Deadline: 22-Dec-22

Researchers of urban studies are invited to submit expressions of interest (EOI) – or preliminary proposals -to support the development, implementation, and learnings of the Safe and Sound Cities Programme (S2Cities) and its global team.

Global Infrastructure Basel Foundation (GIB) is a Swiss foundation, based in Basel, Switzerland. They work towards a world in which investments in social, economic, and physical infrastructure lead to inclusive, sustainable and resilient communities and ecosystems. The mission is to inspire and accelerate a mainstream transition to sustainable and resilient infrastructure.

The Safe and Sound Cities Programme (S²Cities) is an initiative proudly led by GIB, hosted by the Swiss Philanthropy Foundation, and with the support of Fondation Botnar. This global programme aims to improve the safety and wellbeing of young people in urban environments in secondary cities in the Global South.

They welcome proposals related to one or a combination of the programme’s three core themes:

• Youth participation in urban planning and decision-making
• Holistic urban agendas of safety, security and wellbeing for young people
• Sustainable and inclusive built environments through placemaking

Research Themes

• Engaging young people in urban planning
• Holistic interpretation of urban safety and security
• Promoting engagement and inclusiveness through placemaking

Funding Information

• This call offers a grant of up to 90,000 CHF to support a research agenda that accompanies the S2Cities programme from approximately February 2023 until March 2024, when Phase I of the programme ends. If applicable, overhead should take no more than 10 percent of the total budget.

Eligibility Criteria

• Proposals should be developed and submitted by a research team consisting of members of one or a consortium of research institutions working in the fields of youth participation in urban planning/governance, social sustainability, anthropology, sociology, political science, development studies, and other related fields, who are familiar and appreciative of design- and systems-thinking approaches.
• The team should have a strong quantitative and qualitative background and be able to demonstrate practical ways to achieve objectives while upholding a participatory approach with all programme partners.
• They welcome teams with a track record of collaborating with multi-stakeholder, international projects at local and global scales.
• They strongly encourage applications from teams based in cities of the Global South; if based in the Global North, applicants must submit proof of long-standing research experience in, and established partnerships with researchers and organisations in countries of the Global South (in particular Indonesia, Philippines, Colombia and/or Ecuador).
• The key values that they are looking for are: out-of-the-box thinking, flexibility, innovation, and the ability to come up with a meaningful research proposal that addresses one or a combination of the topics.
• They will prioritise expressions of interest which include the possibility of cofunding, or that offer strong synergies with other programmes or partners.
• All preliminary and full proposals must be written in English – as this will be the working language of this programme at the global level.

For more information, visit Research Partner for the Safe and Sound (S²Cities) Program.