The Impact Seed Funding (ISF) by the Southeast Asia Journalist–Scientists Hub is a micro-scale grant to facilitate further education related activities that take inspiration from the under-reported stories about forest under program Rainforest Journalism Fund (RJF) and Rainforest Investigation Network (RIN).

Thank you for your interest in the Impact Seed Funding. Applications are now closed for 2022.

The ISF is designed to provide seed funds to the researchers and lecturers to unlock further impact from the work reported by the Pulitzer Center’s fellow under the RJF and RIN fellows and ultimately increase the awareness of the proliferated rainforest issues in Southeast Asia. We believe in the power of knowledge and the role of education and educators in addressing the multidisciplinary problems in rainforests. The seed funding provides micro-scale funding to:

  • Initiate new collaborations or develop existing collaborations between lecturers/researchers with journalists;
  • Intensify engagement between education communities, journalists, and forest community in the Southeast Asia region;
  • Stimulate the use of data and information from the underreported stories in the teaching materials, student activities, curricula materials or scientific publications;
  • Facilitate the adoption of featured findings in relevant research and other scientific products

The ISF was designed to be flexible and responsive to education/forest community needs, allowing applicants to establish activities linked to urgent issues in the forest. The ISF will range from USD $3,000–4,000. We expect that projects will be implemented in a two-month timeline after approval.

Requirements

The project must take inspiration from the stories, undergone or reported by the Rainforest Journalism Fund (RJF) and Rainforest Investigative Network (RIN) fellows.

  • The activity must showcase an intended impact to the audience of affected forest communities (customary or Indigenous people), academic community (students or fellow lecturers/researchers), or civil society.
  • The project will be consulted with the relevant RJF or RIN fellow.
  • Applicants will need to deliver financial and narrative reports at the end of the grant period, detailing costs and results.

Read Southeast Asia Rainforest Journalism Fund Reporting

Read Southeast Asia Rainforest Journalism Fund Reporting


Read Rainforest Investigations Network Reporting

Read Rainforest Investigations Network Reporting

Examples of Activities

The outputs are not exhaustive with sample activities such as:

Education Community Engagement | Insertion in teaching materials; on-campus debates; social Issues hackathon; student-led debates/dialogues; supports to the ‘Kampus Merdeka’ activities, visuals production and dissemination (short videos, documentary, podcast, content), on-campus mini-exhibition

Mobility/Forest Community Engagement | Knowledge exchange activities; student visits; biodiversity expedition; citizen journalism

Support to Research Activities | Data adoption to improve ongoing research accuracy; insertion of data/knowledge in a book chapter

Eligibility

Applicants must be lecturers or researchers based in Indonesia.

Project Duration

The maximum duration of the proposed collaboration is 2 months. Once the fund is approved, it will be transferred to the successful principal applicant once the grant agreement is countersigned by the Pulitzer Center. Formal project start dates will be set in the grant agreement.

How to Apply

The application must include the following documents:

  • An overview of the proposed project in no more than 250 words. This must include the objectives, target audience, proposed activities, intended impact and rationale of the proposed project.
  • Detailed timeframe
  • A preliminary budget estimate, including a basic breakdown of costs. Our typical grants cover hard costs associated with the reporting. Local reporting partner/translator/driver fees are acceptable and stipends can be considered depending on the circumstances.
  • If the proposed activities include knowledge exchange activities for forest communities, a statement by a member of the community showing the need from them must be presented. This can be in the form of a message or letter.
  • A copy of Curriculum Vitae including three professional references (Head of Departments or Lead in your workplace must be included). This should be in the form of a letter of recommendations.

Timeline

  1. Application Process: August 12 – September 25, 2022
  2. Selection Process: September 21 – 29, 2022
  3. Grants Announcement: September 30, 2022
  4. Briefing and Grants Administration: October 3 - 14, 2022
  5. Implementation Duration: October 17 – December 16, 2022
  6. Project Reporting and Closure: December Week 17 – December 30, 2022

Questions?

Contact Ms. Grenti Paramitha, SEA Education Coordinator at [email protected].