CAPaBLE (Capacity Building and Learning) Grant

About this grant

CAPaBLE is the scientific capacity development programme of the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN). It aims to strengthen the ability of scientists, policymakers and practitioners to assess global change issues and to explore options for resolving them in pursuit of sustainability. Support is directed at capacity building at individual, organisational and systemic levels. The programme funds activities that use or strengthen existing capacity, create opportunities to apply capacity, develop new capacity through innovative approaches, and raise awareness among policy and decision-making communities, civil society and the general public. It also supports science-policy interfacing across APN's five thematic areas and priority topics. Partnership activities that contribute to the capacity development components of major global frameworks are included, such as the UNFCCC Paris Agreement, IPCC, IPBES, the Sustainable Development Goals, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the UN Decade of Ocean Science, along with ongoing and new global change research programmes. Science communication is a specific focus, particularly activities that disseminate project knowledge to non-science audiences. The page lists recent funded projects, which cover marine ecosystem resilience, plastic and waste management, flood alerts, climate-health resilience, community radio, rice pest management, weather station observation, wetland conservation, urban spatial planning, transdisciplinary training for early-career professionals, peatland smart farming and immersive disaster risk reduction training.

Eligibility

The page does not state explicit eligibility criteria for CAPaBLE applicants, organisation types or prior-recipient rules. It describes the programme's aims and the types of activities supported, and the APN call-for-proposals page would need to be consulted for applicant requirements.

How it's scored

The page does not describe how capacity development proposals are assessed, including scoring criteria, weightings or panel composition.

Key requirements

• ✓Applicants must be scientists, policymakers, or practitioners in the Asia-Pacific region
• ✓Activities must address global change issues and sustainability solutions
• ✓Support available at individual, organizational, and systemic levels

Recent past awardees

Knowing who's won the last rounds tells you whether you're in the strike zone.

• Building marine ecosystem resilience: Capacity building for small-scale fishers to advance SDGs 13 and 14 in Asian countries · 2026
• Overcoming barriers to alternative waste management for climate-friendly and eliminating plastic pollution in ASEAN cities · 2026
• Last mile first: Translating digital flood alerts into offline communication for low-literacy rural communities in Sindh, Pakistan · 2026
• Cooling the heat, healing the mind: Building climate-health resilience for outdoor workers across Malaysia, India, and the Maldives · 2026
• Strengthening community radio for climate and disaster justice in South Asia · 2026
• Strengthening institutional capacity and farmer adoption of protective practices for climate-resilient pest management in South Asian rice farming · 2025
• Establishing a regional alliance for extreme precipitation observation: Coordinated capacity development and quality management of high-resolution automatic weather stations in South Asia · 2026
• Empowering site managers for effective wetland and migratory waterbird conservation in Asia: Building capacity through nature-based solutions, technology, and site-based responses to global change · 2025

Frequently asked questions

Who can apply for CAPaBLE (Capacity Building and Learning)?

Eligibility covers organisations in ASIA, SE-ASIA, SOUTH-ASIA, EAST-ASIA, OCEANIA; university, research-institution, nonprofit, local-authority. See the eligibility criteria above for the full conditions.

Relevant sectors

About this sector

Climate adaptation funding helps communities, infrastructure and businesses prepare for heat, flooding, drought and sea level rise. Most of it is public and multilateral money, often targeted at vulnerable regions and delivered with local government. Calls usually ask for a climate risk assessment and evidence that local people shaped the plan.