Tutorial (online course) on communities and protected areas (French or English)

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.

1. REQUIREMENTS
   1. A detailed description of the services and/or goods to be provided can be found in Attachments 1 to 5.
2. CONTACT DETAILS
   1. 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.

IUCN Contact: Geoffroy Mauvais, IUCN-Papaco coordinator, [email protected]

1. PROCUREMENT TIMETABLE
   1. 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

1. Please email the IUCN contact to confirm whether or not you are intending to submit a proposal by the deadline stated above.
2. COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING A PROPOSAL
   1. Your Proposal must consist of the following three documents:

• Signed Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2)
• Technical Proposal (see Section 4.4 below)
• Financial Proposal (see Section 4.5 below)

Proposals must be prepared in English.

1. Your Proposal must be submitted by email to the IUCN Contact (see Section 2). The subject heading of the email shall be [RfP Reference – bidder name]. The bidder name is the name of the company/organisation on whose behalf you are submitting the proposal, or your own surname if you are bidding as a self-employed consultant. Your proposal must be submitted in PDF format. You may submit multiple emails suitably annotated, e.g. Email 1 of 3, if attached files are too large to suit a single email transmission. You may not submit your Proposal by uploading it to a file-sharing tool.

   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.

   1. Eligibility
   2. Technical Proposal

   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

1

Professional and educational background

CV

25

2

Explanation of area of expertise and how your professional background is relevant to the consultancy.

Letter (1/2 page in Times 11)

25

3

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.).

25

4

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.

25

TOTAL

100%

1. Financial Proposal

   1. The financial proposal must be a fixed and firm price for the provision of the goods/services stated in the RfP in their entirety.

      1. Prices include all costs
      2. Applicable Goods and Services Taxes
      3. Currency of proposed rates and prices

      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.

   2. Additional information not requested by IUCN should not be included in your Proposal and will not be taken into account in the evaluation.

   3. Your proposal must remain valid and capable of acceptance by IUCN for a period of 90 calendar days following the submission deadline.

   4. Withdrawals and Changes

   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.

2. EVALUATION of PROPOSALS

   1. Completeness
   2. Technical Evaluation
      1. 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.

1. Minimum Quality Thresholds

Proposals that receive a score of ‘0’ for any of the criteria will not be considered further.

1. Technical Score

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.

1. Financial Evaluation and Financial Scores

   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%

   1. 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 * 70% + 77 * 30% = 58.1% + 23.1% = 81.2%.

Subject to the requirements in Sections 4 and 7, IUCN will award the contract to the bidder whose proposal achieves the highest total score.

1. Explanation of procurement procedure
   1. 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.
   2. You are welcome to ask questions or seek clarification regarding this procurement. Please email the IUCN Contact (see Section 2), taking note of the deadline for submission of questions in Section 3.1.
   3. All proposals must be received by the submission deadline in Section 3.1 above. Late proposals will not be considered. All proposals received by the submission deadline will be evaluated by a team of two or more evaluators in accordance with the evaluation criteria stated in in this RfP. No other criteria will be used to evaluate proposals. The contract will be awarded to the bidder whose proposal received the highest Total Score. IUCN does, however, reserve the right to cancel the procurement and not award a contract at all.
   4. IUCN will contact the bidder with the highest-scoring proposal to finalise the contract. We will contact unsuccessful bidders after the contract has been awarded and provide detailed feedback. The timetable in Section 3.1 gives an estimate of when we expect to have completed the contract award, but this date may change depending on how long the evaluation of proposals takes.
2. Conditions for participation in this procurement
   1. To participate in this procurement, you are required to submit a proposal, which fully complies with the instructions in this RfP and the Attachments.
      1. It is your responsibility to ensure that you have submitted a complete and fully compliant proposal.
      2. Any incomplete or incorrectly completed proposal submission may be deemed non-compliant, and as a result you may be unable to proceed further in the procurement process.
      3. IUCN will query any obvious clerical errors in your proposal and may, at IUCN’s sole discretion, allow you to correct these, but only if doing so could not be perceived as giving you an unfair advantage.
   2. In order to participate in this procurement, you must meet the following conditions:

