The “Eco Future Grant Programme” will be implemented within the scope of the “Supporting Capacity of Civil Society Organizations in the Field of Climate Change and Biodiversity Project” funded under the European Union Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA III).
The programme is designed as a capacity building tool to support CSOs in areas of management and innovation by engaging with actors and learning from best practices.
The support provided through the Grant Programme is designed to enhance the organizational and implementation capacities of CSOs in developing and piloting integrated, innovative solutions and actions focused on nature-based approaches for climate change mitigation, adaptation, biodiversity protection and/or co-benefits. It also aims to increase civil society’s participation in policy and decision-making processes related to climate change and biodiversity, with a particular emphasis on the local level.
The Eco Future Grant Programme is expected to reach a wide range of stakeholders by encouraging NGOs and other local or international actors to cooperate. The programme is designed as a mechanism to support the knowledge, skills and capacities of NGOs on climate change and biodiversity to encourage their participation in decision-making, service delivery and monitoring processes. In other words, grant support is designed to increase civic engagement and meet diverse needs. It is anticipated that supporting such participatory mechanisms will facilitate a more effective response to the rights and needs of groups requiring specialized policies (women, children, people with disabilities, etc.), particularly at the local level.
The programme will have two stages of applications and the ones passing the concept note stage will be invited to submit their full applications. The deadline for submission of the concept notes is extended to 11 August 2025, Monday, 17:00 pm Ankara local time.
All applications must be sent in English. Applications submitted in any other language will be automatically rejected.
Applications must be submitted through the online application system which is accessible through the UNDP website (https://www.undp.org/turkiye/news/eco-future-grant-programme) and project’s official website (https://ekogelecek.org/). Applications sent by email, or hand delivery will be automatically rejected.
The corrigendum for the extension of the concept note application deadline, revised guidelines for applicants and clarifications for questions received regarding the Eco Future Grant programme can be accessed through the UNDP official website (https://www.undp.org/turkiye/news/eco-future-grant-programme). A link for the clarifications to questions with answers is also available on the right side of this page.
Priority Areas:
The priority areas of the grant programme are defined as follows.
Priority 1: Improve the capacity of NGOs to intervene and remediate on biodiversity and make cities and society resilient.
Priority 2: Build the capacity and resilience of populations and economic sectors vulnerable to the impacts of climate change through climate change mitigation and adaptation actions and support low-carbon and climate-resilient development.
Priority 3: Communication strategies to strengthen cooperation between NGOs and actors engaged in climate change and biodiversity, encourage the use of new technologies and knowledge, and strengthen the capacities of existing NGO centers.
Projects under the Eco Future Grant Programme must address at least one of these priority areas to be eligible for acceptance, which will also constitute the essence of the specific objectives of the projects.
The approximate total amount allocated to the grant programme under this call for proposals is $2,361,261.68. The Contracting Authority reserves the right to withhold the full allocation of grant funds and reallocate any unutilized amounts to a second call for proposals or to a reserve list if deemed necessary.
Details of the grant Programme are presented on the table below:
Table 1 Grant Programme Amounts
Minimum Grant Support* (USD) | Maximum Grant Support* (USD) | Total Amount Planned to be Allotted (USD-Indicative) |
50.000 | 150.000 | 2.361.261,68 |
The project budgets must present eligible expenditure amounts within the minimum and maximum limits specified in the table above.
Any grant requested under this call for proposals must adhere to the following percentages of the total eligible costs of the activity:
a) Minimum: 75% of the total eligible costs of the activity
b) Maximum: 100% of the total eligible costs of the activity
Applicants requesting the minimum percentage must demonstrate that the remaining budget will be covered through the organization’s own resources.
The maximum grant amount provided to any entity by UNDP cannot exceed USD 300,000.
The programme is not divided into lots.
To be eligible for a grant, the applicant must meet the following conditions:
If the applicant is a newly established association, the association must have held its first general assembly meeting and formed its organs and submitted the relevant documents at the time of application.
The applicant may apply under the Eco Future Grant Programme together with the partner(s) mentioned below. The applicant can apply alone or together with a partner, but the partnership is strongly recommended in line with the priorities set in these guidelines.
[1] A non-profit organization is one whose members do not directly or indirectly receive profit or income from the activities of this organization. The nonprofit organization may make a profit, however, that profit is not distributed to its owners, members, or others and may only be used for the purposes of the organization.
[2] Within the scope of this grant program, “non-governmental organization (NGO)” is defined as follows:
a) It is independent of the state in terms of its establishment and the appointment of its personnel and managers,
b) It is an autonomous and democratic structure in its financial and administrative relations,
c) It is a non-profit legal entity.
