Request for Proposals (RfP)
Tutorial (online course) on
communities and protected areas
French or English)
South Africa Office, PAPACO
RfP Reference : IUCN-2025-02-P04398-1
Welcome to this Procurement by IUCN. You are hereby invited to submit a Proposal. Please read the information and instructions carefully because non-compliance with the instructions may result in disqualification of your Proposal from this Procurement.
A detailed description of the services and / or goods to be provided can be found in Attachments 1 to 5.
During the course of this procurement, i.e. from the publication of this RfP to the award of a contract, you may not discuss this procurement with any IUCN employee or representative other than the following contact. You must address all correspondence and questions to the contact, including your proposal.
This timetable is indicative and may be changed by IUCN at any time. If IUCN decides that changes to any of the deadlines are necessary, we will contact you.
DATE
ACTIVITY
19 / 02 / 2025
Terms of references shared with potential consultants
27 / 02 / 2025
Publication of the Request for Proposals on IUCN website
13 / 03 / 2025
Deadline for submission of questions
04 / 03 / 2025
Planned publication of responses to questions
19 / 03 / 2025
Deadline for submission of proposals to IUCN (“ Submission Deadline ”)
21 / 03 / 2025
Interviews (if needed)
24 / 03 / 2025
Planned date for contract award
31 / 03 / 2025
Expected contract start date
Your Proposal must consist of the following three documents :
Proposals must be prepared in English.
IMPORTANT : Submitted documents must be password-protected so that they cannot be opened and read before the submission deadline. Please use the same password for all submitted documents. After the deadline has passed and within 12 hours, please send the password to the IUCN Contact. This will ensure a secure bid submission and opening process. Please DO NOT email the password before the deadline for Proposal submission.
Eligibility
N / A
The technical proposal must address each of the criteria stated below explicitly and separately, quoting the relevant criteria reference number (left-hand column).
Proposals in any other format will significantly increase the time it takes to evaluate, and such Proposals may therefore be rejected at IUCN’s discretion.
Where CVs are requested, these must be of the individuals who will actually carry out the work specified. The individuals you put forward may only be substituted with IUCN’s approval.
IUCN will evaluate technical proposals with regards to each of the following criteria and their relative importance :
Description
Information to provide
Relative weight
Professional and educational background
Explanation of area of expertise and how your professional background is relevant to the consultancy.
Letter (1 / 2 page in Times 11)
Experience with organisations that are relevant to the area of expertise required for the consultancy.
CV + Page explaining practical examples or listing links to relevant media (web stories, youtube, social media etc.).
Experience in teaching online or in person courses (course development, presentations)
CV and, if not clear, add page listing courses with institutions including links where they exist.
TOTAL
100%
The financial proposal must be a fixed and firm price for the provision of the goods / services stated in the RfP in their entirety.
Prices include all costs
Submitted rates and prices are deemed to include all costs, insurances, taxes (except VAT, see below), fees, expenses, liabilities, obligations, risk and other things necessary for the performance of the Terms of Reference or Specification of Requirements. IUCN will not accept charges beyond those clearly stated in the Financial Proposal. This includes applicable withholding taxes and similar. It is your responsibility to determine whether such taxes apply to your organisation and to include them in your financial offer.
Proposal rates and prices shall be exclusive of Value Added Tax.
All rates and prices submitted by Proposers shall be in EURO.
You may freely withdraw or change your proposal at any time prior to the submission deadline by written notice to the IUCN Contact. However, in order to reduce the risk of fraud, no changes or withdrawals will be accepted after the submission deadline.
Completeness
Scoring Method
IUCN will firstly check your proposal for completeness. Incomplete proposals will not be considered further.
Your proposal will be assigned a score from 0 to 10 for each of the technical evaluation criteria, such that ‘0’ is low and ‘10’ is high.
Proposals that receive a score of ‘0’ for any of the criteria will not be considered further.
Your score for each technical evaluation criterion will be multiplied with the respective relative weight (see Section 4.4) and these weighted scores added together to give your proposal’s overall technical score.
The financial evaluation will be based upon the full total price you submit. Your financial proposal will receive a score calculated by dividing the lowest financial proposal that has passed the minimum quality thresholds (see Section 5.2.2) by the total price of your financial proposal.
