be completed in one session. Therefore, the application form can be downloaded in Word format at https://bit.ly/3hi1vec. The suggest drafting and revising your responses using the Word document and then pasting the responses into the online form. All applications need to be submitted using the online form.
- If your application falls outside of the scope of the Blue Charter or does not meet the core criteria or exceeds word limits, it will not be considered further. Otherwise, it will be sent for consideration to an evaluation panel, which meets three times a year.
Application Deadline: January 10, 2023
Application ClosedOfficial link
