Transnational call for proposals in the context of the Belmont Forum: Arctic observing and research for sustainability

ANR joins the Belmont Forum to launch a transnational call for proposals on the following theme: Arctic observing and research for sustainability.

Planning for a sustainable environment, in which human needs are met equitably without harm to the environment, and without sacrificing the ability of future generations to meet their needs requires a robust understanding of the integrated system of society, the natural world, and the alterations humans bring to the environment.  Developing this robust understanding of the integrated system is a common interest among Belmont Forum members and is the focus of this Collaborative Research Action Call for proposals. The ultimate goal of the call is to utilize existing Arctic observing systems, datasets and models to evaluate key sustainability challenges and opportunities in the Arctic region, to innovate new sustainability science theory and approaches to these challenges and opportunities, and support decision-making towards a sustainable Arctic environment.

The Belmont Forum seeks to support projects that are based on inter- and trans-disciplinary research involving robust end user community engagement. Recognizing that the international research communities needed to address the challenges of this Call may be in various stages of development, the Belmont Forum will support three complementary types of proposals. 

1. TYPE 1 (eligible for ANR funding): Small collaboration grants, available to connect researchers and stakeholders from three or more countries to engage in transdisciplinary collaboration around one or more of the themes.  Applicants should consider for their collaboration the development of research proposals for other calls (whether national or international), best practices, shared methodologies, and interdisciplinary scholarship for these themes.  It is expected that these research teams would deliver relevant products that would advance understanding of Arctic coupled human-natural systems and Arctic resiliency.  The total budget for a TYPE 1 project should not exceed 200,000 Euros (max. 50 K€ for the French contribution).
    
2. TYPE 2 (not eligible for ANR funding): Small synthesis grants, available to synthesize results from existing or finished research grants, activities, and other national or international projects. Proposers are advised to build their projects in close connection with the funded research projects, other national and international projects and stakeholder groups. The total budget for a TYPE 2 project should not exceed 500,000 Euros.
    
3. TYPE 3 (eligible for ANR funding): Research grants, available to address one or more of the themes through the lens of Arctic observing systems and sustainability science. Observations of the changing Arctic system are collected by a range of institutions, including but not limited to local residents, academia, government and industry. Proposers are encouraged to leverage available observing data from various research infrastructures, Arctic observing networks, and scientific theories to study, develop, and advance knowledge on coupled human-natural systems in the Arctic. This can include work on adaptive strategies, resilient design, scenario planning, and policy development.  The total budget for a TYPE 3 project should not exceed 1,000,000 Euros. 

Funding should support researchers to cooperate in consortia consisting of partners from at least three of the participating countries.

Participating countries are as following: Canada (NSERC and SSHRC), China (NSFC), France (ANR and CNRS), Iceland (Rannis et SAI), India (MoES), Italy (CNR), Japan (JST), NordForsk, Norway (RCN), Russia (RFBR), USA (BOEM and NSF), USA-UK (WOC).

The consortium involving French partner must propose a new research project including a minimum of 2 partners from a minimum of 2 other countries participating to the call which can receive new funding corresponding to new manpower, experimental, equipment, operating costs or access to research infrastructures.