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1. Context and objectives

The Mediterranean Sea Programme: Enhancing Environmental Security (MedProgramme) is a $43 million USD assortment of eight “Child Projects” funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), comprising more than 100 coordinated actions at the regional and national levels over the 2020-2025 period. It aims to kick start the implementation of priority actions to reduce the major transboundary environmental stresses affecting the Mediterranean Sea and its coastal areas, while strengthening climate resilience and water security and improving the health and livelihoods of coastal populations. UNEP/MAP is its executing agency, and partners in execution include UNESCO/IHP, EIB, IUCN Med, GWP Med, WWF Mediterranean and the UNEP/MAP Regional Activity Centres: Plan Bleu/RAC, PAP/RAC, SCP/RAC and SPA/RAC. Its ten beneficiary countries are Albania, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Montenegro, Tunisia and Turkey. 

This consultancy concerns the MedProgramme SCCF (Special Climate Change Fund) Project “Enhancing regional climate change adaptation in the Mediterranean Marine and Coastal Areas”, executed by Plan Bleu/RAC, PAP/RAC and GWP-Med. This project aims to support people and institutions in their climate change adaptation processes and to facilitate access to climate financing, while catalysing the capacity of coastal managers and decision-makers to foster regional impacts among SCCF’s partner countries. This activity will build on the project partner’s ongoing activities in the MedProgramme CP 2.1 and SCCF projects, that focus on two pilot sites of the CP 2.1/SCCF projects: the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region, Morocco and the Bay of Kotor, Montenegro. 

The six beneficiary countries of the SCCF Project are Albania, Algeria, Libya, Montenegro, Morocco and Tunisia. Participants from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Lebanon (MedProgramme CP 2.1 partner countries) are also eligible to participate in the activities described below. The SCCF Project will run until 31 December 2024.

2. SCCF Project – Output 1.3 Description

This consultancy specifically concerns SCCF Project Output 1.3, which aims at training at least 50 technical experts and decision makers from the six SCCF Project countries on climate change adaptation solutions for coastal areas, with a focus on Nature-based solutions and Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA). EbA presents a twofold benefit: to mitigate climate change’s impacts and provide promising adaptation strategies for Mediterranean ecosystems, biodiversity and humans alike. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) form an important part of EbA, and hold great potential to reduce the impacts of extreme events and increase resilience to disasters, while weaving a web of more resilient territories in coastal zones and their hinterlands. Besides boosting water, energy and food security, they can create a ripple effect, improving lives and wellbeing for both women and men. They are also key to regenerating Mediterranean coastal landscapes and seascapes, thereby boosting their resilience to the impacts of climate change. The countries and stakeholders targeted by the SCCF Project present different baselines in terms of knowledge, capacities and experience concerning Nature-based Solutions and Ecosystem-based adaptation. For this reason, this activity will seek to build the capacity of participants on these topics, while providing them with tools and best practices to integrate NbS into their own work in coastal zones. 

3. Task description

The consultant will contribute to the overall delivery of Output 1.3 of the SCCF Project, working in close collaboration with the Plan Bleu team and the project partners. Foreseen activities under this Output include: 

1. the production of a NbS Training Module to be used during two regional training sessions described below. 
2. a two-day hybrid regional training in English to take place in Kotor, Montenegro on 3-4 October 2024. 
3. a two-day hybrid regional training in French to take place in Tangier, Morocco in late October/early November 2024 (date to be determined). 
4. the production of one synthetic workshop report per workshop in English, to be integrated into a NbS Training Manual. 
5. A NbS Training Manual on NbS for EbA in the Mediterranean region.

The deliverables associated to these activities and this consultancy are further detailed in Section 4. Core themes of the Training Module, workshops and Training Manual include, but are not restricted to: 

 

• What is Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) , and how can it be applied to Mediterranean coastal zones? 
• What are Nature-based Solutions? How can they support coastal EbA in Mediterranean coastal zones and inform Integrated Coastal Zone Management?
• How can NbS alleviate climate risks in Mediterranean coastal zones and support water and food security?
• How can NbS support biodiversity conservation and landscape/seascape restoration?
• In the framework of a landscape approach, how can NbS be implemented in different coastal zones, from source-to-sea, notably in:
  •  urban areas and settlements
  • coastal hinterlands, farmlands and rural areas
  • river basins, estuaries, wetlands
  • forests
  • coastal shorelines and marine areas
• What financial instruments and mechanisms can be used to support NbS in Mediterranean coastal zones?
• What enabling conditions are necessary to support the large-scale uptake of NbS in terms of governance?

This list of themes will be further refined by the consultant and project team following the consultant’s recruitment, informed by ongoing inputs from the SCCF project partners. In line with the MedProgramme’s focus on gender, a gender lens will be applied to the above, when relevant. Progress on several of the Deliverables listed in Section 4 has already taken place. The consultant will be fully briefed on the status of each activity during a dedicated consultancy kickoff meeting.