Thus, for example, if your financial proposal is for a total of CHF 100 and the lowest financial proposal is CHF 80, you will receive a financial score of 80 / 100 = 80%
Total Score
Your proposal’s total score will be calculated as the weighted sum of your technical score and your financial score.
The relative weights will be :
Technical : 70%
Financial : 30%
Thus, for example, if your technical score is 83% and your financial score is 77%, you will receive a total score of 83
Subject to the requirements in Sections 4 and 7, IUCN will award the contract to the bidder whose proposal achieves the highest total score.
IUCN is using the Invitation Procedure for this procurement. This means that only invited bidders may submit a proposal. IUCN typically invites from four to six bidders to submit a proposal.
To participate in this procurement, you are required to submit a proposal, which fully complies with the instructions in this RfP and the Attachments.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you have submitted a complete and fully compliant proposal.
You must complete and sign the Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2)
IUCN follows the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The information you submit to IUCN as part of this procurement will be treated as confidential and shared only as required to evaluate your proposal in line with the procedure explained in this RfP, and for the maintenance of a clear audit trail. For audit purposes, IUCN is required to retain your proposal in its entirety for 10 years after the end of the resulting contract and make this available to internal and external auditors and donors as and when requested.
The contract will be based on IUCN’s template in Attachment 3, the terms of which are not negotiable. They may, however, be amended by IUCN to reflect particular requirements from the donor funding this particular procurement.
IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.
Headquartered in Switzerland, IUCN Secretariat comprises around 1,000 staff with offices in more than 50 countries.
Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,300 Member organisations and some 10,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.
IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous peoples organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.
Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being.
Attachment 1 : P04398 – Terms of Reference Consultancy on communities
Terms of Reference for IUCN Consultancy
Title : Tutorial (online course) on communities and protected areas (French or English)
Objective of the Consultancy
This consultancy has the following objective(s) :
Background
Project Reference : IUCN Project Number P04398
Donor reference : FFEM (French GEF)
About IUCN
IUCN is a membership Union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations. It provides public, private and non-governmental organisations with the knowledge and tools that enable human progress, economic development and nature conservation to take place together.
Created in 1948, IUCN is now the world’s largest and most diverse environmental network, harnessing the knowledge, resources and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and around 15,000 experts. It is a leading provider of conservation data, assessments and analysis. Its broad membership enables IUCN to fill the role of incubator and trusted repository of best practices, tools and international standards.
IUCN provides a neutral space in which diverse stakeholders including governments, NGOs, scientists, businesses, local communities, indigenous people organisations and others can work together to forge and implement solutions to environmental challenges and achieve sustainable development.
Working with many partners and supporters, IUCN implements a large and diverse portfolio of conservation projects worldwide. Combining the latest science with the traditional knowledge of local communities, these projects work to reverse habitat loss, restore ecosystems and improve people’s well-being.
About the Project
The project’s overall goal is to improve the management and governance of African protected areas and OECMs, so that their contribution to biodiversity preservation can be strengthened over time. To do so, the project intends to create, reinforce and implement a set of adaptive tools aiming at developing capacities of all actors having a direct or indirect influence over these conservation areas :
1 – Build or strengthen capacities of stakeholders directly involved in protected area / OECM management (managers, field agents, guards, task officers, ecologists, guides…). This will mainly be carried out through onsite trainings (Masters and University Diploma), the promotion of the Essentials, the development of new technical and more specific courses online (Learning Tools) and by organising immersive internships and apprenticeships for and with managers of such territories.
2 – Inform and train people with indirect influence over these areas (local communities, citizens, researchers, employees of other industries, tourism sector; other administrations…). This mainly relies on existing or future online courses (MOOCs) – three new ones are to come.
3 – Raise awareness among children and provide useful tools to their teachers and environmental educators. This will be done through the progressive development of the youth-conservation platform and the topical modules it covers.
