RESSAC

The goal of this EU-funded programme is to direct research towards the “operational solutions” that need to be invented and applied by stakeholders in the field who are confronted with the concrete challenges of sustainable management of natural resources as part of their duties or their everyday socioeconomic activities. The following categories of stakeholders are concerned:

1. National, regional and local administrations responsible for the environment and natural resources, land-use planning, infrastructure development, rural development and the various ways of exploiting and enhancing the natural and mineral resources of forest ecosystems and their peripheral areas
2. Managers of protected areas (PAs) who work either at public institutions or for independent operators that have signed public-private partnerships with the public authorities responsible for the management of PAs
3. Managers of forests managed for timber production (the administrative body in charge of the sector and forest operators involved in the sustainable management of their concessions, whether industrial players, local authorities or communities organized for this purpose, as in the case of communal forests and community forests)
4. Agro-industry operators and extractive industries, whose activities and geographical scope of operations may compete with forest areas
5. Civil society organizations promoting and overseeing local community development initiatives (community forests, conservancies, NTFP development cooperatives, etc.) and defending and promoting the rights of local stakeholders (with a particular focus on indigenous peoples).

The programme seeks to mobilize and “assign” university researchers to these various categories of stakeholders, so that they can benefit from dedicated scientific support that will enable them to implement innovative strategies of action in the management of natural resources.

The programme will fund applied research for the beneficiary stakeholders listed above, but based on an academic and scientific framework. The target academic and scientific partners are the following:

1. Universities and research institutes in Central Africa and the EU with research programmes focused on the issues of socioeconomic development, governance or the management of natural resources in the countries of Central Africa
2. Experienced researchers in ecology and social sciences (post-doctoral fellows) enrolled in a university in Central Africa or the EU, which will have expressed interest in becoming a programme partner. Through the university where they are enrolled, these post-doctoral fellows will benefit from grants funded by the programme. They will make a long-term (minimum 18 months) engagement with a beneficiary stakeholder, with which a research-support protocol will be signed.
3. Master’s students (in ecology and social sciences) enrolled in Central African universities and in European inter-university cooperation programmes (Msc ErMsc Erasmus+asmus+ / ErErasmus Munasmus Mundusdus) within an EU university that will have expressed interest in becoming a programme partner. Through the university where they are enrolled, these students will receive specific financial support from the programme to cover the costs of their engagement in Central Africa. They will engage in one-off actions (maximum 6 months) with a beneficiary stakeholder, with which a research-support protocol will be signed.