Applications for Campus Agence Française de Développement’s (French Development Agency [AFD]) innovative Biodiversity Partners Program (BiPP) are open for southern African participants. This exciting programme aims to support a growing pool of entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs working in the field of biodiversity in Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The programme is open to those that are or want to run pro-nature initiatives within their organisations or companies – intrapreneurs – and those that have an existing pro-nature business or a solid idea for one – entrepreneurs. Successful applicants will have concepts that are innovative, will positively impact on biodiversity and that can be scaled or replicated.
Following a selection process, 25 participants will take part in a four-month transdisciplinary learning experience that combines online sessions (after working hours) and an in-person business sprint in Stellenbosch, South Africa in August 2022. This sprint session takes participants through a development process for their project or idea. Online sessions focus on biodiversity, deep ecology, systems thinking and complexity, indigenous knowledge systems and business leadership, branding and storytelling, accessing funding and writing proposals and pitching. The programme, which launches in July, ends with an online pitch event in November 2022.
The BiPP is part of AFD’s Research and Knowledge on Biodiversity programme that aims to support development practitioners with new tools and solutions. It is delivered in partnership with South Africa’s Sustainability Institute. It was piloted in 2021 as a way to support biodiversity practitioners with new tools and solutions. Participants in the 2021 BiPP noted that the programme had helped them refine their ideas, build their leadership skills and deliver their project/business more effectively.
More information about the application process can be found here. The application deadline is 27 June 2022. Successful applicants to the BiPP pay a nominal R1 000 fee to show their commitment to the programme; there is financial support available for worthy candidates. AFD covers all costs related to the week-long in-person session in Stellenbosch, South Africa, including flights, accommodation and meals.
More information about the BiPP and its innovative teaching pedagogy can be found at www.biodiversitypartnersprogram.com or by email: angela@sustainabilityinstitute.net