Overview

NATURA anticipates supporting two thematic working groups (TWGs) each year to coordinate one in-person workshop that will result in a synthesis product. This structure calls upon participants to work within their groups/networks to bring data and knowledge to the table in support of a broader synthesis. Outputs will include scientific publication(s) but may also be policy briefs and other high-level summaries useful to practitioners in the networks. In-person workshop funding can be used to support up to eight participants per group for a 4-5-day workshop at a location best suited to the group. Each workshop must include at least one-third early-career participants. To provide support for additional participants or additional in-person meetings, we encourage working groups to leverage funding from collaborating networks, as well as coordinate follow-up in-person meetings with the annual NATURA All-Hands Meetings.

Eligibility

Funding for workshops is limited to current NATURA thematic working groups at this time.

Other grant conditions

Each workshop must include at least one-third early-career participants. Invited working groups will be expected to fulfill the outputs listed on this Award Outputs page.

Proposal review

Proposals will be reviewed by a committee of active NATURA members and all TWGs will receive written reviews from the proposal review committee at that time. Reviews will be based on the following criteria (in order of importance):

1. Intellectual merit (overall quality of the workshop proposed, its relationship to the original working group goals, and feasibility of logistics surrounding location)

2. Contribution of the project to the overall goals of the NATURA Network and to ongoing work in the thematic working group

3. Feasibility and importance of proposed workshop outputs

Application instructions

Applicants must submit their proposals electronically by the deadline date: October 3 of 2022 at 11:59pm your local time.

The text should be in 12-point font with 1” margins and should not exceed page limits stipulated below (not including budget or literature cited). The proposal should contain the following components:

• A descriptive title for the proposed workshop.

• An abstract of the proposed workshop, which succinctly states the central purpose for meeting in person (Place this under the heading, Abstract; 250 words maximum).

• A full workshop description (under the heading, Proposed Workshop, no more than 3 pages including tables and figures), covering the following:

  • An introductory section that briefly reviews the main TWG goals/rationale and current ongoing work within the group;

  • A clear statement of the workshop objectives/ activities

  • A statement of proposed participants

  • A description of the workshop itinerary;

  • Discussion of expected results (Ex. documents, figures, publications, etc.) from the workshop; f. A description of the significance of the proposed workshop/ workshop results in the field of interest, to NATURA goals, and/or nature-based solutions; g. Proposed use of NATURA resources (can be listed in tabular form— includes sites, datasets, instrumentation, imagery, and other facilities); h. Statement of intention to provide results to NATURA.

• Literature Cited (2 pages maximum).

• Budget and Justification with detailed categories and a narrative justification of all requested expenditures, under the heading Budget (1 page maximum). Budgets should include the following categories of expenditures: Travel, Lodging, Meals, Materials and Supplies, Local Travel (.445 cents/mile), Publication Costs, and Other (please provide details). The budget should just be presented as lines of text with one line devoted to each budget category. The budget justification or budget narrative should give details about the amount in each line item. For example, “Under materials and supplies, I request $50 for 8 notebooks at $6.25/notebook and $39.99 for a pack of 36 pens for a total of $89.99.

Deadline: October 3 of 2022 at 11:59pm your local time.

Questions? Reach out to Chris Kennedy (kennedyc@newschool.edu).