Global development challenges have become increasingly interconnected and susceptible to fast changes. Most of the time, the current public policy and development practice are targeting ad-hoc issues at the symptom level, mostly leading to either sector-based or single point solutions that may lead to short-term improvements but rarely can lead to sustainable change at the system level. To achieve the latter, one requires strategies that appreciate the systems mindset, that embrace the complexity and ambition to create impact at scale and embody those capacities that can continuously zoom in on understanding the root causes of problems.  Such strategies make it possible to identify critical leverage points that can trigger transformation, and then zoom out to spot the interlinkages between stakeholders, and the related power dynamics, processes, and sectors at the system level, that may be influenced and transformed through changes at the leverage points identified.

Waste management is one of the complex challenges emerging in the Pacific. The complexity of waste management lies not just with the entangling relationship between stakeholders and the interrelated waste management process, but also with the depth of causes, from the surface to the root, associated with waste and the spinning effects on human well-beings and environment.

In many countries current patterns of waste (mis)management have contributed not only to environmental degradation but have also shown impact on public health (via worsening water, soil and air quality, blocking of natural drainage leading to increased flooding and proliferation of malaria) and economic development (fishing, agriculture, tourism). Increasingly, questions have been raised by consumers, the CSO and scientific communities and governments, that there is a need for a rethink of current modalities of waste management with attendant shifts to a more circular economy, which aims to minimize the generation of the waste and optimize the utilization of energy, materials and other relevant resources. It needs multiple interventions that engage various actors, including the private sector, with differentiated but cooperative roles in the system. Since governments are faced with complex challenges like waste management and have historically struggled to generate and implement impactful integrated solutions, we need an approach that will blend understanding of complexity, with collaborative design and experimentation to drive systems’ change.

While UNDP has built a strong reputation over the years, recently the organization’s development practice has been going through a major rethink, with stronger attention being paid to using innovation and integrated delivery of expertise to address complex development issues, to make support to client countries impactful and relevant to the delivery of the SDGs. As part of this trend and to strengthen UNDP’s offering to client governments, UNDP Asia and the Pacific has established the Regional Innovation Center (RIC) in Bangkok in 2018, with 10 Accelerator Labs in Asia and the Pacific and another 10 being set up. They will be called to support key partner governments in dealing with complex frontier development problems and embedding circular economy solutions wherever benefits from such approaches can bring maximum impact.

Given this background, UNDP Accelerator Lab Pacific (Fiji) is keen to apply the approach of systemic design and portfolio logic to develop experiments to act on key leverage points in the system and shift the paradigm towards a more circular future in waste management. UNDP Accelerator Lab Pacific (Fiji) is looking for a consultant, who has expertise in systems thinking and would be able to apply them in portfolio design, to be the lead facilitator and mentor along the journey of systemic waste management with UNDP Accelerator Lab Pacific (Fiji) and key stakeholders.

The consultant will work closely with UNDP Accelerator Lab Pacific in Fiji to conduct the assignment. The IC will need to

• facilitate workshops and meetings with multi-stakeholders using systemic design methodologies
• coordinate with UNDP Accelerator Lab Pacific (Fiji) and key partners on systemic design for waste management and circular economy in the Pacific context;
  • organize systemic design workshop with multiple stakeholders
• internalize the capacity of systemic design and apply the approach on its actual development work to formulate portfolio of experiments;
  • synthesize ideas and insights from mapping of waste initiatives and Systemic Design Workshop and co-create portfolio matrixes to structure the portfolio options;
  • co-design portfolios of experiments with UNDP Accelerator Lab (Fiji), UNDP Pacific MCO, and key partners;
  • support the preparation and facilitation of the Systemic Design Workshops for UNDP Pacific;
  • create3-day Systemic Design Workshop agenda and activities for plastics circularity and waste management in the Pacific
  • develop a framework/narrative of applying systemic thinking to unpack the complexity of development challenges and embedding portfolio logic for programme design. The framework/narrative shall be able to inform UNDP’s strategic design of service offering.

A.      Expected Outputs and Deliverables

B.      Institutional Arrangement

          The contractor will be expected to work closely with the UNDP Accelerator Lab Pacific’s (Fiji) Head of Community Research and Ethnographic Solutions Mapping, Head of Exploration, Head of Experimentation, and the Regional Innovation Specialist. Deliverables will be reviewed and approved upon the quality by the Head of Community Research and Ethnographic Solutions Mapping, Mohseen Dean, and under the overall guidance of UNDP Resident Representative, Ms. Yemesrach Workie.

C.      Duration of the Work

Duration: 31 days

D.      Duty Station

Duty station: Homebased, and one-off travel to UNDP Pacific Office in Fiji for the systemic design workshop facilitation and coaching session.

Competencies:

• Collaborative mindset and professional ethics;
• Curiosity to explore new ideas;
• Demonstrated ability to meet deadlines and work under pressure;

A.Qualifications of the Successful Individual Contractor

Education

• Minimum Master’s degree or higher in Public Administration/Policy, Business Administration, Anthropology, International Development, International Relationship, Political Science, Economics, Social Innovation, Environment Management/Science, Public/Population/Environmental Health or other related fields;
• A PhD in any of the above fields of study will be desirable but not mandatory

Experience:

• A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in systemic design or experiment design in a portfolio logic;
• Experience of using interdisciplinary approaches to wicked problems of development;
• Proven knowledge or professional experience of waste management and circular economy or environmental management or health;
• Demonstrated capacity in providing training and facilitating workshops;
• Demonstrated capacity of writing high quality reports or crafting of knowledge products
• Demonstrated Experience working in the Pacific is desirable
• Demonstrated previous experience of working with the UN is desirable

Language:

• Excellent written and spoken English
• Knowledge of any local languages spoken in Fiji is desirable but not mandatory

A.Scope of Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration.

In general, UNDP shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the IC wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the respective business unit and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

Travel costs shall be reimbursed at actual but not exceeding the quotation from UNDP approved travel agent.  The provided living allowance will not be exceeding UNDP Living Allowance rates.

B.Recommended Presentation of Offer

Candidates wishing to be considered for this assignment are required to submit the following documents:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP;
2. Personal CV, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references;
3. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive fixed total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided; consultants must quote prices in United States Dollars (USD).
4. Technical proposal, including a) a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment; and b) a methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment.

           Incomplete proposals may not be considered. The short-listed candidates may be contacted and the successful candidate will be notified.

C.Criteria for Selection of the Best Offer

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on cumulative analysis.

The award of the contract shall be made the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%) and financial criteria (30%).

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

• Criteria A: Education (max 5 points)
• Criteria B: A minimum of 5 years of professional experience in systemic design or/and experiment design in a portfolio logic (max 30 points)
• Criteria C: Proven knowledge or professional experience of waste management and circular economy (max 10 points)
• Criteria D: Demonstrated capacity in providing training and facilitating workshops (max 20 points)
• Criteria E: Excellent written and spoken English (max 5 points)

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

Financial Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 30 points)

The financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

D.Annexes to the TOR

• Annex I - Individual IC General Terms and Conditions
• Annex II – Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability for the Individual IC, including Financial Proposal Template

For any clarification regarding this assignment please write to Mr. Dale Kacivi at procurement.fj@undp.org /dale.kacivi@undp.org

All applications must be clearly marked with the title of consultancy and submitted by 5:00pm, 2nd June 2022 (Fiji Time) online via UN Jobs website https://jobs.undp.org/ or etenderbox.pacific@undp.org