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A call for projects in two Leopold Center initiatives has generated considerable interest and some innovative ideas.
In April, the Leopold Center issued two requests for pre-proposals, or RFPs, for projects as part of its new initiatives in policy and in marketing and food systems. The RFPs invited researchers and educators associated with educational or nonprofit organizations to submit a brief concept paper about their proposed projects by the end of May.
The RFPs resulted in 28 policy project requests, and 21 marketing and food systems project requests. Principal investigators for 10 of the policy projects and 12 of the marketing projects have been asked to prepare a full proposal. A decision on funding will be made in the fall.
Both RFPs targeted specific projects that relate to each initiative program. Policy initiative leader Mike Duffy said he hopes to fund projects that will help in policy formulation, landscape diversification, and the impacts of regulations on sustainable agriculture, to name a few. Marketing research will be directed to development of marketing and business planning skills for midsize farmers, consumer interest and acceptance of sustainable food systems, market potential for geographical-based food brands, and efforts that support direct markets for sustainably produced meat. Rich Pirog leads the Center’s marketing and food systems initiative.
Jeri Neal, who leads the Center’s ecology research initiative, said an ecology research RFP will be issued at a later date.
The request for pre-proposals is the basis of the Leopold Center’s competitive grant research program that began when the Center was established in 1988. The RFP was suspended in 2002 due to budget cuts, but director Fred Kirschenmann said the current RFP is possible due to frugal fiscal management and modest success with fundraising.
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