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Asian Neighbors Program
Information for Applicants

Information for Applicants

This is the 'Information for Applicants' for Fiscal 2009. We might change its contents for Fiscal 2010.
If you wish to apply for the 2010 grant program, please feel free to ask the Toyota Foundation.
We will announce its detail, approximately in the end of March 2010.

The Toyota Foundation Asian Neighbors Program for Fiscal 2009
Toward Community Formation Based on Mutual Reliance and Collaboration

Information for Applicants

1. Program Objectives

The people of Asia have traditionally led their lives in the midst of relationships with nature and the people close to them, as well as with other people. The rapid advance of economic globalization, however, has made it difficult to lead a complete life while relying exclusively on relationships within a community or country. Dynamic movements of people, goods, and energy, among other things, are giving rise to new culture and social systems in communities as a result of encounters with new neighbors -a term that here refers to people both within and outside a given community or country. These movements have also created greater environmental burdens and climate changes, however, and have begun to undermine the sustainability of our lifestyles.

In light of this new environment, it is essential to reevaluate our connections to nature and to other people, and to construct living communities that can be sustained into the future. To that end, this program supports projects devoted to building communities based on mutual reliance and collaboration. We hope to receive pragmatic proposals that incorporate new viewpoints, energy, and knowledge, while still respecting traditional cultures and wisdom, for efforts to form networks with neighbors, promote the creation of communities, and eliminate obstacles to network and community development.

Notice
The Toyota Foundation has revised the Asian Neighbors Network Program, which ran for the last six years, and reestablished it as the Asian Neighbors Program. This fiscal year we are soliciting pragmatic, solution-oriented projects for which the importance of network building is a vital premise.

2.Project Areas (Application Categories)

Toward Community Formation Based on Mutual Reliance and Collaboration

(1) Relationships with nature

The vastness of Asia encompasses diverse natural environments, and modes of living vary considerably from place to place. Depleted resources, changing climates, and other environmental changes have begun to seriously undermine the foundations of people's livelihoods. Such problems do not manifest themselves in a uniform way. In this area we solicit projects aimed at getting neighbors to pool their knowledge about relationships with nature and to form sustainable communities.

Examples include:
  • Development of recycling-based communities incorporating natural energy resources
  • Distribution or marketing of products using sustainable agriculture, fishery, forestry, or livestock breeding practices
  • Discovery and utilization of community resources
  • Implementation of education and training programs designed to help new generations carry on the above types of efforts

Relationships with people

(2) Culture

Culture is an essential element and a foundation for community, but it generally has received little attention in Asia, where greater importance has been placed on modernization and economic development. In this area we solicit projects that help form and develop communities through the preservation, use, or inheritance of culture, including culture inherited from the distant past, newly created culture, and disappearing culture. (Please note that there is a Special Subject research category for projects devoted to the preservation, application, and transmission of indigenous documents.)

Examples include:
  • Preservation of tangible or intangible culture or use or inheritance of cultural expertise (for example, culinary traditions, dyeing and weaving techniques, and traditional crafts)
  • Transmission of culture in an information-oriented society
  • Development and operation of educational programs concerned with culture
(3) Social systems

In order to achieve sustainable modes of life, it is essential to provide social systems that sustain communities. In this area we solicit projects devoted to reappraising institutions, traditions, and other social systems.

Examples include:
  • Efforts to promote circulation of capital within a community (including microfinancing and the use of community currencies)
  • Efforts to address employment problems and other labor-market issues (including those related to immigration and illegal labor)
  • Formation of communities devoted to coexistence of diverse cultures

The above descriptions are offered merely as examples of desirable projects. Applicants may submit proposals for projects in any of the three areas listed.

3. Grant Amounts and Project Periods

Total amount of grants
¥120 million
Grant framework
Applications are divided into the two categories listed below, based on the scale of the proposed project (including participants, location, and content of the activities to be carried out). Please specify the appropriate grant type based on the content of your project proposal.
(1) Small-scale grants: Up to ¥2 million over a two-year period
This type of grant is recommended for projects in which participants are located in one country and activities are focused on a single location.
(2) Ordinary grants: ¥2 million to ¥8 million over a two-year period
Project period
Two years, from November 1, 2009, to October 31, 2011.
Please note: Projects are evaluated annually. If problems are detected in the operation of a project, the project may be discontinued.

4. Application Criteria

  • There are no restrictions based on nationality or affiliation.
  • Projects must be implemented either in locations in multiple countries in Asia or within a single Asian country other than Japan. (Project proposals focusing on activities in locations in Japan may be directed to the Grant Program for Community Activities.)
  • Proposals are especially welcome for joint projects conducted by participants from diverse backgrounds.
  • This program is not intended to provide grant support for projects focused on research or efforts primarily conducted by researchers. (Project proposals focusing primarily on research activities may be directed to the Research Grant Program.)

