What we support
IDRC’s Climate Change and Water program creates opportunities to build local climate change expertise through research and skills development. We also engage with our grantees to push their research and policy priorities forward.
Research
We support research by established institutions and less-experienced organizations requiring more technical guidance and oversight. We look for projects that include:
- local relevance and local knowledge
- multidisciplinary and multistakeholder teams
- gender and other social research approaches
- environmental economic analysis
Increasing skills
We support action at the local level to ensure communities gain the experience they need to successfully translate research into effective adaptation measures. Priorities include:
- increasing the ability to manage risk and reduce vulnerability
- building skills in gender, social, and economic analysis
- improving water management approaches to cope with climate change
- communicating research results
Policy influence
Policy change is dynamic, complicated, and best achieved when policymakers are engaged in the research process. Research teams must be attuned to their needs and communicate clearly with them. That’s why we support:
- policy-engagement training courses for researchers
- training to produce peer-reviewed work
- conference and workshop attendance by field researchers
We encourage our funded researchers to develop indicators to monitor their research. We offer funding to publish research findings and to profile results in creative ways—through videos, on the Web, in policy briefs, in exhibits, and more.
Initiatives
The initiatives we support include:
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1. Improving the quality and availability of water for vulnerable people in areas highly susceptible to water stress: We look for research that explores low-cost, low-tech approaches to coping with water stress and improving livelihoods. It should examine social, economic, and political incentives to reduce vulnerability.
Specific areas of focus:
- local wastewater treatment
- cost-effective reuse of polluted water
- water use in sustainable energy production
- local sustainable energy sources to support efficient water use
- water demand management
- economic costs of adaptation measures
- water-related adaptation tools and metrics
2. Managing risks and unexpected climatic events: We fund research to develop tools to assess, measure, and track changes in a community’s ability to adapt. We also look for proposals to develop and implement adaptive capacity measures that fit local needs.
Specific areas of focus:
- using information and communication technologies as disaster response and information tools
- social and economic costs of failing to adapt
- flooding in vulnerable urban areas
- planning for water and energy services less vulnerable to climate change
3. Improving debates, policies, and decision-making: To have an impact, research results must be communicated to those who can use them, in a timely way. That’s why we support evidence-based research and its communication to policymakers.
Specific areas of focus:
- water governance and equity in decision-making
- integrating adaptation tools and strategies into policy
- building flexibility and resilience into policy-making and regulation
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How to apply
Researchers wishing to apply for funding should know our program well. We suggest you read our prospectus to better tailor your idea to our program’s priority and outcome areas.
For details on how to apply for IDRC funding, please consult our
Funding page.
We accept research grant ideas on an ongoing basis. However, our reviews take place annually in September.
How we assess your application
We use some of the following criteria to assess research proposals:
- Does the research contribute to our program interests?
- Is the methodological approach sound?
- What is the degree of local participation?
- Does the proposed research draw upon the natural, economic, and social sciences as needed to ensure relevant and useful applied scientific research?
- Have the gender dimensions or other social dimensions of the research been identified?
- How does the proposed research idea relate to priority problems of the country/region as recognized by governments, the research community, civil society organizations, or international experts?
- Who will use the results of this research and how will the research users be involved in the research process?
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