RFAs: GDF Conservation and Communities Fellowship Program

The Fellowship is a 7-month, online and in-person programme for 24 community-based conservation leaders from the Global South. The CCF is commmitted to:

• Adopting contextual approaches and giving space to local and indigenous epistemologies;
• Promoting the redistribution of opportunities and the scaling of results;
• Open-ended and horizontal learning processes that centre peer-to-peer learning;
• Promoting the decolonisation of funding practices and the creation of direct dialogues between donors, local NGOs and community leaders;
• Consolidating a knowledge and practice-based network offering support to conservation leaders beyond the fellowship;
• Understanding that leaders are embedded in organisations, and our work must engage the full organisational ecosystem to be effective.

Benefits

• The CCF will help selected fellows to:
  • Enhance their organisation’s conservation initiatives;
  • Fund their projects and grow their networks;
  • Participate in skills building, peer exchange, and mentoring;
  • Engage in post-fellowship offerings, including grants to host MSc interns, seed grants, collective publication and ongoing individual mentoring.

Program Specifications

• Fellows will receive training, facilitation and peer support in four streams:
  • Mentoring: trains fellows in the art of mentoring to enhance their management and relationship-building through a process of individual and relational growth.
  • Leadership: enhances fellows’ ability to engage with diverse stakeholders and build communities of cooperation and collaboration to deliver conservation outcomes.
  • Capabilities & Capacities: focuses on technical skills, including proposal writing, project management, and team management.
  • Communities and Conservation: offers a space for critical dialogue and debate around policies, practices and public discourses on the topic of community-based conservation.

Eligibility Criteria

• The Fellowship is open to applicants from the Global South who are leaders in local civil society or grassroots organisations whose work focuses on the intersection of biodiversity conservation and community livelihoods.
• Successful candidates will be highly motivated individuals who show commitment to bringing about positive change and who can demonstrate their leadership potential and capability. They are able to critically assess their personal and organisational challenges, and are capable of clearly articulating their learning requirements and needs.

For more information, visit Global Diversity Foundation.