Call for Proposals for Global Production Networks Training: Just Energy Transition

Brief background  
 

The IEJ and its partners How-we-Adapt, COSATU (South Africa), ACEP (Ghana) and ACTS (Kenya) are conducting a research project entitled “Just Energy Transition: Localisation, Decent Work, SMMEs and Sustainable Livelihoods”. The primary rationale for this research is to generate and share knowledge through research and advocacy necessary for ensuring the transition from a fossil fuel to a renewable energy economy in ways that:

• Ameliorates resultant unemployment and economic losses, the destructive social, and ecological legacies these value chains have shaped;
• Harnesses employment opportunities arising from the shift, livelihood support for those affected; and
• Ensuring that the potential economic gains from renewable transitions benefit workers, marginalised groups such as women, and developing countries.
   

The overall objective of the Project is to develop public policy proposals, and advocacy support, and interventions necessary to enable decent work and sustainable livelihoods for workers, with particular consideration for women, through the localisation of clean energy value chains, with a focus on Micro-, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) capability development in Kenya, Ghana, and South Africa. It utilises a mixed methods approach for data collection consisting of semi-structured interviews, focus groups, participant observations, firm-level surveys, and review of academic and grey literature, policy documents, national and international statistical data, and corporate data. The sample will include MSMEs in the relevant value chains, managers and owners from selected firms, worker organisations, community groups, and relevant government officials and trade association representatives in South Africa, Ghana and Kenya. It draws upon the global production network approach to make sense of the derived data. We will use the Global Production Network as our analytical framework to operationalise the study.

Purpose of the training

The purpose of this training is:

• To enable researchers within the project to have a better understanding of the Global Production Network approach and its fruitful application to meet the project objectives.
• To help the project team to map the Renewable Energy production network in Ghana, South Africa, Kenya.
• To help the project team to improve the operationalisation of the conceptual framework in support of our research design and the objectives of the study.

Outputs/Activities

2-day training of team members in person and virtually.
Administrative commitments:

• Preparation of the paper/teaching aid
• Presentation of the paper
• Teaching Aid submitted to the project team (maximum 12 pages)
   

Method of training  
 

• Teaching
• Practical exercises
• Make use of the project’s continental analysis and conceptual framework to develop teaching aids
   

Issues on gender and and decent work

The training should pay particular attention to gender and decent work concerns of the project.

Production schedule  
 

Four weeks

Request for proposals  
 

Prepare a 500-to-1000-word proposal that explains why you are able to undertake this task. The proposal must include:

• Previous successful work in Global Production Networks conceptual framework training
• A sample of Peer-reviewed published work utilizing or developing the GPN approaches
• Familiarity with industrial policy, renewable energy systems, value chains, political economy approaches, gender, decent work desirable.
• Budget
   

Additional documents:

• Curriculum Vitae related to this particular work
• Contact details for two referees/references
   

Evaluation of Proposal will be made by looking at:

• Experience and Budget Costs
   

Submission process  

The proposal and supporting documents (limited to 6MB), must be sent electronically in PDF format. All documents must be submitted via this link here. 

Those having trouble submitting via the Google Form must send their queries to applications@iej.org.za.