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A grant for faculty from at least two disciplines aimed at advancing researcher-partner collaboration and co-creation, leveling-up the potential for climate action and innovation research-for-impact with a large-scale funding opportunity.

Priority will be for projects that foster existing or enhance new community-centred collaborations. Community is defined as a collectivity in a local geography, and/or with shared place-based identities, that has the capacity to express itself as a collective.

Grantees are responsible for delivering SFU Climate Innovation a completed proposal for a targeted high-impact research or philanthropic funding opportunity (approx. $250K+).

Grantees will gain access to numerous supports, including: 

• grant facilitation and grant writing support, in partnership with SFU's Institutional Strategic Awards (ISA),  
• a workshop in partnership with SFU's Knowledge Mobilization Hub to learn about how to integrate research-for-impact strategies into funding proposals,
  
• an option to be appointed as a Fellow of world-renowned SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, which includes membership in a community of dialogue practitioners and professional support in the design and facilitation of two co-creation events/workshops, and
  
• an option to get certified in knowledge mobilization through the MobilizeU@SFU program (eight sessions from January-March), in partnership with SFU's Knowledge Mobilization Hub.  

Learn about community-engaged research through webinars and workshops in partnership with SFU's Community Engaged Research Initiative (CERi).

A total of two (2) grants of up to $20,000 each are available per calendar year:

• One Amplification Grant will be awarded for up to $20,000. 
• The second Amplification Grant will be matched with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASS) Breaking Barriers Interdisciplinary Incentive Grant [for Climate Innovation], with an SFU Principal Investigator from FASS, matching the funding available up to $40,000.

Monies should be spent within two years. 50% payment will be made up front, with the remaining 50% to be paid on receipt of deliverable (as specified above).

• Examples of eligible expenses include convening expenses (e.g. workshops, catering), travel, community needs-based stipends, data purchases, facilitation expenses. These funds can be used toward buy-outs if expressly approved by faculty.
• Ineligible expenses include administration or personnel costs of existing projects or initiatives, gifts and/or entertainment costs.

SFU Climate Innovation is looking for high-impact projects, that are transdisciplinary in nature, and that have the potential to advance transformative climate actions and innovation for communities, locally and globally. The following criteria will be used to assess those projects that are likely to have the highest impact:

1. Inter & transdisciplinary – the project includes faculty from across disciplines aligned with community-centred partners to generate new insights and solutions that transcend traditional disciplinary and sectoral boundaries
2. Appropriate partners to meet objectives – the project has been co-designed with relevant partners (except for Pollinator where this is not a requirement)
3. Community-centred – the project scope and objectives have community engagement and co-creation research approaches at its core
4. Goals for impact – the project integrates knowledge mobilization strategies and anticipated benefits for reducing risk, emissions and advancing sustainability outcomes
   
5. Higher-order funding plan – the project identifies and seeks to pursue higher-order funding (e.g. Tri-Council, philanthropy)
6. SFU-aligned research principles and values – the project elevates Indigenous Knowledges and Rights, and weaves Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion into research design and practice wherever possible
7. Scholarly excellence – the project identifies the scholarly strengths of individual team members and demonstrates how these strengths are essential to tackling the research question
8. Knowledge Mobilization outputs and strategy - the project has a plan for accessibility and elevated visibility ensuring research outcomes are shared across diverse channels with relevant audiences (e.g. academic publications, plus external facing artifacts such as policy briefs, op-eds, social media, podcasts)

Note these are the highest aspirations of SFU Climate Innovation; not all research projects will be able to meet all criteria.

Note regarding unsuccessful projects: The SFU Climate Innovation team will keep an updated database of relevant projects we have received applications for and will look for appropriate partners and funding to support the development of these projects wherever possible.

Amplification Grant recipients will advance researcher-partner collaboration and co-creation toward a large-scale funding opportunity to accelerate the potential for climate action and innovation research-for-impact. These opportunities could include: 

• (up to $24M/6 years); NOI deadline April 15, 2025
• (up to $1.5M/3 years); expected May 2025
• ; dates to be confirmed
• (total projects over $1M); expected Spring 2026
• for cross-sectoral partnerships (up to $1M/1-5 years); dates to be confirmed
• (up to $2.5M/7 years); dates to be confirmed
• Major foundations, International Funders such as Horizon Europe, or Government funding such as the