In the pursuit for a multi-sectoral and trans-disciplinary Future Earth Regional Office for Southern Africa (FEROSA) Steering Committee that will carry out the ambitions of the Southern African region, we are inviting applications from qualifying candidates in the Southern African region. In the main the FEROSA Steering Committee will be tasked with:

• Providing oversight in the design of projects and activities at regional level.
• Identifying and promoting strategic partnerships, including leveraging of resources.
• Identifying key experts to lead development and implementation of programmes, advocate for Future Earth programs in their region.

Future Earth is a global research initiative that seeks to provide the knowledge and support to accelerate transformations to a sustainable world. This initiative, launched at the Rio+20 Brazil Conference in 2012, aims to be an inclusive global research and engagement platform to ensure that knowledge is generated in partnership with society and users of science. It is open to scientists of all disciplines – natural and social, as well as engineering, the humanities, law and policy makers.

Future Earth has a globally-distributed Secretariat comprised of five global hubs (Colorado, Montreal, Paris, Stockholm, and Tokyo) and four operational regional centers in: (i) Asia and (ii) Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Europe and Latin America. The Future Earth Regional Office for Southern Africa (FEROSA) is the fifth Future Earth regional center and the only one in Africa.

Regional centers and offices play a key role in Future Earth’s operational structure. These centers are a conduit for communication between the Global Secretariat and the regions. They garner regional partners and resources and provide the five core functions (i.e., coordination, research enabling, communication, capacity building and synthesis and foresight) of the Executive Secretariat within regions. Which makes the establishment of FEROSA even more crucial, as the only Africa Office FEROSA will have to be Africa’s voice in Future Earth’s global structures.

The Nomination process will be finalized during the FEROSA Stakeholder Platform scheduled for 13 and 14 February 2020, in Pretoria, South Africa.

Purpose of the call

To identify suitable candidates that will be considered for the FEROSA Steering Committee.

Who may apply?

The selection of the FEROSA Steering Committee is intended to ensure that FEROSA has a strong geographical representation from across Southern Africa, a balance of physical and social science disciplines, gender and youth balance, as well as representation from the private sector and civil society organisations. Thus nominations are requested from relevant ministries, regional organisations and institutions, national organisations and institutions, associations, civil society organisations, and the private sector from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States.

Application process

• The FEROSA Secretariat in collaboration with the International Science Council Regional Office for Africa will manage the applications.
• The Nomination Committee convened by the International Science Council Regional Office for Africa will review the applications and make recommendations to the FEROSA Stakeholder Platform on 14 February 2020.
• Applications must motivate why the nominated candidate / organisation should form part of the FEROSA Steering Committee.
• Applications should be submitted to Thabo Dikgale at thabo.dikgale@nrf.ac.za and Nomasomi Gasa at nomasomi@icsu-africa.org.
• There will be a 1-stage review process conducted by the nominations committee whereby recommendations for the composition of the FEROSA Steering Committee will be made.
• Additional required documentation for the application includes:
  • Letters from the institution/organisation where the nominee is currently employed.
  • Complete nominations template.

How are applications evaluated?

Noting that the selection of the FEROSA Steering Committee has to ensure that FEROSA has strong geographical representation from across Southern Africa, a balance of physical and social science disciplines, gender and youth balance, as well as representation from the private sector and civil society organisations. The nominations committee will evaluate each nomination based on the following criteria:

• Quality of the applicants:
  • Evidence of significant contributions to and/or leadership in their area of expertise.
  • Evidence of experience in managing regional and/or international research projects.
  • Evidence of experience in stakeholder engagement / management particularly local communities.
  • Evidence of experience in policy drafting, analysis and implementation.
  • Evidence of experience in the development of business plans and/or strategies.
  • Evidence of experience in developing project proposals.
  • Evidence of experience in project management.
  • Knowledge of Future Earth and its priorities.
• Commitment by the involved Organisation (s)
  • A letter of support from the nominee’s organisation/institution/country.

Nominations with support from the nominee’s national government or pertinent Ministry will be at an advantage.

Call Timelines

The key activities and timelines, to ensure effective implementation by the FEROSA Secretariat and International Science Council Regional Office for Africa are outlined below:

• 06 December 2019 – 27 January 2020: Nominations period open
• 14 February 2020: Announcement
• 28 February 2020: Appointment