Grant round: Social issues (March 2024) | CLOSED

The ISEAL Innovations Fund launched a call in March 2024 for Community Members to submit expressions of interest for project ideas responding to the theme: Strengthening the role of sustainability systems in addressing social issues.

Please note that the application window is now closed.

This public overview explains the type of grants that were available, and the selection process.

Thematic focus

We are excited for ISEAL Community Members and their partners to collaborate on ideas for projects that respond to the theme: Strengthening the role of sustainability systems in addressing social issues.

This is an opportunity to build on learning to date and pilot innovations and improvements that will help sustainability systems to strengthen their role in addressing a range of social issues, such as:

Labour rights
Gender equality
The rights of indigenous peoples
Voice and empowerment of workers and marginalised communities

Explore existing work on social issues:

Remote auditing good practices

Setting gender responsive sustainability standards

Tackling gender inequalities is becoming increasingly important for voluntary sustainability standards (VSS) and similar systems to address. Sustainability systems are looking to integrate gender into

Guidance

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Key details

Eligibility. The Fund is open to applications led by ISEAL Community Members, who can collaborate with other sustainability systems and/or organisations outside the ISEAL community.
Grants available. Between CHF 40,000 and CHF 150,000, with equal (1:1) match funding.
Duration. Projects up to 2 years, starting from July 2024.
Guiding principles. Values that should be embodied in all Fund supported projects.
Visit the ISEAL website for more information about the Fund and past projects.

If interested in this funding opportunity, please reach out to our members and explore the potential for a joint project.

Submission of EOIs

EOIs should be completed in an EOI template (available on the closed online platform for the ISEAL community) and submitted by the ISEAL Community Member leading the proposed grant by 08 April 2024.

The brief EOI template includes questions on:

The motivation for the project, what it hopes to achieve, and how.
The learning value for the project lead, partners, the ISEAL community, and beyond.
How it will contribute to the funding criteria specific to the relevant thematic call.

Selection process

Submitted EOIs are presented to a grant decision-making committee comprising ISEAL staff, SECO and external experts.

The committee selects a sub-set of EOIs it recommends for full proposal development, and ISEAL will work with successful applicants to develop detailed proposals.

Projects to start from July 2024.