Abstract
International sustainable development and conservation agendas can help regional decision makers to frame their own agendas. Agendas can guide programs and initiatives that drive funding and capacity development for research, and the research, in turn, provides knowledge, evidence, capacity building, and impetus for action. Deficits in research capacity, knowledge, and funding confound efforts on the impact pathway from agenda to outcome. Small-grants programs can play an important role in filling these gaps. In this paper, we evaluate a suite of impacts of a small-grants program linked to a regional research agenda for the Andean forest landscape. Using the concept of additionality, and analyzing the database of applications for the solicitation process and responses to a questionnaire by awardees, we evaluated the effects of the funding on research input, outputs and outcomes, and transformative application to sustainable development. We found that the solicitation process, which yielded 180 applications, fell short of its goal of attracting applicants well distributed among the Andean countries, applications from women, and applications for interdisciplinary transformative research projects. Nevertheless, the 15 projects that were funded did ultimately cross disciplinary lines, result in diverse outputs and outcomes, and help to advance work toward achieving sustainable development and biodiversity conservation in the Andean forest landscape. We recommend that small-grants programs that focus narrowly on a topic or region be supported and that they strive to elevate regional researchers and women in the community of practice.
Highlights
The tropical Andes is one of the most biologically diverse and threatened hotspots on earth (Myers et al 2000; Brooks et al 2002; Boillat et al 2017)
We present a case study of how a targeted small-grants program linked to a regional research agenda focused on the Andean forest landscapes (AFLs) has helped to fill gaps in various areas related to research capacity and knowledge production
The overall goal of the PBA is to reduce the vulnerability of people and ecosystems to climate change by promoting mitigation, adaptation, and sustainable development in AFLs
Summary
The tropical Andes is one of the most biologically diverse and threatened hotspots on earth (Myers et al 2000; Brooks et al 2002; Boillat et al 2017). Small research grants can double scholarly productivity (El-Sawi et al 2009) and result in additional benefits, including innovation (Lerchenmueller 2018), research capacity (Horta et al 2018), extended scientific and nonscientific collaborations, and additional funding (Kulage and Larson 2018) These additionalities are rarely measured, they are critical to evaluate the broader on-the-ground impacts on sustainable development, policy action, and capacity development (IOE-GEF 2018). We assess how the funded projects resulted in actions and knowledge needed to support components of regional and international agendas that aligned, guiding efforts on biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. The role of regional institutions is critical for creating pathways for change
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
