Local Leadership Labs Inception Meeting – Terms of Reference

Local Leadership Labs Inception Meeting – Terms of Reference

 CIVICUS is in search of expert support to assist with:

• The design and facilitation of the inception meeting of the Local Leadership Labs
• connected to the above, the curation of a guiding manual on setting-up inclusive, transformative and meaningful spaces for demand articulation, multistakeholders dialogue, learning, reflection and co-designing prototypes and solutions based on the inputs, preferences and experiences shared during the in-person meeting.

Interested consultants should submit a proposal to Taís Siqueira at tais.siqueira@civicus.org by 5 February 2024 with the subject line Facilitator – LLL Inception Meeting

About us

CIVICUS is a growing global alliance of more than 15,000 members in 175 countries. We work together to expand civic and democratic space. We strive to promote excluded voices, particularly from the global south.

Our Strategic Plan is built on the assumption that we are stronger when we work together. Expanding civic and democratic space requires a collective effort where our members and allies design and test sustainable solutions and deliver impact at scale.

To make this happen, CIVICUS works on five core objectives:

1.  Generate timely knowledge and analyses on civil society actions in relation to civic and democratic space
2.  Coordinate targeted advocacy to defend and expand civic and democratic space
3.  Contribute to stronger emergency and sustained support ecosystems for activists and organisations at risk
4.  Strengthen public discourse on civic space and reinforce civil society narratives
5.  Build counter power with the most affected groups and their movement

Consultancy Background

CIVICUS has recently launched the Local Leadership Labs (LLL), a pilot initiative aimed at tackling some of the barriers (political, technical, behavioural) preventing governments, donors and other stakeholders from adopting and delivering on commitments that recognize, enable and resource diverse local civil society groups as key development actors in their own right. The initiative will support radically inclusive spaces where local civil society groups can drive, alongside other key actors and decision-makers, the development of context-appropriate policies and solutions. Moreover, the initiative will seed trans-local spaces for cross-pollination, reflection and strategizing among disparate likeminded efforts and multi-stakeholder initiatives that could help accelerate systemic changes towards Locally-Led Development.

The key drivers of the initial LLL pilot phase will be six convening partners from local civil society based and operating in Southeast Asia and Southeast Africa. Each of the Local Leadership Labs conveners will facilitate sustained safe dialogue processes as well as inclusive co-creation spaces so that policies, practices, and enablement approaches of different stakeholders will be more joined up and responsive to the lived experiences, priorities and asks of diverse local civil society actors. Besides enhancing reciprocal accountability, in the end this process would positively impact the relevance and accessibility of resources, support infrastructure and solidarity available to local civil society actors. For more information, you can review the initiative’s Theory of Change.

Scope and Goals:

We are looking for a consultant or team of consultants to support the design and facilitation of the convening partners’ inception meeting as well as to curate a guiding manual on setting-up inclusive, transformative and meaningful spaces for demand articulation, multistakeholders dialogue, learning, reflection and co-designing prototypes and solutions based on the inputs, preferences and experiences shared during the in-person meeting.

A) Inception Meeting

The inception meeting is conceived as an inclusive space for convening partners to lay the groundwork for the initiative. Main aspects to cover during the meeting and related outcomes include:  

1. Joint programming:  Each convening partner presents their plan to the group and seek their feedback. Based on individual plans and timelines of each partner, participants collectively identify key moments of collaboration, programmatic milestones, and spaces for linking, learning, and influencing.
2. Learning and harvesting co-design tools and best practices: Convening partners will learn best practices, tools, and resources on how to embed co-design approaches useful for all the different engagements foreseen in the Labs. Besides, the partners will share additional methodological suggestions and reflect on what approaches could best work in their contexts for this initiative.
3. Building meaningful and transformative relationships: Beyond the technical aspects, the initiative seeks to lay the foundation for convening partners to establish meaningful and transformative relationships with their peers and with CIVICUS. This outcome is critical for creating a supportive and collaborative ecosystem where partners can learn from one another, share experiences, and collectively work towards the initiative's objectives. These relationships not only enhance trust but also strengthen the overall impact of the project.

B) develop a guiding manual on setting-up inclusive, transformative and meaningful spaces for demand articulation, multistakeholders dialogue, learning, reflection and co-designing prototypes and solutions.

