SwedBio Funding Program for CSOs, International Organisations, Institutes & Universities

Themes

• Grouped under Themes are five different thematic focal areas, some with close interlinkages. These are Livelihood, food & health; Cities & biodiversity; Biocultural diversity; Climate change & ecosystems; and Values & governance, all presented below.
  • Agroecology
    • This theme contributes to a transition to more diverse, equitable and sustainable agroecological food systems. These food systems should sustain and promote improved livelihoods, food security and human health.
    • This theme embraces activities where smallholder farmers reclaim their rights to resources and knowledge. In recent years, agroecology and regenerative farming systems have been highlighted as promising options for more resilient food production. Diverse production systems, compared to single-crop systems, enhance the availability of more nutritious foods and can better meet seasonal food needs. Hence, a specific focus will be on agricultural biodiversity in food systems, and the important role of diverse, farmer-led seed systems for food security and nutrition, sustainable and diverse diets, and health and well-being.
    • This theme also focuses on knowledge generation and exchange for developing localised agroecological approaches, and the important role of horizontal peer-to-peer learning networks. This could include connecting science and practice, as well as integrating resilience thinking, in the design of agroecological systems.
    • In addition, this theme sees food sovereignty and endogenous development as the key for creating resilient food systems. Rights-based approaches to food security emerge from the recognition that poverty, social exclusion, and a lack of participation in decision-making processes are the main causes of food insecurity worldwide
  • Urban Nature
    • The Urban Nature theme works with urban planning with ecosystem services. This theme also works to increase understanding and use of relevant nature-based solutions – or integrated nature and culture-based solutions – in urban areas.
    • The Urban Nature theme works with urban planning with ecosystem services. This theme also works to increase understanding and use of relevant nature-based solutions – or integrated nature and culture-based solutions – in urban areas. Building capacity among local governments and other key actors for improved local implementation of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, in cities across rapidly urbanizing Africa and Asia, is essential in this work.
    • SwedBio, in collaboration with partners, international experts and Stockholm Resilience Centre researchers, will continue to inform and support the development of the new biodiversity frameworks, specifically ones that focus on nature-based solutions for urban resilience. SwedBio will continue to contribute to the enabling and strengthening of multi-level governance, connecting local government and global actors.
    • In the 2021-2024 programme phase, this theme is working to integrate disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation in urban nature work, as well as continue experimenting with nature-based solutions (NBS). This is all done while developing implementation approaches and methodologies with their partners.
  • Biocultural Diversity
    • Biological and cultural diversity that embraces indigenous and local knowledge and practices provide innovative ways of coping with global change. SwedBio collaborates with indigenous peoples and local community organisations on several continents. Through their exchanges across knowledge systems and cultures, they are striving to find ways towards equity, reciprocity and usefulness in the meetings for all involved.
    • Alongside partners among Indigenous peoples and local community organisations, contribute to better governance and management of social- ecological systems and to the strengthening of biological and cultural diversity and the links between them. Increased respect and recognition for Indigenous and local knowledge, practices, values, cultures and the acknowledgement of associated rights related to biodiversity are critical parts of this.
    • The diverse social, cultural and environmental knowledge of Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) contribute extensively to sustainability across large parts of the globe. The scope and content of Indigenous and local knowledge brings insights of great relevance for ecosystem governance.
  • Climate Change
    • Biodiversity and ecosystem services have a key role and potential in mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Sustainable development policies and actions need to be even more emphasized in the light of climate change.
    • SwedBio’s Climate Change theme contributes to equitable ecosystem governance and management that supports sustainable livelihoods as well as adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk reduction related to climate change, through analysis and measures related to resilience and social-ecological systems.
    • SwedBio brings together different actors, including practitioners and experts, who work locally, nationally, regionally, and globally to understand and recognise the need for nature-based solutions, and in particular ecosystem-based approaches to climate change.
    • Nature-based solutions are important for all aspects of sustainable development and combine biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource management with a view to addressing many social and environmental challenges including climate change and its impacts. Nature-based solutions include ecosystem-based approaches to adaptation and disaster risk reduction, which SwedBio highlights their importance through its partners and policy work.
    • In this theme, SwedBio contributes directly to a number of global policy fora, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
  • Small-Scale Fisheries
    • The Small-Scale Fisheries theme contributes to more sustainable and equitable governance and management of social-ecological aquatic systems that uplifts small-scale fishers/farmers, fishworkers and people involved in the value chain.
    • This work is done through increasing their voices, participation and recognition of their tenure rights, by highlighting their local knowledge, values, cultures so that resilient sustainable livelihoods and food security is ensured.
    • Small-Scale Fisheries (SSF) play a crucial role in food security and nutrition for many families, as well as an essential role in local economies, providing livelihood to many and enabling access to basic needs and services. However, SSF still lack recognition and decision-making power when it comes to ocean governance.
    • Furthermore, sustainable fisheries are both linked and dependent on biodiversity in the oceans and lakes. In developing countries, marine and coastal ecosystems are an important part of peoples’ food security, livelihoods, and human well-being.
    • This theme focuses on strengthening the recognition of SSF through supporting partner organisations in decision-making in policy arenas. SwedBio wishes to further strengthen the network-building of partners, and other relevant actors, in order to identify opportunities for synergies and collaboration.

