The call for proposals recently launched by the Institut de la Francophonie pour le Développement Durable (IFDD) aims to create an enabling environment for inclusive research and innovation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Cameroon to foster sustainable development. This initiative is implemented within the framework of the Environmental Technology and Innovation Deployment for Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Project (ETIDP), a component of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OEACP) Research and Innovation Programme.
IFDD is implementing its initiative in partnership with Kongo University in DRC, Eden Africa and Engineers Without Borders in Cameroon. IFDD will select 15 non-profit organisations to receive grants ranging from 150,000 to 400,000 euros. The funds are intended, among other things, to set up and equip 2 environmental technology Fab Labs to provide innovators with equipment, including computer-aided design tools, to support environmental innovation through the design and development of prototypes.
EU funding
According to the IFDD, these Fab Labs also provide a framework for generating technology know-how, creating research and innovation ecosystems and facilitating the conditions for technology transfer. The selected organisations will also use the funds made available to them to carry out six national studies, three of which will be carried out in Cameroon and the rest in the DRC.
These include two studies on the status and use of local and indigenous knowledge in sustainable development. The funding will also allow for studies on the needs/capacities/constraints of the private sector in sustainable development in relation to the labour market, as well as two studies on the financial capacities of the targeted actors of change and their adequacy with the selected solutions/techniques. 2.73 million from the European Union (EU) which will be made available to non-profit organisations based in Cameroon and DRC. Organisations interested in this initiative have until September 20th, 2021 to submit their proposals.
For more information on the call for proposals, click here.
Jean Marie Takouleu