The South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE) is inviting researchers. It welcomes research concept notes in any area of environmental and resource economics. Further, The research is relating to the development of South Asia and the HKH. Additionally,  Of particular interest are concept notes that demonstrate a clear demand from policymakers for their underlying research. Although any research idea within the scope of SANDEE that has scientific merit will be considered. The recently published landmark HKH Assessment report, coordinated by ICIMOD under its Hindu Kush Himalayan Monitoring and Assessment Programme (HIMAP). It identifies several gaps in the evidence base to take actions to safeguard the mountain environment and improve the livelihoods of people living in the area and downstream.

Furthermore, They encourage research on issues of interest to national, provincial, and local policymakers in the region. Further,  including environmental issues faced by people living in the plains, hills, and mountains. Researchers working in the region (South Asia plus the HKH region) who are affiliated with member universities of the Himalayan University Consortium (HUC), an initiative within ICIMOD, are encouraged to apply. They will consider proposals that critically examine the implementation of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Particularly, each country has submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under the Paris Agreement. Moreover, Other areas of interest are urban environmental issues and sustainability, energy access and efficiency, and disaster resilience.

 Benefits

• Grants are likely to be in the range of USD 20,000–30,000 over a two-year period.
• Larger grants are more likely if teams are multidisciplinary, involve two or more countries in the region, or focus on a transboundary issue.

Eligibilities

• While SANDEE focuses on environmental management, proposals must include a strong economics component and at least one member of the research team should be an economist.
• Proposals related to action research that intends to produce consulting-type reports will not be considered.
• Multi-disciplinary projects, cross-border collaborations, and transboundary topics with a mountain and gender focus will be prioritized.
• Other areas of interest include estimating costs of non-cooperation among countries in the region in different areas (e.g. energy and water resource management), evaluating the impact of national programmes and policies on the mountain environment and people, and valuation of the cryosphere’s ecosystem services.
• Institutional affiliation is required to receive a research grant.
• SANDEE encourage women researchers and junior to mid-career professionals to apply as the principal investigator (PI).