Key topics to include:

• Collectively analysing the civil society operating and resourcing environment landscape, identifying challenges, needs and solutions, articulating visions for change, positions and asks, identifying key stakeholders and allies and device an engagement strategy: Understanding and offering guidelines on the collective agenda-setting process.
• Setting up radically inclusive spaces: nurturing a culture of diversity and inclusion, building spaces that value and celebrate diversity, ensuring equal opportunities for participation and contribution.
• Building meaningful relationships: Providing guidance on establishing and maintaining partnerships with various stakeholders, fostering long-term collaborations and transformative engagements.
• Facilitation tools and techniques.
• Co-designing prototypes and actionable solutions: Facilitating collaborative sessions to generate and refine prototypes and actionable solutions.
• Embedding reflection and feedback loops: Incorporating mechanisms for regular reflection on the process, outcomes, and goals, and integrating feedback loops to adapt and improve the setup over time.

With inputs, preferences, and experiences shared in the meeting, the team of facilitators will later finalise the guiding manual. The manual will serve as a practical resource, offering clear guidelines, methodologies, and principles for the co-design process. Its customization ensures that it aligns with the initiative's objectives and convening partners' context and provides a coherent framework for partners to follow, enhancing the effectiveness of the co-design efforts.

Consultancy Deliverables:

• Detailed facilitation guide and preparation leading up for the meeting: Detailed design of the in-person meeting, pre-session consultation/survey with staff and participants
• Facilitation of in-person inception meeting in March 2024 (4^th to 7^th) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• Curation of a guiding manual following a system thinking approach on setting-up inclusive, transformative and meaningful spaces for demand articulation, multistakeholders dialogue, learning, reflection and co-designing prototypes

Experience:

Required

• In-depth knowledge of co-design methodologies, tools, and best practices
• Systems thinking, co-design and experimentation: demonstrated ability to apply systems thinking and co-design methodologies to assess ecosystems and support innovation and experimentation efforts aimed at co-creating solutions to emerging political, technical and behavioural priorities.
• Development and facilitation of inclusive and safe spaces for meaningful engagement
• Working with diverse cultures
• Facilitation skills – online and in-person and hybrid
• Technical knowledge, skills and expertise in leadership and team development, community building and team cohesion
• Working with civil society organisations and activists

Preferred knowledge, prior experience and time-zone availability

• Knowledge of influencing, movement-building and/or transformative dialogue processes
• Fluency in Indonesian and/or Swahili advantageous 
• Availability to work between 3-6pm Johannesburg time zone
• Storytelling
• Knowledge of liberating structures, art of hosting and/or requisite facilitation methods advantageous

Consultants with experience and/or located in Malaysia or Southeast Asia are particularly encouraged to apply.

Expected workdays and timeframe

Estimated 15 - 20 workdays between 5 February to 1 April 2024.

Budget

Please provide a financial proposal which includes human resources and any material cost likely to be incurred, with an accompanying budget narrative.  No travel is required to be included in the budget, transportation (including flights and visa-related costs, if appropriate) and accommodation for the will be covered by CIVICUS.

Application process 

Please include the following elements in your proposal and submit to Taís Siqueira at tais.siqueira@civicus.org by 5 February 2024:

• Introduction: Introducing the consultant(s) and motivation/interest in applying for this opportunity. 
• Approach: This should include your methodology - responding in more detail to the information set out in the ToR. Please be specific in how your methodology will meet the rationale/purpose of the meeting) including a high-level workplan. Include how you measure the success of an event: before, during and after.
• Experience and examples/references: Include your CV, relevant experience and capabilities to deliver this consultancy and at least 2 examples and testimonials of similar projects is required.  If applying as a team, please identify the specific roles and responsibilities of each member.
• Budget: This should include all costs associated with implementation of the project except for travel-related costs^[1], which will be incurred by CIVICUS, including major line items such as daily fees. All financial information must be expressed in United States Dollars.  

Please ensure all of the above elements are included in the proposal, whilst keeping it to a maximum of 10 pages (CVs may be included in an annex to the proposal and will not count against the page limit).

^[1] Travel-related costs incurred by CIVICUS will include economy airfare, ground transport, visa related costs, accommodations and per diem payments in line with CIVICUS’ per diem rates.