Deadline: 1 May 2015
The Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the UK Department for International Development’s (DFID) new competitive Challenge Fund seeks to pilot new and innovative approaches to overcome these challenges and strengthen disaster and climate risk decision-making in developing countries. This Challenge Fund seeks to provide small grants to projects that address the challenge in bridging the gap between technology and on-the-ground user needs in the field of disaster risk identification. Risk identification is seen at the foundation of all disaster risk management decision-making, whether risk reduction, preparedness, financial protection, or resilient recovery. The Fund seeks to support the development of data, products and approaches to support disaster risk management decision making and build resilience, including through better information, but also strengthening key steps in moving from information to insight and behavior change.
Thematic Areas
- Availability and Accessibility of Data and Tools to Analyze Risk which can include:
- Utilizing new techniques, such as crowd-sourcing and big data, to fill data gaps
- Drawing upon remote sensing and other datasets to deliver high-res digital elevation models
- Developing new open, probabilistic modelling techniques, for example for drought
- Developing models for outputs beyond direct economic loss; e.g. poverty impacts
- Moving from Information to Insight which can include:
- Supporting products that are co-designed, co-developed and co-implemented with users; for example, new impact-based forecasting tools tailored for use by emergency services
- Risk visualization tools that communicate risk effectively based on a deep understanding of how users perceive and interpret risk information.
- Accessible interfaces to existing tools that are targeted to specific user needs.
- Beyond Insight to Triggering Changes in Behavior which can include:
- Piloting approaches to move from insight to action, for example through gaming, participatory decision making or other approaches.
- Wild Card for challenges not listed above.
Grant Funding
- First Phase:
- Category 1: up to USD 50,000- A proposal that builds on existing initiatives and requires new tools or approaches to achieve a greater impact.
- Category 2: up to USD 100,000 – Proposals funded under Category 2 aim to demonstrate a fully innovative approach to an intractable challenge, and therefore may require more funding to get them off the ground.
- Second Phase: up to USD 150,000- Proposals that have demonstrated success in the first round may be eligible for further funding. Success will be determined a demonstrated uptake from the first round and the potential scalability of the project.
