Invitation to RDVIET partners to submit research proposals in 2010
15.03.2010 18:33
In 2010, the project will be able to provide support to the RDViet network member for new pilot research projects. We invite you to submit applications, within the three themes agreed on by the network, following the process described below. We encourage joint applications which support comparative case study material around a common theme and team work. Justification must be given for the comparisons to be made. The examples given for each theme are based on priorities discussed at the Scientific Meeting 5-6/3 2010. They should be seen as indicators of common interests, but are not exclusive.
Themes for 2010 applications
The overall
focus of RDViet research concerns rural
change and include understanding causes, impacts, response, adaptation,
policies and forms of management related to different types of rural change.
1.Understanding rural change processes and
people’s adaptation to these changes
Adaptation
processes to changing conditions can refer to many aspects of rural livelihoods
including changing market conditions, environmental change including climatic
changes, industrialization, urbanization etc. You may want to focus for example
in market research, on the role of different actors involved and how rural
markets actually work in practice. You may wish to focus on climate change, for
example how it affects rural livelihoods, production, institutions,changing access to natural resources and
management structures for natural resources. You may wish to contrast different
types of locations (remote, close to urban centres etc) or different social
groups. It is often difficult to distinguish the cause of adaptation. Often
people adapta to uncertainty and increased risk from many perspectives.
Topics suggested at the
Scientific meeting include:
•Affects
of economic crisis, WTO and trade liberation on rural life
•Impact
of salinity intrusion to agricultural production and livelihoods.
•Climate
change impact on mangrove forests and livelihoods of local people and their
responses.
•Positive
effects and opportunities in connection with climate change
•Management
of open access resources (e.g. ground water in the Mekong Delta)
•Indigenous
knowledge for adaptation to climate change
•How different famers perceive and cope with
impacts of drought and cold weather (e.g. buffalo farming)?
•Technologies related to adaptation and assessing
capacity for adaptation of different groups.
•Identifying methods and objectives for climate change
research at micro-level.
2.Rural
Development Policy and Practice
How policy is actually applied in
practice and the consequences for livelihood opportunities of different people.
Under this theme you may identify a particular aspect of policy relevant to
rural development e.g. aspects of the strategy of “Tam Nong”. Research project
proposals can be formulated around the analysis of a specific policy and how it
has been applied in practice, from the implementation process to its impact.
Integrating climate change aspects into socio-economic
development policies requires us to revisit the development policies from
perspective of sustainability. What are the consequences of policies for
people’s capacity to adapt to climate change and other changes in society?
Topics suggested at the
Scientific meeting include:
-Impact
of policies on natural resources use and management (forestry, upland, lowland,
wetland, etc. )
-Effects of
the development ofhydropower dams on
natural resources, environment, livelihoods after resettlement, downstream
people etc.
-Policy analysis of industrialization and concentration
e.g in the livestock sector.
-Effectiveness of public investment for rural areas in
relation to their objectives.
3.Understanding
Livelihoods Options and Reasons for Poverty
Studies under this theme can for
example focus on cases of chronic poverty and
how the poor “participate” in
development on different terms.Studies
may relate to the selling or leasing of land and labour; response to policy and
development projects; access to resources etc. What are the risks and
insecurities that poor people face and how do they deal with these? What production ‘models’ are appropriate for the
poor?
Cross-cutting issues that were discussed as being especially important
include:
-Sustainable Development and Climate Change
-Fisheries and livelihoods of fishing communities
-Migration
-Integrated Natural Resource Management
-Influence of Global Economic Crisis
-Political Aspect of Ethnic Minority in Vietnam(Right Base? Participation? Community Base?)
-Trade-off between interests of different stakeholders
involved.
-Comparison between developments in Vietnam and other countries that
have similar conditions.
Instructions for
applicants:
1.You
are invited to first submit a concept note.You will find guidelines for the
concept noteattached.The deadline for submitting concept notes to HUAF,
2.We
will notify you on the status of your concept note (accepted or not) around 8
of April. If accepted, you are invited to submit full application. The deadline
for submitting a full proposal will be May 1st 2010. Please note
that an accepted concept note, does not mean that the full proposal will be
funded. It depends on the quality of the full proposal and the competition for
funds with other proposals, as the total funds are limited.
3.A
budget is available for your research to a maximum of USD 5000 perproject and your application should include
budget estimates, with clear justifications. If you are able to keep your
budget lower, it means that we will be able to fund more projects.
4.The
research should be carried out in 2010 and outcome presented at the 7thannual scientific meeting of RDViet, 2011.
5.All
researchers who receive grants from RDViet must submit both a final report and
submit a scientific paper for either a international or national journal.
Researchers should also give high priority to attend analytical writing
workshops organized within the project.
6.We
encourage collaborative work
(teams of two or more with a named team leader) to build comparative analysis
and team work but you may also submitseparate individual proposals. If you plan a team approach budget should
be allocated for collaborative meetings. The budget allocation is higher
for comparative research between two or more universities/institutes)
7.Each concept note should contain a
proposed work schedule of activities and outputs.
8.Integration
of methodologies and interdisciplinary approaches are encouraged.
