The Grants for Global Environmental Change (GEC) Research in Africa strengthened the capacity of African scientists and institutions to undertake interdisciplinary research in global and environmental change.
From 2004 to 2016, the program supported over 100 one-year research grants in 24 countries in Africa, involving over 300 students from over 65 institutions. All projects integrated both natural and social science perspectives and prioritized communication of outcomes to support decision-making. Several projects also adopted a transdisciplinary approach, including local stakeholders in research design and implementation.
Learning Forum events brought together grantees at the end of their project periods to share results, identify remaining knowledge needs and plan for future research and communications activities.
Since 2016 the START GEC grants have being awarded as part of the Future Resilience for African Cities and Lands (FRACTAL) program, to promote knowledge exchange and learning across FRACTAL cities, and to award grants for cross-city research.