Principles

• Cross-cutting perspectives that underpin and should be analysed in all SwedBio’s operations are: resilience perspectives and social-ecological systems rich in biodiversity. Cross-cutting values that underlie and should be analysed in all SwedBio’s operations are: poverty alleviation, equity, human rights, democracy, gender and endogenous development.
  • Gender
    • SwedBio is dedicated to advancing equality for women and men as an integrated part of their efforts towards sustainable and equitable development, and management and use of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
    • SwedBio is dedicated to advancing equality for women and men as an integrated part of their efforts towards sustainable and equitable development, and management and use of biodiversity and ecosystem services. In many contexts, men and women have unequal access and rights pertaining to land, territories, biological resources and ecosystem services. Gender inequality can also manifest itself in inequitable access to knowledge and power. Moreover, women are often more vulnerable than men to the consequences of biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and climate change.
  • Conflict
    • SwedBio’s policy on integrating a conflict perspective within its operations aims to inspire new ways of understanding the relationship between biodiversity, climate and conflict.
    • The impacts of biodiversity loss and climate change exacerbate the drivers of conflict or existing sources of tension in society. Associated policy decisions and interventions can also have unintended consequences that increase conflict risks, especially when they are poorly planned and implemented. To effectively plan policies and interventions, all actors should not only strive to understand not the factors of the system, their dynamic relationships and how they change over time, but also the impacts of a policy decision or intervention on that system. SwedBio has developed a Conflict Policy that helps guide their work.
  • Human Rights-Based Approach
    • SwedBio includes an equity, democracy and rights perspectives in all its activities.
    • SwedBio works to include an equity, democracy and rights perspectives in all its activities. SwedBio emphasizes a human rights-based approach (HRBA), as one of its cross-cutting principles and has developed an HRBA Policy.
    • The HRBA framework analyses power structures and aims to empower people (rights holders) so that they can be aware of their rights and able to demand them.
    • Additionally, it aims to analyse the responsibility and obligation of states, their institutions, and non-state actors (duty bearers) to strengthen their capacities to fulfil their particular obligation and responsibility towards the rights holders.
  • Adaptive Approach
    • SwedBio’s adaptive approach allows them to change their operations based on the results of their learning, analyses and evolving understanding of the context. It is based on a continuous learning process which informs action.
    • The overarching aim of applying the adaptive approach is to thoughtfully and strongly navigate towards vision. Adaptability here refers to remaining open to emerging issues, locating opportunities and mitigating risks. The adaptive approach is used as a base for their risk reduction strategy. Without an adaptive approach, SwedBio would not be able to navigate the complex spaces the programme is operating in. It allows them to change their operations based on the results of their learning, analyses and evolving understanding of the context. It is based on a continuous learning process which informs action.
  • Guiding Principles for Knowledge Collaborations
    • When engaging in co-creation of new knowledge across knowledge systems and cultures it is important to have a clear framework and transparent principles and procedures to guide the motivation, character and intent of the collaborative initiatives.

Funding Information

• SwedBio contributes to shorter projects through their small-grants support (total support corresponding to maximum SEK 500,000) and to longer, multi-year projects. For multi-year projects they encourage to seek co-funding also from other donors.

