World location news article: British Embassy Moscow announces School of System Change scholarship

The scholarship is organised by the British organization Forum for the Future and Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME

Today’s challenges are complex and interconnected, and the responses we must deploy to move swiftly towards a sustainable future require specific capabilities. How can we discern what needs to change at a systemic level? How might we lead and implement that change? We think more people like you should develop these capabilities to make more positive impact.

Forum for the Future and our partners have 20 years’ experience in making this sort of change happen, and equipping the next generation of leaders to face system-wide challenges. This is why we are catalysing an international School of System Change for a cross-sector cohort of early adopters.

We have an amazing opportunity for three Russian practitioners or future leaders to get a scholarship to attend the first intensive short course of the School of System Change. The scholarships provide a unique chance to understand the systemic change needed to get us to a sustainable future, to explore practical ways to do that, to be equipped with the tools needed and to build networks and connections and become part of a global community of people working on big change for sustainable development.

Successful applicant/s would be given a grant, covering course fees and subsistence, to take part in a programme including intensive sessions and field work in London that will give them the knowledge, skills and connections to accelerate sustainability in their Russian context.

Programme schedule:

• February 21 – March 21: one month the initial intensive session in London, UK

• February 21 – February 24: four days face-to-face learning at the School

• February 27 – March 17: three week “placements” in UK organisations (affiliated businesses include Sainsbury’s, Marks and Spencer, and Unilever)

• March 20 – March 21: two days face-to-face learning at the School

• April – mid-June: two months of fieldwork back in Russia, developing a project to implement within their own (Russian) organisation, to the benefit of that organisation; combining with online action learning sets every week

• Mid-June: a three-day intense session of face-to-face learning time and networking opportunities in London, UK (exact dates will be announced by the end of November)

PORTRAIT OF IDEAL CANDIDATE

We are looking for three talented individuals already working in the field of sustainable development who have a specific systemic challenge that they are working on, or would like to work on.

We recognise you as an ideal candidate if you are:

• Russian citizens

• have a university degree (Bachelor, Master, Specialist)

• already working in the field of sustainable development or social entrepreneurship or related field (have at least 2 years of working experience and fairly well versed in sustainable development as a concept and recognise the interconnected nature of issues like climate change, water, technology and wellbeing that means that a systemic response is required)

• facing a specific systemic challenge that you are working on, or would like to work on and /or implementing a complex project in your area of sustainability that requires system thinking, partnerships building and change management skills

• perceive yourself as a leader and demonstrate leadership intention in your professional background

• highly motivated to bring positive impact within sustainable development concept and plan to develop your future career in this field

• fluent in English

• available to join one month educational program in February – March 2017 in London, UK (can get study leave from your organisation) and three-day session in mid-June in London.

STAGES OF ADMISSION PROCESS

Three candidates will be identified on the basis of competition process, which includes application form and essay for all candidates and an interview with Admission committee for shortlisted candidates.

There are three steps of admission process:

• Stage 1: October 17 – November 13, 2016 – fill in the application form (
  School of system change_Description & Application form
  (PDF, 348KB, 5 pages)
  
  ) – by filling the application form you identify your intention to take part in competition

• Stage 2: October 17 – November 13, 2016 – prepare and send an essay (
  School of system change_FAQs
  (PDF, 302KB, 4 pages)
  
  ) – after sending an essay you become a part of the competition process and can be included in the short list of candidates invited for an interview

• Stage 3: November 24 – November 25, 2016 – short listed candidates will have a meeting and interview with members of Admission Committee (conducted in English) to present his/her perspective and project his/she is working on

Final results will be announced by December 10, 2016.
TOP-50% applicants will be invited to join the workshop and networking session with sustainability experts from UK and Russia conducted November 24, 2016 where short listed candidates will be announced.

In order to apply to the Programme online, please follow the link.
In case you are facing technical issues, please fill in the form below, save it in PDF and send it to the e-mail [email protected].

Please name the file: Application form_First and last name_Date of submission. Attached documents should be named accordingly.