Arctic Connections Fund: form and guidance

Eligibility

The Arctic Connections Fund is looking to support projects and activities that increase collaboration and knowledge-exchange between Scottish and Arctic organisations. Please ensure you have read the information below before putting together your application.

The applicant organisation (lead partner) must be based in Scotland and constitute a “legal person”, meaning it is legally constituted and can enter into a contract.

Organisations that are eligible to apply are:

• community groups with legal personality and a bank account
• charities registered in Scotland
• academic institutions and research centres
• social enterprises
• schools
• small businesses of up to 49 employees, as defined in the annual Small Business Survey Scotland (this includes consultancy firms, but please note consultancy fees are not an eligible cost)

Applications may include more than one Scottish partner, so long as all adhere to the eligibility criteria. Inclusion of a diverse range of domestic and international partners, crossing sectors or organisation type is strongly encouraged and will be given added weighting during the scoring process. 

Scottish public bodies and local authorities are not eligible to receive funding but are welcome to be included as partners, covering their own costs.

Applicants must demonstrate in their application that they will use grant funding to partner with organisation(s) based in Arctic countries to advance the objectives of the fund and of the Arctic Connections policy framework.

The partnership must include at least one partner based in an Arctic country. The eligible countries in which your partner organisation(s) must be based are:

• Iceland
• Norway
• Sweden
• Finland
• Denmark (including Faroe Islands and Greenland)
• United States
• Canada

For this round of funding, Russian institutions, organisations, and businesses are not eligible partners, nor will we consider applications proposing activity in Russia.

Applications seeking funding for Scottish participation in Arctic projects coordinated by multilateral organisations are welcomed.

Project objectives

Applications should be consistent with the key goals, themes and priorities outlined in the Arctic Connections policy framework (see section 3.3 in the how to apply section) and should demonstrate how they will bring tangible benefit to both Scottish and Arctic communities.  

Projects will be expected to contribute towards at least one, but preferably more, of the five key outcomes:

• increased awareness both domestically and internationally of social, economic and/or cultural links between Scotland and the Arctic
• improved access to transnational networks promoting knowledge-exchange and mutual learning between Scotland and the Arctic
• development of ideas and solutions capable of strengthening community wellbeing, resilience and regeneration, especially in rural areas, and considering the current cost crisis
• increased engagement in the debate on just transition to a net-zero economy and/or sustainable economic growth
• increased engagement with Indigenous groups and tackling intersectional inequalities in marginalised communities

Projects of particular interest, and given added weighting during the assessment process, will address one (or more) of the following themes:

• Just transition, energy security and renewable energy solutions, including rural fuel poverty
• food security and sustainable food production
• nature protection, restoration and sustainable management of resources
• rural innovation and wellbeing
• gender equality, with a focus tackling inequality for marginalised groups, inclusion and human rights
• cultural exchange and collaboration, with a focus on indigenous storytelling and languages

Applicants are invited to set out how their project reflects on and addresses the social, cultural and economic effects of the cost crisis.

Engagement and collaboration with Indigenous Peoples’ organisations is encouraged.

Reporting requirements

Grant holders will be required to provide a mid-project report in January 2024. An end-of-project report on the achievements and outcomes of the project will also be required. These will be used to evaluate the success of the Arctic Connections Fund and will be published on our website.