Outline

The Knowledge Management Fund is the Knowledge Platform’s instrument to financially support activities arising from its network. The small-scale grants awarded by the Fund offer a low barrier to entry for innovative, agile and experimental proposals. The aim of proposals is to diversify thinking and evidence in the Security & Rule of Law (SRoL) field, particularly in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings (FCAS).

The KMF is a €300,000 annual fund that awards grants for 6-month projects of up to €15,000 for events, research ideas and other initiatives that contribute to improving the quality of knowledge generated by the SRoL field, and its subsequent uptake. 

This year's Thematic Headline is "Harnessing Potential". Please read the explanation of the headline in the Thematic Headline document carefully, as well as the subthemes found on our website. Each are instructive for how submissions will be assessed. Not every topic within the security and rule of law field will automatically be considered relevant. Each applicant will need to justify their topical focus, their approach, and how these demonstrate “Harnessing Potential” for strengthening SRoL programs and policies.

The KMF is divided into three strands. The three strands are Events,Research and Innovation. This helps applicants maintain focus on the method by which they try to achieve their aim of producing original insights to improve the quality and use of knowledge in programming and policy.

Interested parties will be asked to submit a brief Expression of Interest form by clicking "Submit Expression of Interest". 

For those projects that are invited to submit a full proposal (March 26th), the process and application forms will be generally similar to years past. Updated guidelines, formats, updated budget template and theme have been posted at the bottom of this page. Please note that there is a new budget template as of 2020. Earlier versions of the budget template will not be accepted as they do not comply with the 2020 financial requirements. If you have any questions regarding the application process, please contact us at KMF@kpsrl.org.

Once a full project is approved, the Secretariat will contact the grantee to discuss deliverables, budgets, and the division of labor between the Secretariat and the applicant(s) in more detail. What is agreed upon will be drawn up in a contract and signed by the Secretariat and the applicant(s). All projects will be expected to begin by May 1st, and close by November 1st. 

What is funded

Applications are open to any consortium or individual with the ambition to improve policies, programs or knowledge in the field of security and rule of law in fragile and conflict affected countries. Think-tanks, (I)NGOs, academics, universities, private sector organizations, government institutions, journalists, independent researchers or innovators, and data specialists are all welcome to submit proposals.

Partnerships between individuals and organizations and across the range of sectors within our network are highly encouraged. In particular, the KMF welcomes partnerships that link people from different regions of the globe.

Applicants’ submissions will be assessed on their alignment with the thematic headline, "Harnessing Potential". Applicants may freely choose their topical focus within the Security and Rule of Law (SRoL) field: (inter alia) human security, justice & security sector reform, security governance, conflict & climate change, informal justice, political governance, access to justice, violence prevention, transitional justice, peacekeeping, peace processes and political representation.

Not every topic within the security and rule of law field will automatically be considered relevant. Each applicant will need to justify their topical focus, their approach, and how these demonstrate “Harnessing Potential” for strengthening SRoL programs and policies. The Security & Rule of Law sector is consumed by very real problems: violence, conflict, injustice, abuse of power, corruption; making the sector a natural theater for cynicism. However, the KPSRL Secretariat has come to recognize the value of mobilizing around promising ideas, new approaches, and catalytic innovations. With this in mind, the organizing logic of the 2020 Knowledge Management Fund will be to focus our collective energies on those small, emergent possibilities that hold the prospect for large, sweeping changes.

The first step is identifying where potential lies. Putting forward untested ideas or elevating unheard perspectives can reveal latent opportunities to do things differently. From there, the hardest part can simply be getting out of our own way, quieting the doubts and dissent that argue for following the status quo. Recognizing and then harnessing potential not only involves the ability to see what others may have missed, but also the courage to challenge convention.

Here the KPSRL Secretariat aims to use the 2020 KMF to provide our community with the necessary backing - both the encouragement and the seed funding – to see those ideas through. In return, we ask applicants to be bold in their visions, to honestly gauge and to take a responsible amount of risk, and to explain how their project will either expose & test or accelerate & scale ideas that can improve the outcomes of SRoL policy and programming.

As additional guidance, please review the following subthemes. Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate how their project will harness the potential to, either, (a) Examine & Improve SRoL Policy, or (b) contribute to Change & Learning Processes. However, applicants are also free to explain how their project harnesses potential in other ways that work toward strengthening SRoL programs and policies.

Duration

KMF 2020 Timeline:

• February 7th: Theme and guidelines released
• March 13th: Expressions of Interest due
• March 26th: Invitations for full proposals
• April 9th: Full proposals due
• April 22nd: KMF recipients are awarded
• May 1st: KMF project start date
• November 1st: KMF projects close

Eligibility

All applications must:

• Include a prospective budget not to exceed €15,000, with 20% co-funding committed, that complies with all guidelines and requirements as detailed in the budget template
• Begin within 6 weeks of funds being awarded, with a running time not exceeding 6 months

Due to the amount of applications received, applications that do not meet the eligibility criteria will not be assessed. If you have any questions regarding your application’s eligibility please contact KMF@kpsrl.org before submission.