Funding Opportunity for scientist conducting research on Healthy
Cities and Food-Water-Environment Nexus
The Newton Fund with the support of CONFAP and CNPq is inviting applications from scientists
based in Brazil to attend a jointly organised workshop with ESRC – Economics and Social Science
Research Council in London, UK, on 13 - 14 April 2015, followed by an agenda of 2 days of visits and
meetings in Scotland.
CONFAP, ESRC and CNPq encourage Brazilian researchers interested in working with UK partners in
Healthy Cities and Energy-Environment-Food Security Nexus to apply for this programme which is
aimed at i) building relationship; ii) forging links; and iii) raising awareness and identifying common
research agendas to the forthcoming research call between Brazil and the UK on these areas – to be
launched shortly after the mission between CONFAP, CNPq and ESRC – estimated total investment
of £4.8M.
As an initial step to build partnerships, facilitate collaboration and scope the programme the aims of
this joint workshop will be:
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To discuss the key science challenges that relate to the aims of this programme and how
they could be best addressed;
To facilitate networking, discussion and enable researchers to share ideas on key research
questions;
To explore opportunities for potential future collaboration in the areas of this call;
The outcome of the workshop will be to define the scope of a new UK/Brazil,
interdisciplinary call, supported by the Newton Fund, with a focus on research contributing
to the economic development and welfare of Brazil;
Application and Selection Process
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To attend the workshop you must complete the expression of interest (“EoI”) form. The
form, together with a CV of no more than two sides of A4, should be sent to
[email protected] by 23:59 (Brasília Time) on Friday 13th March 2015.
Spaces are reserved for 16 researchers, 8 from Healthy Cities and 8 from EnergyEnvironment-Food Security Nexus.
The Newton Fund will fund International Flights tickets in economy class, accommodation in
the UK from 12th April until 17th April, transportation within the UK, including transfer
from/to airport and also breakfast.
An expert committee will be established with representatives from CNPq, CONFAP and the
Newton Fund team based in Brazil to review the applications received.
Successful candidates will be notified by on the week commencing 16th March 2015.
Background info on the themes
Urban Transformations: Healthy Cities
Urbanisation is taking place on an unprecedented scale; with the global urban population set to
cross 75% by 2050 the urban environment and urban living will be the places that determine the
health and the wellbeing of the majority of the population in the twenty-first century.
The costs linked to health and social care are increasingly unsustainable and are expected to
increase in the years to come as more countries are faced with an aging population and noncommunicable diseases. Both issues are linked closely to the urban environment through e.g.
enabling a life course approach to healthy ageing within an urban environment and consideration of
the differential exposures and lifestyle changes brought about by urban living. We also need to
understand health inequalities and outcomes both within and between a wider range of cities,
including how cities manage particular health challenges. It is therefore imperative that we take a
multi-dimensional view to promote and facilitate healthy urban environments.
We collectively need to develop a new urban agenda that incorporates healthy lives for all in order
not only to raise the quality of life linked to basic health provision in the poorest urban areas, but
also to address the issues facing higher income cities. Urban planning and development in the
broadest senses – from development management of housing and infrastructure to the location and
connectivity of health and social services or green space, food environments and community safety –
all play a central role in creating environments that enhance people's health and wellbeing.
A healthy city aims to:
 Create a proactive health-supportive environment for urban citizens,
 Develop suitable and safe housing conditions and infrastructure provision
 Ensure food and water provision to influence good diet and nutrition, which can include
urban agriculture
 Address issues of planning and design which can influence physical activity, play and
leisure, as well as making room for a plural society and thereby improving the overall
wellbeing of a community
 Support the development of healthy communities through consideration of work and
social support on which many rely
 Supply access to health care and other social services required for urban living
 Provide for sanitation and hygiene needs, especially in poor areas and lower income
cities without sufficient infrastructure or have high levels of informal urban living
 Plan for sustainable and liveable city spaces including consideration of future needs and
provision for safer streets to reduce crime or traffic and support both mental and
physical health
We need to develop more integrated strategies for healthy place making, gather greater intelligence
on the social and economic determinants of urban health and wellbeing to guide decisions and
investments, reform and strengthen institutions to develop systems of governance that urban
populations need, and involve more professions and communities to promote healthy cities.
However, the existing bodies of knowledge on the relationship between human health and the
physical urban environment are overwhelmingly based on empirical work undertaken in the global
North, and the concepts of ‘health’ and ‘the urban’ that underpin this body of knowledge are also
derived largely from the particular historical and cultural contexts of the global North.
Conversely cities in the global south tend to be characterised by flexibility and informality and hold a
range of different forms of social structure, from families and community networks to institutional
and governance processes – the global south also faces a number of additional challenges not
common to the contexts of the northern and western cities where many of these approaches and
theories were developed such as communicable diseases, poor infrastructure and a general lack of
resources on which to draw for new developments.
Food-Water-Environment Nexus
What is the Nexus?
It is research that addresses a set of challenges that cut across the Food-Water-Energy Nexus. The
challenges recognise the connectedness and global nature of the issues around e.g. equitable access
to resources; understanding and encouraging sustainable behaviours; cost-benefit analysis of
climate change mitigation and adaptation interventions; economic threats and opportunities of the
sustainability agenda; security of and competition for resources, and understanding trade-offs;
green growth and innovation; financing the green economy; new technologies and public
acceptance; and how to promote effective interdisciplinary working to address these complex and
connected issues.
The uniquely complex nature of these interdependent issues has been recognised in a number of key
international meetings where the opportunity for social science to make ground-breaking
contributions to addressing the challenges facing humanity has been highlighted.
About Newton Fund:
The Newton Fund is an initiative intended to strengthen research and innovation partnerships
between the UK and emerging countries. It was launched by the Chancellor George Osborne during
his visit to Brazil in April 2014, and will deliver £375 million of funding over the course of five years. It
will be invested £27 million (approximately R$ 94 million) until 2017 in Brazil. The Fund is part of the
UK’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) commitment to promote initiatives to strengthen social
and economic development of emerging countries. The programs awarded under the Newton Fund
resources shall be established between Brazilian and British institutions, which partners will be
responsible for promoting the calls.