EU-China Twinning Scholarship Program 2018

Published by Ivona

Deadline: 15 April 2018; 22 April 2018
Open to: candidates from European and Chinese NGO
Scholarship: includes international return flight, visa, basic travel insurance and workshop participation as well as a living allowance for accommodation, local transport, and daily expenses

Description

The political, economic and cultural relations between Europe and China have been growing substantially over the last few years. They consider it very important to involve civil society in this process of providing solutions for global issues.

To develop sustainable partnerships and cooperation between non-governmental or non-profit organizations and think tanks from Europe and China the Stiftung Asienhaus in cooperation with CAN Europe and the China Association for NGO Cooperation (CANGO) and China Climate Action Network organizes the EU-China NGO Twinning exchange program. The program is supported by the Robert Bosch Stiftung and Stiftung Mercator.

This program gives European and Chinese NGO staff the opportunity to work and study in a Chinese or European organization for 4 to 8 weeks.

The program comprises two thematic areas for cooperation:

Environmental and social justice

This part of the program will accept 14 (seven European and seven Chinese) participants representing organizations from all thematic areas dealing with environmental protection like air pollution, waste management, sustainable agriculture, water protection, green infrastructure, resource management and environmental education as well as social justice topics like gender, labor, health education, and others.

Climate Change & Low-carbon Development

This program branch will accept 10 (five European and five Chinese) participants representing organizations focusing on climate change and low-carbon development. Examples of issue areas associated with the climate change theme: renewable energy, energy efficiency, national/international climate policy, fossil fuels, climate change adaptation, carbon pricing and the emissions trading scheme and low-carbon urban development.

Exchange structure

  • The program is designed as a twinning exchange, i.e. two organizations working on similar thematic issues exchange a member of their staff. Participants will be able to work part-time for their own organization during the exchange period;
  • The length of the exchange period can be decided by the organizations individually. The minimum period is 4 weeks, the maximum period 8 weeks.

Eligibility

Participating organizations should:

  • be able to provide an English-speaking and interactive working environment or contact person with English language skills;
  • be able to provide a desk, a PC and a telephone and a contact person who can support the exchange fellow;
  • help with the travel preparation (visa application) and help to find accommodation;
  • Please note: Each participating organization is asked to contribute a participation fee of 100 EUR or the equivalent in RMB. This is to ensure commitment to the program and to facilitate any unexpected activities that are not foreseen in the budget. This fee should be submitted within two weeks of confirming participation in the program;

Participants should:

  • be able to communicate at work in English;
  • have at least 2 years of working experience, ideally in the NGO sector;
  • be available for both workshop events as stated in the timeline.

Scholarship

  • The exchange cost will be covered by a scholarship. It includes international return flight, visa, basic travel insurance and workshop participation as well as a living allowance for accommodation, local transport, and daily expenses;
  • The living allowance is 40 EUR per day; the total amount disbursed to each participant is calculated according to the number of days he or she spends abroad as part of the exchange.

How to Apply?

General Provisions

Please fill in the application.

Deadline for single applications: 15th of April, for joint applications: 22nd of April 2018.

Please read the ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ before submitting your application.

Single and Joint Application

Applications should ideally be submitted jointly by one European and one Chinese organization including a jointly developed proposal for a topic/project for the exchange. Joint applications will be preferred to single applications.

Joint application: After having read all necessary information you can fill in the application form.

Application without partner organization: If you would like to apply and do not yet have an exchange partner organization in the respective other region we can assist in finding a suitable twinning organization. In this case, please fill in the form for single application/request for twinning partner search.

The organizers will then provide you with contact details of suitable partner organizations. You will be asked to contact them and jointly work out and submit a joint application.

For more information please visit the official website.