Description of the Assignment
Then, he / she will develop a syllabus plan that can be turn into a tutorial (specific course format on MOOC Conservation), covering the topic. The main questions to cover are : what are the communities involved in nature conservation? What are their roles? What problems or opportunities may they present? How to involve them? How do we assess the quality of the relationship? Etc. To prepare this plan, the consultant will liaise with IUCN-Papaco to ensure that he / she covers the topics as expected, taking into account the other courses that are already online.
After validation of this plan by IUCN-Papaco, he / she will develop the content of each part of the course, adapting each content to the format it will take on the platform : animation, text, graph or drawings, etc. A tutorial should present in a simple and enjoyable manner the content and the course content should not exceed 40 pages in Word, Times New Roman, size 11. Again, this draft will be developed with regular consultation with IUCN-Papaco to ensure it responds to the requirements of the platform.
Once this content has been approved by IUCN-Papaco, the consultant will prepare related quiz and exams. He / she will also share a list of readings and resources that will help the learner go deeper into the subject.
Max bid for the assignment : 10, 000 € (can be discussed based on skillset range)
Duration of the Assignment
First semester 2025, exact dates to be determined in contract and based on availabilities of chosen consultant.
Deliverables and Activities
The consultant will provide the following deliverables and carry out the following activities :
Deliverable
Description
Deadline
Deliverable 1
Course syllabus
15 days after signature of the contract
Deliverable 2
Draft of the content
One month after contract signature
Deliverable 3
Content finalized
6 weeks after contract signature
Deliverable 4
Quiz, exams and illustrative material
Two months after signature of the contract – End of the consultancy
Payment Schedule
The Timetable below summarises the chronological order of deliverables and indicates milestones at which IUCN will pay the Consultant.
Deliverable
Milestone payment
Deliverable 2 approved
Deliverable 4 approved
OR (if consultant agrees), when deliverable 4 approved only
100%
Skills and Experience
The consultant must have the following skills, education and experience as a minimum :
Education and Work Experience :
Master’s degree in ecology, sociology or Nature conservation from accredited institution, or equivalent experience. Deep knowledge of the reality of nature conservation and the relationships with people in or around protected areas (if possible, in Africa) and excellent existing network of partners in this field. Ability to prepare, oversee and deliver courses on nature conservation both online and onsite would be an asset.
Technical competencies :
Ground knowledge of protected areas management and governance, nature conservation methods and existing local communities. Ability to use creative and collaborative tools to develop courses content, such as Canva. Excellent writing and editing skills in French and / or in English. Experience operating a LMS (OpenEdx) would be an asset.
Functional competencies :
Curiosity and high interest in Nature conservation related matters. High standards of written communication skills. Enthusiasm, creativity, commitment and passion for high quality work and results delivery. Autonomy, and able to work independently.
Supervision and coordination
The consultant will report to and work under the supervision of Geoffroy Mauvais, IUCN-Papaco coordinator, and will maintain contact with Madeleine Vosloo, IUCN-Papaco Communication and program Officer for any technical question related to the platform.
Attachment 2 : P04398 – Declaration of Undertaking for Consultancy on communities
Declaration of Undertaking
concerning
IUCN-2025-02-P04398-1
I, the undersigned, hereby confirm that I am an authorized representative of the following organization :
Registered Name of Organization (the “Organization”) : _______________________
Registered Address (incl. country) : _______________________________________
Year of Registration : __________________________________________________
I hereby authorize IUCN to store and use the information included in the attached Proposal for the purpose of evaluating Proposals and selecting the Proposal IUCN deems the most favourable. I acknowledge that IUCN is required to retain the Proposal in its entirety for 10 years after then end of the resulting contract and make this available to internal and external auditors and donors as and when reasonably requested.
Where the Proposal includes Personal Data as defined by the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), I confirm that the Organization has been authorized by each Data Subject to share this data with IUCN for the purposes stated above.
I further confirm that the following statements are correct :
Name and position of an authorized representative of the Proposer :
Date and Signature of the authorized representative of the Proposer :
Step 1 : Acquire Tender Documents
Obtain the relevant tender documents.
Step 2 : Review Requirements
Thoroughly read the tender specifications, terms, and conditions.
Step 3 : Prepare Proposal
Prepare your proposal as guided, ensuring all the required information is included.
Important Dates
Contact Information