Call for proposals: Sustainable Together project funding

Sustainable Together is a regional project that is locally implemented together with the British Council. Its focus is on sustainability and civil society initiatives that seek to make an impactful contribution to improving the local environment. The project does this in two ways: through public engagement like webinars or a talk series, and by supporting activities and initiatives that emerge from these.

Applicants should ask critical questions and engage thinking around the collective role of communities in responding to urgent environmental and social issues. Proposals should amplify the voices of different community groups and bring different stakeholders together, to engage in open dialogues that spark collaboration for positive action. The proposals should also explore a self-identified research question or line of enquiry, with a specific focus on the design of community-based, sustainable solutions for all.

Proposal

The maximum funding available per proposal is R100 000. In total, three grants will be awarded to explore three selected questions. Each successful applicant will also be part of a curated webinar series titled Sustainable Together to discuss or evolve their chosen line of enquiry with additional speakers, which will be shared with the public. Narrative and financial report writing as well as cooperation in the PR and M&E processes are expected.

Interested applicants should submit a two-page proposal or a video not longer than four minutes explaining:

• Question or enquiry.
• Organisation and partner organisation brief and how it relates to the enquiry.
• What they would use the resources for.
• What their medium or exploration will likely be.
• Any links to their work, which they think are relevant to this application.

Proposals should be sent to nadine.siegert@goethe.de with the subject line ‘Sustainable Together Grant’.

The submission deadline is 16 May.

Project expectations

• Explore a self-identified research question or line of enquiry, with a specific focus on the design of community-based, sustainable solutions for all.
• Collaborate with an organisation, group, collective or stakeholder outside the participant’s field towards a solution of their enquiry.
• Respond creatively to the question with some output that is shareable.
• Participate in a webinar with others in relation to the participant’s question.
• Engage and contribute to the monitoring and evaluation requirements of the project.
• All aspects of the project should be completed by mid-December 2021.

“We would like applicants to self-identify a question that they propose to use the grant of R100 000 to explore, plus provide details about why it is relevant and who they would like to collaborate with throughout the project,” Goethe-Institut said. “We are especially looking for lines of enquiry that have a practical output with a tangible impact. We would like to see proposals that ask bold questions and use creative practice to help shape a more positive future for people, planet and the next generation.

“We are specifically interested in questions which respond to: indigenous knowledge systems, circular practice, design and material languages, gender and ecology. We would like applicants to propose the format for how they will explore their specific question. This could be through the form of, but not be limited to, workshops, residencies, podcasts, film, craft, co-design, editorial, community events or other experimental formats.”

View the original call here.