How are businesses helping us achieve the SDGs in the Global South?

On March 24th 2020, B Lab launched an RFP in partnership with IDRC, Academia B, and B Academics, for researchers in the Global South to tackle the question: How are businesses helping us achieve the sustainable development goals in the global south? Help us by sharing this RFP with your network. Submissions are due on June 1, 2020.

If you would like more details, click here for the RFP

FAQs:

• Can researchers based outside of the Global South submit proposals?

  • For this particular opportunity, we are prioritizing researchers from the Global South. However, we do welcome proposals from all regions of the world. If you are a researcher from the Global North, your proposal would be significantly strengthened by partnering together with researcher(s) or a research institution or university based in the Global South.

• What countries are included in the Global South?

  • For the purposes of this RFP, please refer to this spreadsheet, for a breakdown of countries included in the Global South and Global North. 

• How is this research funded?

  • This work is being carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada. To learn more, click here.

• Other than grant funding, what kind of support will be given to researchers?

  • Once researcher teams are decided, a representative from B Academics and/or Academia B will serve as the primary point of contact throughout the project should teams have questions. Additionally, researchers will be able to reach out to a representative from the B Lab with any data-specific questions.  

• A researcher is interested in submitting a proposal, but won't be able to submit before the deadline. What can they do?

  • In light of the evolving global pandemic and related economic crises, we recognize that deadlines may need to shift. If you are interested in submitting a proposal, but are unable to meet the submission deadline (June 1, 2020), please contact us at support+research@bcorporation.net.

• What variables are included in the dataset? Where will our data live?

  • You can view all of the variables included in this dataset on our codebooks, found here. These codebooks outline how questions were asked to the company, where the questions sit in the assessment hierarchy, what versions of the assessment the question was asked in, and what answer choices a company had the option of choosing. Data generated from the B Impact Assessment and the SDG Action Manager will be published on the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS).

• Who can I share this RFP with? Can researchers not affiliated with an academic institution submit a proposal?

  • Feel free to share this RFP with anyone you like! Research proposals may be submitted by faculty, graduate students, or post-doctoral fellows working in traditional university settings as well as researchers affiliated with think tanks and other research institutes.

• How will proposals be chosen?

  • Proposals will be evaluated by a committee composed of representatives from B Lab and Sistema B, B Academics, and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). We will evaluate proposals in terms of clarity in formulating questions and objectives, research methodology, and potential relevance of the project.

• How can I access the data on WRDS?

  • We will be publishing anonymous BIA data for all researchers through the University of Pennsylvania's WRDS platform. If you'd like more information, please check out this presentation. 

• Who is B Academics/Academia B?

  • B Academics are largely based in US/CAN, while Academia B focuses on Latin America. In both cases, they consist of a network of educators and researchers from around the world who are committed to accelerating the sustainable business movement by studying the global movement of B Corporation certification and benefit corporations. B Academics work with each other, the global B Lab network, and the B Corp community to share best practices and identify opportunities for collaboration with regard to research, teaching, and experiential learning.