Humanitarian Innovation Fund – Call for Applications:
Applications are invited for the Humanitarian Innovation Fund which supports organisations and individuals to identify,nurture and share innovative and scalable solutions to the challenges facing effective humanitarian assistance.
A grant up to £50,000 is available for the Recognition phase of the process. This means the recognition of a specific problem, challenge, or opportunity to be seized, in relation to the provision of humanitarian aid.
The Fund exists to support humanitarian innovation. We see this as the process of creating, testing and scaling novel approaches in humanitarian aid, in order to positively benefit communities affected by crisis.
Our grant making is based on our understanding of five stages in innovation: recognition, invention, development, implementation and diffusion. This guides our funding and support framework while also recognising that taking ideas from inception to reality is not a simple linear process, and that these stages are iterative and interconnected. Many projects have applied for more than one of our grants, as the innovation develops and growA grant from £75,000 to £150,000 is available for the Implementation phase of the process. This means the implementation of an innovation to produce tangible real examples of changed practice, testing the innovation to see how it compares to existing solutions. Often using pilot projects to move beyond proof of concept, this stage establishes how an innovation performs in practice – indicating whether it is successful and should be scaled-up.
RECOGNISING THE PROBLEM IS THE FIRST STEP IN THE INNOVATION PROCESS.
Can you see that there’s a problem but you’re not sure how to fix it?
To successfully innovate and find a better solution you must first understand the problem you’re seeking to solve.
Are you an aid worker in a humanitarian setting that can see a process isn’t efficient, or a product not adequate, but need support to research this further?
Or, do you have a bright idea for inventing a device or process that could improve the quality and speed in which aid is delivered but need support to delve deeper and consult with relevant stakeholders?
This is what our recognition grants are all about. Projects funded at this phase involve generating meaningful insights to inform the invention of potential solutions.
TYPES OF RECOGNITION PROJECTS WE FUND:The recognition phase is likely to include, but not exclusively, research, reviews and other studies that:
- Learn from the community that is directly affected by the problem
- Explore a problem from different and relevant perspective
- Identify new areas of opportunity for innovation
- Review existing evidence about what works and what doesn’t
- Explore the potential of adapting existing technology for new humanitarian purposes
- Sharing the information gathered in a way others can easily understand
- Have you got another idea that doesn’t quite fit with this? Email the HIF team with a one paragraph summary of your idea and we’ll get back to.