CAPE HIGHER EDUCATION CONSORTIUM – WESTERN CAPE GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP
Call for proposals for the 2017 Innovation Grant:
Water Security
June 2017
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1. INTRODUCTION TO THE INNOVATION GRANT
Last year the Joint Task Team, the structure that coordinates the work of the CHEC – WCG partnership, introduced an Innovation Grant of R 100 000.
The purpose of this grant is to encourage university researchers, in partnership with WCG policy-makers, to consider new approaches, methodologies and interventions for addressing the seemingly intractable problems facing the Province. This year the focus will be on the challenges of ensuring water security and the need to plan for and support sustainable and inclusive development.
Globally, water security is recognized as being a major risk to society, especially to the poor. The World Economic Forum lists water crises within the top 10 risks most likely to impact and disrupt economic stability and growth. The Western Cape has acknowledged water as a provincial risk[1] as well and needs to take the necessary steps, together with local government, to ensure water security now and into the future. A shortage of water due to climate change, poor land use and catchment management or failing infrastructure affects both the quantity and quality of water. The impact on economic sectors and job creation threaten to undermine the service delivery gains made over the past two decades. The time has come for unusual and innovative solutions to be found to our water security concerns. It is notable that the World Water Development Report (WWDR) focused on wastewater as an “untapped resource” (March 2017).
The challenge to secure a resilient, sustainable, quality and inclusive living environment, hinges on progress made on the ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all. These challenges have been recognised in the Provincial Strategic Goals (PSGs)[2] and resonate with the Programme of Action developed by the Joint Task Team.
Given the complexities and interconnections of seemingly intractable challenges, the Joint Task Team is calling for proposals that are innovative in approach, involve multi or inter-disciplinary research groups, and that include opportunities for sharing ideas derived from existing research and / or to inform new research. It is likely that proposals will include groups of researchers from various departments and could include researchers from the different universities within the province.
As can be seen in the application form attached, the proposals need to include the names of WCG partners (Departments and individual staff members) who have agreed to participate in the research and to outline their role(s) in the project.
Submissions may include activities required for the development of research programmes or for activities where existing research results are considered, ‘translated’ and / or widely disseminated. In either case, the work should contribute to the development of policy interventions.
2. APPLICATION AND SELECTION PROCESSES
We invite university researchers to submit proposals for innovative work in areas related to the challenges associated with water security and the need to provide for resilient growth in areas such as food security, water sensitive design for settlements, investment in ecological Infrastructure and green infrastructure), agriculture, climate change, skills development and employment, behavior change, use patterns and perceptions regarding water sources and technologies and social inclusion.
Lead researchers are invited to submit their proposals to the institutional representatives on the Joint Task Team by Monday 31 July 2017.
Institutional representative:
UCT – Sonwabo Ngcelwane ()
The application form is attached to this call, see Appendix A. It provides for the inclusion of information on:
· The lead researcher
· Additional researchers from the same university or from other universities in the province
· Project partners in the WCG
· Title of the research project
· Background to the project (rationale, motivation and explanation of how the project aligns with the call and its requirements)
· Project objectives
· Project activities
· Envisaged outputs and outcomes
· Roles of researchers and project partners
· Timeframe and work plan
· Budget (see note below)
Please also note the following:
· The details of all researchers and their envisaged roles in the project must be clearly indicated.
· The proposed budget needs to be justified in terms of project activities and outcomes / outputs. The costs of salaries, equipment and travel beyond the Western Cape cannot be funded.
· Where necessary, requests to the Joint Task Team to assist with facilitating connections between university and WCG Departments and staff should be sent to as soon as possible.
· Any additional funding received and / or expected from other sources (e.g. the NRF) must be fully declared in the application.
Selection will follow the two-step process used in previous CHEC – WCG research funding processes, i.e. an internal institutional review process will be followed by final selection and approval by the Joint Task Team.
3. THE REPORTING PROCESS
The funding is for a period of a year, and a project report is required to be submitted to the institutional representatives on 30 September 2018.
Guidelines for this report are attached in Appendix B.
.
Appendix A
Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC) /
Western Cape Government (CCT)
2017 INNOVATION FUND APPLICATION FORM
1. Lead researcher’s details
Surname / Initials / TitleUniversity
Faculty / Dept. / Unit
E-mail / Telephone / 0
2. Additional university researchers’ details
Surname / Initials / TitleUniversity
Faculty / Dept. / Unit
E-mail / Telephone / 0
Surname / Initials / Title
University
Faculty / Dept. / Unit
E-mail / Telephone / 0
Surname / Initials / Title
University
Faculty / Dept. / Unit
E-mail / Telephone / 0
Surname / Initials / Title
University
Faculty / Dept. / Unit
E-mail / Telephone / 0
3. Identified partners in the Western Cape Government
Surname / Initials / TitleDepartment
E-mail / Telephone / 0
Surname / Initials / Title
Department
E-mail / Telephone / 0
Surname / Initials / Title
Department
E-mail / Telephone / 0
4. Provide details of your proposed research project
Title:Summarise the researchers’ qualifications and experience, and explain how these are relevant to work anticipated for this project
Background, rationale and description of the challenge addressed in this project
Describe how the project aligns with the work of the WCG in this area
Project objectives
Project activities
Envisaged outputs and outcomes /
List university project partners and describe their role(s) in the project
List partners identified in the WCG and their role(s), where applicable
List any other partners (e.g. local government, NGOs etc) and their role(s), where applicable
Time-frame and work plan
List the activities planned to promote the dissemination and uptake of the research outcomes
5. Budget: requests for 2017
Please complete the table include hereBudget items must be aligned with the project work-plan described in Section 3 above.
Add rows as needed.
Description of budget line item / Amount
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
TOTAL
Appendix B
Cape Higher Education Consortium (CHEC) / Western Cape Government (WCG)
INNOVATION GRANT
Guidelines for Project Reports
It is requested that the following information be provided in a report of approximately 8 – 10 pages. It is important that this report be accessible to a wide audience, including academics, government officials, and practitioners.
1. COVER PAGE
Researcher’s name, department / unit, faculty, university, contact addresses and phone numbers.
WCG partner’s name and position, contact addresses and phone numbers.
Title of project.
2. ABSTRACT
The abstract should highlight the value of the project to knowledge generation in universities and its linkages to the priorities of the WCG.
3. INTRODUCTION AND AIMS / QUESTIONS
Reference to the objectives and outcomes specified in the funding proposal should be included in this section.
4. RESEARCH APPROACH AND METHODS
A short summary of the approach and methods used should be included, but detailed descriptions of highly technical processes may be omitted.
5. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FOLLOW-UP ACTION
This is the most critical aspect of the report in that it needs to synthesise the findings, draw conclusions and suggest follow-up actions, e.g. for further research, policy development and implementation.
6. BUDGET
Please reflect the actual spend against the budget included in the original proposal.
[1] On 23 May 2017 the Premier declared a provincial state of disaster in the Western Cape (Provincial Gazette 7771, 24 May 2017)
[2] In order to access additional information on the PSGs, go to https://www.westerncape.gov.za/text/2015/October/western_cape_provincial_strategic_plan_2014-2019.pdf