Published date: 11 September 2025

Open opportunity - This means that the contract is currently active, and the buying department is looking for potential suppliers to fulfil the contract.


Closing: 16 September 2025, 3pm

Contract summary

Industry

  • Research services - 73110000

Location of contract

London

Value of contract

£120,000

Procurement reference

C2-G052

Published date

11 September 2025

Closing date

16 September 2025

Closing time

3pm

Contract start date

31 December 2025

Contract end date

31 December 2026

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Open procedure (above threshold)

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

This procedure can be used for procurements above the relevant contract value threshold.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes

Private procurement rules

Supply chain notices are business-to-business transactions and are not bound by the same rules and restrictions as public sector contracts. The UK government is not responsible for the conduct of such procurement.

Description

The XCEPT Research Fund (XRF) is inviting applications for a 12-month project that will produce innovative, empirically grounded research examining the relationship between climate change, informal trade networks, and instability in conflict-affected borderlands, with a focus on the role of informal cross-border trade in the causal pathways linking climate stress to instability and conflict.

Building on the understanding that climate stress in conflict-affected borderlands - and the resulting increase in informal cross-border trade - can both amplify the agency of local communities as well as fuel instability, this Call for Concept Notes seeks to fund research that examines whether - and under what conditions - such trade networks support climate change adaptation and/or influence conflict. Concept notes should consider the following interlinked research questions:

1. How do communities in conflict-affected borderlands draw on informal, cross-border trade networks to adapt to climate extremes?
2. How are existing trade networks utilised or new ones formed?
How effective are such networks as a form of climate change adaptation and resilience-building?

3. Under what conditions do such informal, cross-border trade networks fuel instability and conflict, and what are the implications for local communities and climate adaptation?

Funding support up to £120,000 is available per award, depending on the scope of the research and methods employed.

Applications are welcome from organisations only.

Interested applicants can read more about this opportunity here:
https://www.xcept-research.org/grants_post/call-for-concept-notes-climate-change-informal-trade-and-instability-in-conflict-affected-borderlands/

The deadline for submission is Tuesday 16 September 2025 at 10:00 BST

More information

Attachments

How to apply

Follow the instructions given in the description or the more information section.

About the buyer

Contact name

Benjamin Castro

Address

1 Benjamin St
London
EC1M 5QL
England

Email

xcept-fund@chemonics.com