In this respect, “Social Assistance and Solidarity Foundations” are not considered NGOs and are not eligible to apply as an applicant or partner.
[3]Only associations, federations/confederations of associations established in Türkiye by the Law on Associations No. 5253 can be applicants or partners (the previous law(s) of the current Law (No. 5253) will also be accepted).
[4] Non-profit cooperatives and similar organizations must demonstrate unequivocally that they do not make a profit from their activities. Along with the supporting documents, they must submit their bylaws with a provision prohibiting the distribution of profits to shareholders at the stage of verification of the eligibility check. As another option, cooperatives can submit a financial audit report to shareholders proving that no dividend distribution has been made for the last three years (the last 3 years with financial close before the application date) and prepared to cover these years. In addition, the Board of Directors must declare that profits will not be distributed to shareholders over the next five years.
[5]Under this grant programme, branches/offices of international organizations and/or associations and/or foundations, as well as other international non-profit organizations registered to operate in Türkiye, are not eligible applicants.
Key Consideration 2: Ineligible Applicants: International organizations, natural persons, private enterprises, for-profit organizations, think tanks, social assistance foundations/associations and any institution who does not possess an official legal entity will not be considered as eligible applicants or partners under this call. In addition, since the branches of associations or foundations do not have legal identity according to the local laws, they will not be considered eligible applicants under this call for proposals.
However,
Schools, chambers, trade unions, workers’ and employers’ unions, Bar Exporter associations, Chambers of Commerce / Chambers of Industry / Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Stock Exchanges, Research Institutes, Development Agencies, , Municipalities, Special Provincial Administrations, Investment Monitoring Coordination Directorates, Local Administrative Unions, are eligible to be partners (or supporters) ONLY within the scope of this call for proposals, provided that they possess a legal entity.
Universities (private and public), Public Institutions and Organizations and Provincial Organizations (Ministries and Regional and Provincial General Directorates of Ministries), Governorates, Municipal Councils, City Councils, Mukhtars and entities with no stand-alone legal entity such as networks, platforms and natural persons may only be supporters.
Partners may contribute to the design and implementation of the action but cannot hold financial responsibility and are not expected to incur costs on their behalf. Any cost of partners’ involvement in any activities shall be borne by the applicant.
Partners are required to meet the same eligibility criteria as the applicant.
In addition to the categories under applicants, the following are also eligible:
Partners are obligated to sign the mandate and partnership agreement provided in the application forms.
The proposal may also have supporters, which are defined as below:
Organizations or individuals that are not applicants, partners nor affiliated entities may be involved in the action as supporters. Such entities play a real role in the action but may not receive funding from the grant, except for per diem or travel costs. Any cost of supporters’ involvement in any activities shall be borne by the applicant. They do not need to meet the eligibility criteria for applicants, do not need to be a public or private independent legal entity[6], may be natural persons and do not have to sign any forms. However, their involvement in the action must be explained at the proposal stage with their proposed actions and contributions.
[6]This means that entities which do not possess an independent legal entity may only be supporters. These may include networks, universities, institutes under universities etc.
The applicant and its partner(s) may act with an affiliated entity(ies). If the applicants are awarded a grant contract, their affiliated entity(ies) will not become beneficiary(ies) of the action and signatory(ies) of the grant contract. However, they may participate in the design and implementation of the action should this be necessary or add value to the action.
Affiliated entities cannot hold financial responsibility and are not expected to incur costs on their behalf. Any cost of affiliated entities’ involvement in any activities shall be borne by the applicant.
Only the following entities may be considered as affiliated entities:
Affiliated entities are entities that have a structural link with the applicant or partner, in particular a legal or capital link. The affiliated entities must sign the mandate provided under the application forms.
This structural link encompasses mainly two notions:
(i)
(ii) Membership, i.e. the applicant is legally defined as a e.g. network, federation, association in which the proposed affiliated entities also participate, or the applicant participates in the same entity (e.g. network, federation, association, etc.) as the proposed affiliated entities.
Affiliated entity(ies) must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as the applicant and/or the partner(s). They must sign the affiliated entity(ies) statement provided in the annexes.
The planned implementation period of the proposed project cannot be less than 12 months or more than 18 months under this grant programme. Any proposal below or above these periods will be rejected.
All applicants must be from Türkiye.
All actions must be implemented in Türkiye (except for any study visits etc., that may be part of project activities.)
Applications Closed
The application period for the Eco Future Grant Programme is now closed. Thank you to all applicants for your interest and participation.
