To address the missing link of regional clean energy and climate cooperation in developing countries, UNIDO launched the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC) program in 2010. Under a joint platform, UNIDO assists regional economic communities (RECs) in the creation and operation of sustainable energy centres, which drive and accelerate the energy transition “from the region for the region”. The centres are part of the economic integration efforts of RECs and work towards the creation of integrated and inclusive regional markets for sustainable energy products and services by mitigating barriers.

Today, the GN-SEC network comprises eight operating centres in the Arab and African region (ECOWAS, SADC, EAC, Arab League), Asia and Pacific (SPC, ICIMOD), as well as Latin America (CARICOM, SICA) and has approval by more than 108 Ministers of Energy. In this moment, the network expands to Central Asia (ECO) and Central Africa (ECCCAS). By setting regional policies and standards for national implementation, the centres influence the energy futures of more than 1,2 billion consumers and serve 38 of 46 least developed countries (LDCs) and 32 of 36 small island developing states (SIDS).

The global GN-SEC platform, hosted by UNIDO in Vienna, Austria, provides a virtual and physical makerspace for joint learning, events, projects, communication and knowledge management. It facilitate south-south and triangular cooperation on energy issues and solutions of joint interest. The virtual GN-SEC platform https://www.gn-sec.net/ brings the information resources of all centres in in real-time and automatised form together. Some of the centres are operating regional sustainable energy knowledge platforms. The social media activities of all centres are interlinked to some extent. Moreover, the GN-SEC platform includes a training portal, which can be accessed via http://training.gn-sec.net.  

The 5th GN-SEC Steering Committee, held in September 2022 in Vienna, Austria, called for a further strengthening of the knowledge, communication and partnership functions of the centres and the GN-SEC platform as a whole. The existing capacities of the centres regarding the quantity and quality of provided information and communication varies significantly and there is room for joint improvement. It was also suggested to improve targeted knowledge management (KM) and communication (COM) towards specific target groups, particularly small island developing states (SIDS) and least developed countries (LDCs). In this context, a specific request came from the PCREEE, representing the Pacific island countries. As a follow-up to the meeting, the GN-SEC platform is creating a network of Knowledge Management and Communication (KM&COM) focal points among all centres and is upgrading its joint performance. There is also interest to make KM&COM a potential tool to attract innovative financing for the core functions of the platform and joint GN-SEC programs and projects.

Therefore, UNIDO is contracting a specialised company or organisation to assess the existing GN-SEC practice and to develop a KM&COM Strategy for the global platform and network. The assignment contributes to the following objectives:

• Improving the KM of the GN-SEC platform and network to get the right knowledge to the right people at the right time, and helping people to share and put information into action;
• make suggestions to improve the creation, sharing, use and management of knowledge, data and information;
• Tailoring the KM more closely to the needs of the thematic programmes and network-wide GN-SEC activities of joint interest (e.g., using the manifold events more strategically, more effective use of the websites for knowledge sharing), as well as for target groups (e.g. LDCs, SIDS);
• Upgrading the existing COM and outreach practice, processes and tools to transfer quality knowledge and analytics to immediate beneficiaries (e.g. donors, partners, energy stakeholders and community of practice), as well as the wider public;
• Strengthening the COM practice between the GN-SEC Secretariat and the individual centres, while taking into consideration capacity and resource constraints;
• Tapping into opportunities to make KM and COM an income generation source for the GN-SEC platform and network (e.g. sponsorships, campaigns, crowdfunding);
• Improving the existing GN-SEC social media presence by implementing immediate practical low-cost solutions;

Interested and qualified bidders shall submit their written proposals in English by 29 November 2022. Further information is available at: https://www.unido.org/resources-procurement/procurement-opportunities 

Original Link: Support for the Development of a Knowledge Management and Communication Strategy for the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC) | Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centers (GN-SEC)