2nd Draft of FAQs: Last Updated 02/10/2024

Extended Deadline: 11^th of November 2024.

Disclaimer: All official information can be found in the Open Call. These FAQs are also subject to change, please check this page regularly prior to sending in your application and maintain communication with the GEO-LDN team.

Assessment grid

	Criteria	Rating	Max. Points
1	Involvement of national institutions (Ministries, Agencies etc.)	No ministries or national governmental institution involved in spatial planning represented – ineligible (see knockout criteria) One ministry or institution represented – 5 points  Two or more ministries represented – 10 points	10
2	GIS or Remote Sensing Specialist included	One GIS / Remote Sensing Specialist included – 10 points  No GIS specialists included – 0 points	10
3	Agency that reports to the UNCCD	National Focal Point included – 10 points  Representative included – 8 points  Focal point or Representative not included – 0 points	10
4	Involvement of civil society	Representative from civil society included – 10 points  Representative not included – 0 points	10
5	Use case assessment	What is your primary challenge or use case you want/need to address through ILUP and the use of geospatial data? (150 words maximum, ideally use bullet points) – 12 / 6 / 0 points according to clarity of paragraph How can this challenge/use case be addressed; in which role do you see GEO-LDN flagship? – 12 / 6 / 0 points according to clarity of paragraph Can you reduce your use case/challenge to a single question (max 50 words)? – 6 / 0 points according to clarity of question Are there enabling framework conditions or processes that are connected to the described use case. This can be a global or bilateral development project or laws, regulations or policy documents, laws on national level? Please add link or document for proof. – 10 / 0 points for proof / no proof.	40
6	Target Setting Process	The Country has completed the LDN Target Setting Process and made them publicly available (i.e. the UNCCD Website) – 5 points Target Setting Process not Completed and not publicly shown – 0 points	5

 

We encourage applications even if not all criteria are met. A ranking will be applied. All applications will be assessed by the GEO-LDN committee.

When should I send the application?

We encourage all Applicants to send in their Expression of Interest, CVs for each member of the intersectoral team and a Data Consent form signed by each member of the inter-sectoral team as soon as possible. This will give us more time to identify any missing documents and prepare for a potentially successful application. Do not hesitate to email geo-ldn-events@giz.de for any questions. The final deadline is 11:59 pm (CEST), 11^th of November 2024.

What is a 5-member inter-sectoral team?

As per the Open Call, an ideal intersectoral team is made up 5 members that represent diverse expertise and backgrounds. Two of the members would work for and represent two different government institutions. At least one of these government institutions should oversee spatial planning in a country/region. The other governmental institutions should also be related to spatial planning or land use planning. It is okay if more than 2 members represent the same governmental institutions.

Of the 5-member inter-sectoral team, ideally 2 or more should be female. It would also be advantageous if the institution that directly monitors Land Degradation Neutrality and reports it to the UNCCD is represented by 1 member. Finally, it is favourable to have a representative from a Civil Society Organisation related to Integrated Land Use Planning. Applicants with a team that consists of less than 5 members can still apply whereby the criteria will be adjusted based on 3 or 4 member teams.

Can intersectoral teams with less than 5 members also apply?

Yes. Please check the criteria for how 3 or 4 member teams will be assessed.

Can intersectoral teams with more than 5 members also apply?

Yes. However, we reserve the right to only sponsor 5 members of the intersectoral team. The extra members may be accepted to attend the Global Dialogue Forum, but all financing and logistics would have to be organised by the team.

Do participants have to be English speakers? Will there be interpretation/translation at the event?

Participants do not have to be Native English Speakers. If successful applications require interpretation and/or translation services, these will be provided at the event. Ideally, country teams would communicate their language of preference as soon as they have been chosen to participate in the event.

Can a team still apply if there is no specific department for spatial planning on a national level?

Yes, teams can still apply even if they do not meet all the criteria, it simply means they don’t have as strong of an application. The more criteria that you fulfil, the better the chance for the application and applicants to stand out and be selected as sponsored participants at the Regional Dialogue Forum as per the criteria you can see in the official open call.

Will all selected teams be guaranteed sponsorship to attend the Pacifics Dialogue Forum?

Any team that is selected to attend the Pacifics Dialogue Forum through this Open Call will be fully sponsored. However, there are also teams and applicants who may not be selected that can attend the Pacifics Dialogue Forum however would have to seek funding through other mechanisms.

Can two different inter-sectoral teams representing the same country be sponsored to attend the Pacifics Dialogue Forum?

No. Each application will be ranked against the criteria and the higher-ranked application will be selected. However, if we see several applications representing the same countries, we will encourage them to combine efforts.

Can two countries be allowed to present a joint use case?

Ideally each use case is context specific and related to the LDN targets and Land Use Planning processes in one country. This means that each intersectoral team represents a use case that is limited to only one country. However, the individuals who make up that intersectoral team can come from or be nationals of different countries (if they are from ODA recipient countries as mentioned in the Open Call). We are also open to trans-border (involving more than 1 country) use cases with a proper justification.

Can I apply as an Individual to attend the Pacifics Dialogue Forum?

Unfortunately, no. You must apply as part of a 3,4 or 5-member intersectoral team to be sponsored to join the Pacifics Dialogue Forum. We can try and connect you with other individuals who have shown interest from your country if you currently find yourself as a one person or two-person team.

Are there any pre-event workshops or training sessions for selected teams to prepare for the Forum?

Yes, however the exact details are still to be decided and reliant on the specific challenges/use cases from successful applicants.

Are there any specific expectations regarding the use of geospatial technologies and earth observation data in the presented use cases?

At the very minimum, intersectoral teams need to be open to using Geospatial data/Earth Observations and relevant tools to addresses the use case/challenges. Ideally members of the team are already working with geospatial technologies and have ideas on how GEO-LDN can further support them.

Are there any specific requirements for female representation in the country teams?

As part of the knockout criteria, Intersectoral teams with 3 members should have at least 1 female member, and teams with 4-5 members with at least 2 females.

Can participating teams bring additional team members or stakeholders to the Forum, even if they are not part of the official country team?

We encourage teams to apply with maximum 5 members. However, we will also take into consideration applications more than 5 members. This needs to be specifically mentioned in the application. Applications with more than 5 members may also be successful, but we reserve the right to only sponsor 5 participants. This would mean the team itself has to sponsor and organise all logistics for the extra participants.

How can we access the necessary documents for the open call?

Please check that you click on the tab called ‘Event Information’, it can be found to the left of the FAQ tab), scroll to the bottom of the page, and click on the three blue buttons named Open Call Document, Data Protection Consent Form and Application Guidelines. There is also another tab where the criteria.