• Free of conflicts of interest
• Registered on the relevant professional or trade register of the country in which you are established (or resident, if self-employed)
• In full compliance with your obligations relating to payment of social security contributions and of all applicable taxes
• Not been convicted of failing to comply with environmental regulatory requirements or other legal requirements relating to sustainability and environmental protection
• Not bankrupt or being wound up
• Never been guilty of an offence concerning your professional conduct
• Not involved in fraud, corruption, a criminal organisation, money laundering, terrorism, or any other illegal activity.
  1. You must complete and sign the Declaration of Undertaking (see Attachment 2)
  2. If you are participating in this procurement as a member of a joint venture, or are using sub-contractors, submit a separate Declaration of Undertaking for each member of the joint venture and sub-contractor, and be clear in your proposal which parts of the goods/services are provided by each partner or sub-contractor.
  3. Each bidder shall submit only one proposal, either individually or as a partner in a joint venture. In case of joint venture, one company shall not be allowed to participate in two different joint ventures in the same procurement nor shall a company be allowed to submit a proposal both on its behalf and as part of a joint venture for the same procurement. A bidder who submits or participates in more than one proposal (other than as a subcontractor or in cases of alternatives that have been permitted or requested) shall cause all the proposals with the bidder’s participation to be disqualified.
  4. By taking part in this procurement, you accept the conditions set out in this RfP, including the following:
• It is unacceptable to give or offer any gift or consideration to an employee or other representative of IUCN as a reward or inducement in relation to the awarding of a contract. Such action will give IUCN the right to exclude you from this and any future procurements, and to terminate any contract that may have been signed with you.
• Any attempt to obtain information from an employee or other representative of IUCN concerning another bidder will result in disqualification.
• Any price fixing or collusion with other bidders in relation to this procurement shall give IUCN the right to exclude you and any other involved bidder(s) from this and any future procurements and may constitute a criminal offence.

1. Confidentiality and data protection
   1. 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.
   2. In the Declaration of Undertaking (Attachment 2) you need to give IUCN express permission to use the information you submit in this way, including personal data that forms part of your proposal. Where you include personal data of your employees (e.g. CVs) in your proposal, you need to have written permission from those individuals to share this information with IUCN, and for IUCN to use this information as indicated in 8.1. Without these permissions, IUCN will not be able to consider your proposal.
2. Complaints procedure

If you have a complaint or concern regarding the propriety of how a competitive process is or has been executed, then please contact [email protected]. Such complaints or concerns will be treated as confidential and are not considered in breach of the above restrictions on communication (Section 2.1).

1. Contract

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.

1. 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.

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.

www.iucn.org

https://twitter.com/IUCN/

1. ATTACHMENTS

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):

1. Prepare the content of an online course on the role of communities in nature conservation, with a focus on protected and conserved areas (in French or English).
2. Provide the relevant material to illustrate the course that will be put online (script, content for animations and presentations etc.).
3. Provide adequate readings and course supports to allow a better understanding of this topic.
4. Propose a set of quiz and exam questions to assess the level of understanding of the students once they have finished the course.

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. More on www.iucn.org

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.

The consultant is expected to contribute to points 1 and 2, by providing additional materials for online courses. More on www.mooc-conservation.org

Description of the Assignment

The consultant will first get familiar with the tutorials on www.mooc-conservation.org, their structure and organization, the way the course is organized, and the exams are developed.

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

60%

Deliverable 4 approved

40%

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:

1. The Organization is duly registered under all applicable laws.
2. The Organization is fully compliant with all its tax and social security obligations.
3. The Organization and its staff and representatives are free of any real or perceived conflicts of interest with regard to IUCN and its Mission.
4. The Organization agrees to declare to IUCN any real or perceived emerging conflicts of interest it or any of its staff and representatives may have concerning IUCN. The Organization acknowledges that IUCN may terminate any contracts with the Organization that would, in IUCN’s sole discretion, be negatively affected by such conflicts of interest.
5. None of the Organization’s staff has ever been convicted of grave professional misconduct or any other offense concerning their professional conduct.
6. Neither the Organization nor any of its staff and representatives have ever been convicted of fraud, corruption, money laundering, supporting terrorism, or involvement in a criminal organization.
7. The Organization acknowledges that engagement by itself or any of its staff in fraud, corruption, money laundering, supporting terrorism, or involvement in a criminal organization will entitle IUCN to terminate any and all contracts with the Organization with immediate effect.
8. The Organization is a going concern and is not bankrupt or being wound up, is not having its affairs administered by the courts, has not suspended business activities, is not the subject of proceedings concerning those matters, or in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for in national legislation or regulations.
9. The Organization complies with all applicable environmental regulatory requirements or other legal requirements relating to sustainability and environmental protection.
10. The Organization is not included in the UN Security Council Sanctions List, EU Sanctions Map, US Office of Foreign Assets Control Sanctions List, or the World Bank listing of ineligible firms and individuals. The Organization agrees that it will not provide direct or indirect support to firms and individuals included in these lists.
11. The Organization has not been, is not, and will not be involved or implicated in any violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, or injustice or abuse of human rights related to other groups or individuals, including forced evictions, violation of fundamental rights of workers as defined by the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work, child labour, sexual exploitation, sexual abuse, or sexual harassment.

Name and position of an authorized representative of the Proposer:

Date and Signature of the authorized representative of the Proposer:

How to apply

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.

Step 4: Submission
Submit your completed proposal by 19/3/2025 via email: [email protected]

Important Dates

• Tender Release Date: 27/2/2025
• Submission Deadline: 19/3/2025
• Starting Date: 31/3/2025

Contact Information

For questions, please contact:
Geoffrey Munene,
Procurement Assistant, IUCN ESARO,
[email protected].