research
Nine Master’s Students Awarded ICLD’s Fieldwork Grant
Nine master’s students studying at Swedish universities are awarded ICLD’s Fieldwork Grant for thesis research. The students will conduct fieldwork in Guatemala, Ukraine, Kenya, Zambia, Colombia and South Africa during the spring of 2025. On November 18th the students participated in an introductory workshop at Gothenburg University where they presented their proposals to receive feedback…
María José Zapata Campos drives research and change at ICLD
New Research Chief María José Zapata Campos has taken on her new role as Research Chief at ICLD, with a mission to empower local democracies and combat global inequalities. Passionate about creating a sustainable future, she’s ready to make her mark at ICLD! Who is María-José? Born and raised in Elche, a town on Spain’s…
Decentralisation and civic participation strengthens resilience
Decentralisation and civic participation contributes to resilience in the face of crisis – this is the conclusion from an upcoming study of Ukrainian municipalities. Civil servants and local politicians share insights on challenges and strategies to improve collaborative governance, for the sake of societal resilience. 16 Ukrainian municipalities, including seven from ICLD’s Democratic Resilience Network,…
Call for proposals: Intersectional Gender Policy in Latin America
Note: This call is closed. Projects funded by this call include: Open call for proposals for policy-oriented research to support local governments in improving equity and gender equality, with particular focus on Colombia, Guatemala and Sweden. Background In the dynamic and complex socio-political landscapes of Latin America, the challenges of gender inequality intersect deeply with…
Call for proposals: Community empowering Voluntary Local Reviews
Open call for proposals for Voluntary Local Reviews with a participatory methodology, led by researchers and conducted together with a local government. Introduction ICLD seeks proposals for the development of Voluntary Local Reviews – documents that monitor and report on SDG implementation progress at the local level – to be conducted as joint research projects…
Call for proposals: Climate adaptation financing for local governments – landscape, mechanisms, and governance implications
Open call for proposals for a practitioner-oriented report on the availability of climate finance mechanisms for local governments and its connection to the quality of local democracy. Background: Local governments are crucial in the frontline response to challenges caused by climate change. However, financing adaptations measures often exceeds the capacity of local budgets and most…
Call for proposals: Health equity in decentralized democracy
Note: this call is closed. The project funded from this call is described here: Open call for proposals for research on the nexus between local democracy and equitable health provision. Background Democracy is essential for achieving good health globally.1 A recent comprehensive study by Bollyky et al. (2019) asserts that “democracies are more likely than…
‘Towards Child Focused Cities’ at Ecocity World Summit
Last year, ICLD approved a research project on child rights, aiming to develop an analytical tool to address the Sustainable Development Goals from a child rights perspective – together with children. Phase two of the project was just approved, with grounded action research taking place over the coming year together with the Sustainable Futures Network…
Call for research proposals: Local democracy during war – the case of Ukraine
Terms of Reference Background ICLD calls for research proposals on the role of local democracy during armed conflicts, looking into the case of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. While there is a long academic debate about the critical role played by the local level in peace building processes (Leonardsson & Rudd, 2015; Mac…
Call for research proposal: Child-Focused Cities Analytical Framework
Terms of Reference Background In an attempt to enhance the work of local governments by enabling a more child-focused transformation of their respective territories in pursuit of sustainable development goals (SDG), a group of international researchers collaborated with a range of stakeholders to conceptualise a new analytical tool. The research process included seven international scholars…