5. Definition of "Project"

The Asian Neighbors Program is dedicated to establishing communities based on mutual reliance and collaboration, and solicits projects related to this goal on a widespread basis. This program defines a "project" as a set of activities carried out by people from diverse backgrounds, within a limited period of time and on a limited budget, based on realistic objectives and using practical methods. For efforts devoted to creating sustainable living communities, it is difficult to achieve results within a two-year period. Nevertheless, in preparing your project proposal, please adopt a long-term perspective and carefully consider the best way of achieving the project objectives by the conclusion of the implementation period.

6. Selection Criteria

  • The proposed project's compatibility with the objectives of this program
  • Realistic prospects of achieving results
  • Suitability of project activities and budget
  • Diversity among project participants
  • Prospect of project results having a ripple effect on the community

7. Communications with the Toyota Foundation

Grant initiation (exchange of memorandums)
Each principal member (leader) of a project for which a grant is awarded will exchange memorandums of agreement with the Toyota Foundation and then carry out the project in accordance with this agreement.
Consultation
If necessary, a Toyota Foundation program officer will visit the principal member or leader of a project to discuss the project's progress and its prospects for achieving results. In order to gauge the project's progress, Toyota Foundation staff members may also attend workshops and symposiums organized by the project members.
Progress report meetings, workshops, and symposiums
Progress report meetings are held at the Toyota Foundation, where the principal members or leaders of projects report on their progress and prospects for achieving results and take part in discussions with experts. Various workshops and symposiums will also be scheduled.
Presentation of reports (interim and final)
The Toyota Foundation requires principal project members to prepare and submit a written interim project report, final project report, and financial report (using the prescribed forms).
Continued funding
Whether to provide continued funding for a project will be determined on the basis of a comprehensive review by the selection committee of the status and results of the original project (including the interim and final reports), the new project proposal (application for project continuation), and interviews with program officers. When applying for continuing funding, please confer with the program officer overseeing the original project. The Toyota Foundation secretariat may recommend continued funding for projects that are expected to yield particularly meaningful results.

8. Application Procedures and Screening

A. Application period

The application period is from Friday, March 20, 2009, to Wednesday, May 13, 2009. Applications must be postmarked by this final date.

B. Application forms

Applications must be filed in either Japanese or English. The application form can be downloaded from the Toyota Foundation website
(http://www.toyotafound.or.jp/english/) during the application period.

C. How to apply

After filling out the application form with all required information, please send the completed form to the Toyota Foundation (at the address below), in care of the Asian Neighbors Program, by EMS, courier service, or another delivery service that leaves a record of delivery.

D. Selection process

Formal decisions on the selection of projects to be awarded grants will be made at Toyota Foundation Board of Directors meetings in September or October 2009, based on the deliberations of the Toyota Foundation Asian Neighbors Program Selection Committee; the committee of outside experts is chaired by Takashi Shiraishi, visiting professor of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. The selection of projects is primarily based on the information contained in the submitted applications, but when necessary the committee may ask to interview an applicant about a project proposal or ask an applicant to make a presentation at Toyota Foundation.

E. Selection results

Applicants (or their designated contacts) are scheduled to be informed in writing of the selection results within the month following the aforesaid Board of Directors meetings. Telephone inquiries are not accepted.

F. Other points to note

  • Applications must be filed on the provided application forms only. Do not add pages.
  • As the application forms will be copied in the selection process, please do not attach the form sheets, such as with staples or glue.
  • If you format your application by pasting print-outs onto the form, please make a copy of the complete form and send the copy.
  • Application forms should be printed on one side of the paper; please do not use double-sided printing.
  • Do not bring your application to the Toyota Foundation in person or submit it by fax or e-mail.
  • Please submit only one copy of the application form. No additional documents should be included with an application.
    " Applications cannot be replaced or updated once they are submitted.
  • Applications postmarked after Wednesday, May 13, 2009, will not be accepted.
    " Submitted applications will not be returned.
  • Applications postmarked after Wednesday, May 13, 2009, will not be accepted.
  • Submitted applications will not be returned.
  • The "application number" space at the top right of the application form is for Toyota Foundation use. We will mail you a postcard by early June to inform you of your application number.
  • If any statement in an application is found to be untrue or misleading, the application may be rejected, and even if the project proposal has been approved, the grant may be cancelled.
  • The Toyota Foundation will not respond to questions about the reasons for its approval or rejection of project proposals.

PRIVACY NOTICE:

The personal information supplied by applicants will be used to screen and select projects, to produce statistics, and for administrative purposes, such as contacting the person in question. It will not be used for any purpose other than those specified without the permission of the individual concerned, except where allowed by law.

Address for submission of project proposals

Asian Neighbors Program, The Toyota Foundation

Box 236, Shinjuku Mitsui Building 37F
2-1-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo, Japan 163-0437
Phone: +81-(0)3-3344-1701
Fax: +81-(0)3-3342-6911
Attn.: (Ms.) Kwon, (Ms.) Kaga

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