Application call for Waste Smart Fellowship 2025

Waste Smart Fellowship Grant 2025

Project Summary

Green Shift: Circularity of Plastic Waste for Net-Zero Carbon Nepal project is funded by the European Union to promote the Circular Economy. The project will be implemented in Madhesh Province, Lumbini Province, and Bagmati Province through the consortium partners CREASION, Restless Development Nepal, and Youth Innovation Lab (YI-Lab). The project aims to focus on technology for plastic waste collection, mobilizing civil societies of waste workers and sustainable product designing and packaging. With the active involvement of the Waste Workers, women, and marginalized groups, Civil Society Organizations of Waste Workers, youth groups, SMEs, local, provincial, and federal government bodies, the project will be carried out for a period of four years. The activities envisioned will create a synergy for the development of policy formulation at the local, provincial, and federal level of the government. The project will be working on the promotion of plastic waste management and reduction for a just transition towards Circular economy along with the engagement of the stakeholders to advocate for inclusive and evidence based policies for the promotion of circular economy. These activities are aimed towards bringing a transition to a circular economy of plastic by supporting CSOs of marginalized waste workers, three tiers of governments, private sector, and youth.

Waste Smart Fellowship Grant

Waste Smart Fellowship (WSF) provides an experiential platform for young people who are interested in pursuing their career in the field of solid waste management, circular/green economy, environmental sustainability, and climate change. It provides opportunities for young, qualified people who are enthusiastic about environmental issues to work closely with the municipal governments wherein they will gain an in-depth experience in solid waste management and environmental sustainability. The fellows placed in the municipalities will work closely with environment/ sanitation/ solid waste management focal person and IT officer, elected municipal, and ward representatives. Fellows will first assess the existing capacity of the local governments, existing policies/guidelines, availability of baseline studies, current scenario, and major stakeholders in waste management. The initial assessment will support in identifying the gaps and needs, which the fellows will coordinate with the municipal focal person and project team for development of a guideline/ strategy for waste management. Through this, they will help sensitize the elected representatives and municipal officials about plastic waste and its environmental impacts.

Through the Waste Smart Fellowship Grant, young people will work with the local government to capacitate youths in supporting local governments in collecting waste data and inform policy making and strengthening their waste related plans and policies. The Nepalese government has enacted the Solid Waste Management Act to improve waste management at the local level. However, 217 out of 753 municipal bodies lack specific policies for plastic waste, and only 103 have designated Solid Waste Management Units with resource challenges. Insufficient technical and infrastructural capacities, along with a lack of awareness, behavioral patterns and perceptions that are related to recycling, waste segregations and environmental issues, hinder effective waste management, particularly in urban areas. With Waste Smart Fellowship activities, young people will act as a connecting bridge to transfer technical capacities and data gaps that exist at all three tiers of the government and support informed decision-making for plastic waste management. Additionally, Waste Smart Fellows will monitor other components of the project activities. This includes Climate Smart School component aimed at fostering knowledge and awareness among children on circular economy. Similarly, they will also be responsible for monitoring youth activities and tag-me app for enhancing their leadership and advocacy skills.

Application Summary

Application must be completed online and consists of the following components:

1. Personal Information
2. Motivation Letter (Max. 300 words)
3. CV/Resume (CV no longer than 2 pages)
4. One Reference letter (Academic Recommended)

While preparing for the application process, please ensure the following:

1. A motivation letter stating your interest and qualification for the Waste Smart Fellowship Grant
2. Your CV/Resume in a PDF format
3. A recommendation letter from your academic institution or workplace in pdf format

Project Municipalities

Click on the link below for detailed Application Call Guidelines:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JRhP-PNXPyUVAuJ92lQ22NSix1rN8cVU/view?usp=sharing

Application Timeline

• Application Opens- 12th November, 2024
• Application Deadline- 15th December, 2024

Application Form Link- https://bitly.cx/v6rXUT

Contact

For any queries and more information, please feel free to contact:

Email: fellowship@youthinnovationlab.org