Knowledge in Action – Towards Collective Water Management in East Brabant
The Knowledge-in-Action grant mobilises science and practice for just climate transitions through doing-by-learning and learning-by-doing. Knowledge institutions and societal organisations can jointly apply for up to €50,000 for transformative, experimental intervention-projects to collaboratively explore what collective water management in East Brabant can look like: what possible solutions, investigative questions and transition learning goals can accelerate the desired transition?
The Knowledge-in-Action grant stimulates collaboration between science and practice to accelerate a just transition towards collective water management in East Brabant. This call challenges societal partners and researchers to develop concrete interventions in co-creation and learning that reduce water vulnerability and redefine the role of the water sector. Proposals can be submitted on specific sub-themes of the Knowledge-in-Action Agenda (chapter 2.2).
The intended result is transformative knowledge and practical breakthroughs arising from action-oriented, cyclical processes of experimenting, researching and adjusting.
This thematic call welcomes diverse approaches - from (trans)disciplinary, visual, design-oriented, entrepreneurial or very process-oriented, reflective or activist - as long as they unite practice and research to develop and share knowledge. The grant offers a unique opportunity to contribute to sustainable, just solutions for collective water management in East Brabant.
Who is this call for proposals for?
- Practitioner organisations experimenting with climate solutions
- Researchers who want to mobilise knowledge for transformative societal impact
- Pioneers who are already working on sustainable alternatives
- Anyone who wants to connect science and practice to drive climate transition
Who can apply?
Employees of knowledge institutions and societal organisations in the Kingdom of the Netherlands who want to contribute to transformative projects for collective water management in East Brabant.
Collaboration is key. We believe that the best solutions arise when science and practice work together. Therefore, your team should consist of:
- at least one knowledge institution (such as universities, universities of applied sciences, university medical centres and other public and private knowledge institutions)
- at least one societal organisation (such as NGOs, non-profit foundations, municipalities, provinces, water authorities, safety regions, companies, self-employed persons and other public and private organisations)
All project partners play an active role in developing the proposal and implementing the project. Everyone commits to the agreed time commitment and contributes their expertise.
Budget: Maximum € 50,000 per project
What can be applied for:
- Salaries of project partners
- Materials and resources
- Temporary hiring of experts
- Other project activities
- Student assistants
Not possible: Recruitment of new academic staff and basic facilities
Creative approach welcome: We encourage non-traditional activities. Feel free to involve professionals from the creative sector.
Desired duration: max. 9 months (longer duration must be well substantiated)
Start: within 3 months of allocation
More details can be found in chapter 3.1 of the call for proposals.
- Proposals can be submitted until 14 October 2025 14:00:00 CET.
Please note! Start submitting your proposal in time in our submission system Isaac and ensure that project partners who are not in the Isaac database register at least 15 working days before the deadline via relatiebeheer@nwo.nl. For the assessment of additional knowledge institutions, the assessment documents should be sent by e-mail to programmas@hetkin.nl no later than 15 working days before the submission deadline (i.e. no later than 23 September 2025 before 14:00:00 CEST). More information on preparation, mandatory annexes and submission requirements can be found in sections 3.3 and 3.4 of the call for proposals.
Are you planning to submit a proposal? We encourage you to express your interest here. This way, everyone can see who wants to submit for which topic and new collaborations can potentially emerge.
Criteria
Proposals are evaluated in terms of content on four main criteria (with sub-criteria), each of which must score satisfactorily:
- Relevance: Connection to Knowledge-in-Action agenda and transition questions.
- Quality: Clear (learning) objectives, well-founded approach, learning and reflective work process, knowledge use and diffusion, ensuring justice and sustainability.
- Co-creation en knowledge development: Integration of different knowledge types, active involvement of all project partners, action perspective for actors involved.
- Feasibility: Appropriate activities and budget, realistic timeline (duration >9 months requires substantiation), proportional resources compared to activity plan.
For the full assessment criteria read section 4.2 of the call for proposals.
Procedure
The assessment procedure consists of the following steps:
- submission of the proposal
- consideration of the proposal
- pre-advice of the evaluation committee;
- meeting of the evaluation committee
- selection (if applicable);
- decision-making.
Assessment: An external, independent assessment committee of science and practice experts evaluates proposals on their own merits with satisfactory (+1) or unsatisfactory (-1) for each sub-criterion. To receive a positive advice, each main criterion must be assessed with a sufficient rating (Sum of all sub-criteria is >0).
Selection: In case of more proposals with a positive advice than available budget, additional selection will take place.
For more information about the assessment see chapter 4.1 of the call for proposals.
Do you have questions about this call for proposals? You can contact us via e-mail to programmas@hetkin.nl, or attend one of our online information sessions. These will take place on:
You do not need to register; you can join via the link at the time of the session. This is an opportunity to ask your specific questions, listen to questions from others, or simply obtain some additional general information.
Applications must be submitted through the ISAAC application and reporting system. If you do not have an ISAAC account yet, then please create one at least one workday in advance ISAAC and ensure that project partners who are not in the Isaac database register at least 15 working days before the deadline via relatiebeheer@nwo.nl. More information about writing a proposal and which forms you need to use can be found in ISAAC. Please download and use the forms in Isaac. Below you will find examples of the required forms.
The Knowledge-in-Action grant focuses on joint experimentation, investigating and learning in and with the field. Choose one sub-theme from the agenda and develop a concrete, action-oriented, transformative intervention with a clear learning objective and reflective approach that contributes to the transition. What alternatives and questions need to be explored in order to bring about the desired change towards collective water management?
- Show transformative ambition: The committee is looking for projects that will bring about real change, not just optimalisation.
- Co-creation and knowledge development: Show how different types of knowledge come together, and how partners contribute to the proposal and its implementation.
- Be creative and concrete: Design-oriented, activist or creative approaches with clear impact are welcome.
- Write in an accessible style: Bear in mind that the committee is broadly composed of experts from different areas of science and practice.
For this call, next to filling in the submission form, we also ask you to enclose a budget form, a signed commitment letter from all project partners and, if applicable, a signed declaration of knowledge institution without assessment and/or a de-minimis declaration.
Downloads for your application
- Do you already have an account in Isaac?
- Have you completed the application form?
- Have you completed the budget form?
- Did all project partners submit a letter of commitment?
- Have project partners from societal organisations and/or additional knowledge institutions without assessment submitted a de-minimis declaration?
You can read all the details about the application for funding in the call for proposals. If you have any questions, please contact the contact person.