Medium Grants

What are the IKI Medium Grants?

The IKI uses thematic and country calls primarily for the funding of large-volume projects, with the aim of accelerating the transformation to a sustainable, low-emission economic and supply structure. However, implementing the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) also requires the involvement of smaller-scale civil society actors in developing and emerging countries. Since 2020, the IKI Medium Grants have been supporting these actors in various activities such as capacity building and international networking.

Specifically, the IKI Medium Grants fund project activities that address innovative, bottom-up contributions to the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity. This is achieved through annual ideas competitions with varying funding priorities, to which interested actors can apply with their innovative project ideas.

The volume of finance provided to each project by the IKI Medium Grants can vary between EUR 300,000 and EUR 800,000.

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How much funding is provided?

300,000 to 800,000 euros

Who receives funding?

Non-profit organisations and companies with a permanent business establishment, branch, or other facility serving the activities of the grant recipient in Germany at the time of the first disbursement of a grant awarded. These organisations must enter into a partnership with one or two local implementing organisations based in the implementing country or region. See the selection criteria for details.

How long do the projects run for?

2 to 3 years

How often is funding provided?

Annual selection procedure

Where is funding provided?

Bilateral or regional;
1 - 2 countries

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Who can participate in the ideas competition?

Funding is available for non-profit civil society organisations (non-governmental organisations, associations, foundations, think tanks) and academic institutions (universities and research institutions), as well as non-profit companies. At the time of the first disbursement of a grant awarded, the implementing organisation is required to have a permanent business establishment, branch, or other facility serving the activities of the grant recipient in Germany. These organisations must enter into a partnership with one or two local implementing organisations based in the implementing country or region.

How are projects selected?

The project selection procedure for IKI Medium Grants funding is in two phases. In the first phase (outline phase), interested implementing organisations are invited to submit project outlines within the framework of an ideas competition. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) and the Federal Environment Ministry (BMUV), as the ministries responsible for the IKI Medium Grants, select several project outlines for each funding priority. In the second phase (proposal phase), the organisations whose project outlines have been selected (from the first phase), are invited to submit a detailed proposal.

Phase 1: outline phase

Outline shortlisting is a two-stage process. Once you have submitted an outline to an ideas competition, it will first be checked to see whether it meets the minimum minimum formal requirements. In case it is also one of the most promising project ideas, your idea will be shortlisted. Based on the IKI Medium Grants selection criteria, your outline is then reviewed in depth by experts. An overview of the selection criteria is available for download. Detailed information on each call can be found in the call's funding information. Based on the review results and the budget available, the responsible ministries will select project outlines to be pursued further in the second phase. All participants will be informed in writing about the result of the review of their outline.

Selection criteria of the last IKI Medium Grants Call as an example:

Selection Criteria IKI Medium Grants 2024 (English, PDF, 206 KB, barrier-free)

Phase 2: proposal phase

After you submitted an outline as part of an ideas competition and it is selected in the review process, then it is at the second stage in the selection process: the proposal phase.

As the applicant submitting the selected project outline, you will receive at the beginning of this phase a written request to submit a detailed project proposal.

Further information including key requirements and the essential templates can be found on this information page on the proposal phase for the IKI Medium Grants.

Once the IKI Office at Zukunft – Umwelt – Gesellschaft gGmbH (ZUG) has reviewed the detailed project proposal, a final decision will be made as to funding. The implementation phase can then starts, which runs for up to three years.

Information, documents and templates for the proposal phase of the IKI Medium Grants