3. Overview of Deliverables

The consultant will be responsible for preparing the following deliverables, in close collaboration with the SCCF Project Manager at Plan Bleu. The consultant will be fully briefed on the SCCF project’s status, ongoing activities and publications by the latter upon recruitment, and will receive a list of resources to support her/him throughout the consultancy.

Deliverable	Expected content	Due date
1. Preparation of a NbS Training Module on NbS for coastal adaptation	Training design and materials, based on desktop research, a literature review, SCCF project partners’ expertise and MedProgramme CP 2.1 and SCCF Project results to date. The Training Module should adopt a regional Mediterranean approach, with a focus on the coastal areas of North Africa, the Middle East and the Western Balkans, while adapting some of its messages to the specificities of each sub-region.	13 September 2024
2. Two day hybrid training, Kotor Montenegro (English)	Provide feedback and inputs to the materials that have already been prepared by the project team.  Speaker liaising and presentation coordination. Workshop co-moderation (together with the Plan Bleu project manager).  The consultant will integrate a synthetic meeting report (10 pages) presenting the results of the workshop, to be integrated into Deliverable 4 (NbS Training Manual).	Workshop report: 20 October 2024
3. Two day hybrid  training, Morocco (French)	Provide feedback and inputs to the materials that have already been prepared by the project team.  Speaker liaising and presentation coordination. Workshop co-moderation (together with the Plan Bleu project manager).  The consultant will produce a synthetic meeting report (10 pages) presenting the results of the workshop, to be integrated into Deliverable 4 (NbS Training Manual).	Workshop report: two weeks after the workshop
4. Production of a NbS Training Module in English	The Training Module will comprise:  a  description of the MedProgramme and the two projects concerned by this consultancy: the CP 2.1 and SCCF projects, with a focus on the latter’s relevant work in terms of NbS and EbA; the core messages of the NbS Training Modules and its different themes; the key outcomes of the NbS workshops, including the main messages and outcomes of the presentations and the group activities. a synthesis of the enabling conditions for the upscaling of NbS for EbA in Mediterranean coastal zones, from a governance and financial point of view. The synthesis will include strategic recommendations to further encourage the uptake of NbS by decision-makers, coastal managers, private sector actors involved in Mediterranean coastal zones, and civil society, and identify the main gaps that need to be addressed at the sub-regional level in the SCCF Project countries. In the application, the consultant is expected to provide a detailed preliminary Table of Contents for this Deliverable, and to actively contribute to its further elaboration together with the project team over the course of the consultancy.	17 November 202

All deliverables are expected to be delivered to Plan Blan in a timely fashion, having been fully proofread, edited and designed by the consultant to a publishable standard. They will comprise a complete and proofread bibliography, and apply a single referencing system throughout all reports. The consultant will use the MedProgramme visual identity for the layout of the reports, which will be provided by Plan Bleu. This is a precondition for the consultancy deliverables and payments to be validated by Plan Bleu. The workshop reports will contain the workshop agenda and complete, gender-disaggregated  list of participants as annexes, prepared by the consultant.

5. Profile Requirements

• University degree in the environmental or social sciences  – Master’s degree or above; 
• Fluency in English;
• Excellent working knowledge of French in both written and oral form preferred;
• In-depth knowledge of climate risks and impacts, Nature-based Solutions, Ecosystem-based adaptation, Integrated Coastal Zone Management and the Source-to-Sea Approach, ecosystem conservation and restoration, preferably with a focus on the Mediterranean region;
• Prior relevant professional experience in group facilitation and moderation using participatory methodologies;
• Prior relevant experience in the Mediterranean region;
• Prior experience in designing training modules for different audiences will be an asset.

6. Contractual and Financial Terms

This consultancy will run from the date of the contract signature by both parties to 13 December 2024. Travel and accommodation costs related to this mission will be covered separately by Plan Bleu and should not be included in the contract amount. Funding for these activities is secured through both GEF funding and co-financing from Plan Bleu and other Executing Partners of the MedProgramme SCCF Project.

7. How to apply

This consultation can be carried out by an individual consultant or by a team of consultants. The selection of the proposal will be carried out based on the submission of a technical offer, a financial offer (including VAT, if applicable), as well as a cover letter and a CV. 

The evaluation will be based on the best bidder principle, with 75% of the score based on technical criteria and 25% on financial criteria. The final selection of the candidate may require an interview that will take place online. 

The tax legislation in force on the date of acceptance of the offer will be applied. Acceptance of the offer by the candidate will imply the acceptance of the conditions and schedules detailed in these terms of reference by the candidate. A duly issued invoice will be required for payments made following the reception and validation of the consultancy deliverables by Plan Bleu. The payment terms for the invoice will be by bank transfer, 15 days after the invoice reception date. All invoices and payments will be made in USD ($).

Applications must be submitted no later than Wednesday 14 August 2024 through the Plan Bleu website: www.planbleu.org and by e-mail to: [email protected].

For more information about this consultancy, please contact Michael Karner ([email protected]).