• Access to secure and affordable land for housing is increasingly difficult for a large proportion of the increasing urban population in rapidly urbanising countries, especially in the global South. As a result, many households are forced into various forms of insecure, substandard housing and poor living conditions.

The need to provide adequate amounts of secure and affordable land, services and housing to meet existing and future needs places immense challenges on the professional community nationally and internationally, and the number of suitably qualified professionals needs to expand dramatically.

Given the deficit of professional resources, it is ironic that many young, highly qualified professionals from the global South are finding it difficult to access career opportunities to apply their skills and build the experience needed to meet this challenge.

The Aubrey Barker Fund, working in collaboration with Geoffrey Payne and a panel of international experts, including Banashree Bannerjee, Eugene Chigbu, Forbes Davidson, Tony Lloyd-Jones, Jean du Plessis and Michael Slingsby, is therefore pleased to seek applications to the ABF Urban Kickstart scheme which aims to improve secure access to land and housing by supporting research and other activity which advances and disseminates knowledge and skills in land management and related disciplines. We will do this by providing opportunities for young graduates from the urbanising countries of Africa and Asia to undertake research or other assignments that can help meet the needs of vulnerable urban communities for access to land and adequate housing on affordable terms. Successful applicants will also receive mentoring from international experts with expertise relevant to the product scope and location.

We expect to offer one grant of up to a maximum of £15,000. The grant will include all time, travel, subsistence, insurance, materials and other expenses related to the project. This includes any costs incurred in Open Access publications in a peer-reviewed journal; such costs will be paid once the publisher has confirmed that the report or paper is accepted for publication. Applications for smaller grant values will also be considered if they meet the funding criteria.

We invite applications from applicants from, or living and working in, developing countries (defined as those classified by the World Bank as being low-income, lower-middle income or upper-middle income). Preference will be given to applications from low-income and lower-middle income countries within Africa and Asia; and priority may be given to projects that promote sustainable urban development principles, including environmental sustainability, social equity, and economic viability in urban contexts.

The funding will be available for a maximum period of 12 months, within which grantees will be required to complete their projects, achieve key milestones and deliver the initial expected outputs.

Types of projects we will consider funding include:

• Research projects on innovative approaches for improving access to land for vulnerable communities
• Projects which improve the climate resilience of existing settlements
• Projects which develop innovative options for improving land tenure and property
• The preparation of documentaries (such as videos or podcasts) about urban land management and housing settlements
• Undertaking voluntary work focusing on improving the living conditions of vulnerable communities in the Global South