Approaches

• SwedBio work within all themes or thematic focal areas with three different approaches, also called functional focal areas: Dialogues & learning; Art & culture; and Communication & training.
  • Values and Governance
    • In order to achieve the urgently needed transformations, societal values and behaviours such as production and consumption patterns, human population trends, trade, technological innovations and local through global governance, which are the indirect drivers of biodiversity loss, have to be addressed. This is why SwedBio has a strong emphasis on values and governance as the base in all its themes actions.
    • Thee IPBES Global Assessment concludes that the 2050 Vision on people living in harmony with nature can only be achieved by addressing the drivers of biodiversity loss, including through transformative changes in society and economies. These transformations are more likely when efforts are directed at key leverage points, which can yield exceptionally large effects, such as resolving inequalities, justice and inclusion in conservation – specifically through inclusive decision-making, fair and equitable sharing of benefits, and adherence to human rights in conservation decisions.
  • Art and Culture
    • Most SwedBio partners with field based work, use cultural expressions as a natural part of their work, since it is embedded in local communities cultures. SwedBio seeks to help make this work more visible in order to acknowledge the power of these expressions, and also inspire other partners and actors to integrate it into their work.
      • With this new functional area SwedBio intends to both make ongoing work among programme partners related to art and culture in various forms more visible, and to recognize and learn from their experiences and open up for sharing in order to inspire others in the development of new perspectives. Art and cultural expressions can for example be in the form of theatre, literature, painting, sculpture, poetry, music, dance, architecture, story telling, spirituality and rituals.
      • Art and culture are playing a crucial role in the work of SwedBio, and are recognised to:
        • Highlight the intrinsic value of art and culture in their partners’ work
        • Contribute to finding more creative solutions to global environmental change challenges
        • Stimulate a deeper understanding and demystifying complex and seemingly distant or abstract issues concerning resilience and issues of global environmental change
        • Support change towards increased social ecological resilience
        • Contribute to the acceptance and recognition of the diversity of methods at hand for generation of knowledge and to bring it onwards in practice in different cultures
  • Communication and Training
    • Acting as a knowledge interface, SwedBio invests in communication and training to support knowledge generation, collective learning and knowledge sharing across knowledge systems.
    • SwedBio conducts strategic communication adapted to meet the needs of SwedBio’s target groups. Regular news updates are made through a battery of communication channels; through the website, social media, publications such as reports and policy briefs, a quarterly web based newsletter and through face-to-face meetings, side events, seminars and dialogues.
    • SwedBio’s target groups
      • The main target groups of SwedBio’s work, all of which need to have relevance for developing countries (low income countries and least developed countries), are:
        • Civil society organisations such as indigenous peoples and local communities groups of regional and global relevance;
        • International networks and organisations;
        • International organisations such as UN bodies;
        • Other international agencies working with international development cooperation (for example multilateral donors including the World Bank, bilateral donors, or UN agencies);
  • Assessments and Indicators
    • Method development, piloting, dissemination and implementation of social-ecological systems related assessments and indicators have always been important approaches for SwedBio and partners. Examples include the follow up of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, the developments under IPBES and adherent assessments, content support to the Sub Global Assessment network, Community- Based Monitoring and Information Systems and the role of Indigenous and local knowledge in assessments, as well as resilience assessments. This also relates to scenario analysis and modelling and tools such as eco-cultural mapping.
  • Dialogues and Learning
    • SwedBio is striving towards fostering collaborative learning with science, policy and practice and connecting diverse knowledge systems. This is done in the multi-actor dialogue processes but also in other science and practice collaborative learning process.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applications must also meet their criteria listed below:
  • SwedBio can only fund initiatives that are relevant to the vision of SwedBio as outlined in their Theory of Change:
    • Vision: SwedBio envisions a world that is sustainably managed and where rights are equitably fulfilled, with people being able to make sustainable choices for biodiversity rich and resilient futures while thriving in harmony with nature.
  • The application must be for activities related to SwedBio’s themes, approaches and principles and that aligns with the overall Theory of Change.
  • SwedBio supports:
    • Civil society organisations, including Indigenous peoples and local communities’ organisations
    • International organisations
    • Institutes
    • Universities
  • In particular, regional and global networks with projects of regional and global relevance. These projects are primarily implementing activities and based in OECD DAC list developing countries. Priority is given to least developed and other low-income countries. Middle-income countries are also considered, in particular as part of regional and global networks, and south-south collaborations.
  • Support is mainly given to initiatives that involve learning and co-creation of knowledge, including practice, policy, research and education. SwedBio cannot fund scientific research or scientific education, but collaborations between policymakers, practitioners and scientists. See Guiding principles for knowledge collaborations (link).
  • SwedBio can contribute to organisations’ participation in meetings and workshops, but mainly if the organisation is coordinating participation from several southern-based groups and countries.
  • SwedBio does not sponsor individuals. For example, research grants or to participate in meetings/workshops.
  • SwedBio does not support organisations or projects that are only of national character, all supported work must have regional and global relevance and links.
  • Organisations must have an adequate organisational structure and management capacity (transparent, accountable, legitimate and democratic, led or coordinated by a balanced representation of relevant parties, actors, or organisations (in case applicant is a network) including a balanced gender representation).
  • Priority for support is given to initiatives that do not receive substantial support from other Swedish sources and especially not for the same purpose.
  • SwedBio usually does not contribute to organisations/applications/long-term projects if there are no other donors. SwedBio can consider be the only donor for shorter projects or for contributions to actors from developing countries to participate in international negotiations or other relevant meetings.

For more information, visit SwedBio.