Wildlife Photographer of the Year Academy Programme

The main aim of the project is to listen to the stories of young people in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and deepen their relationship with nature and the environment through the creative medium of photography.

The programme aims to:

• empower young people to connect with nature
• engage young people in wildlife storytelling and nature photo documentation
• build confidence in young people to begin conversations about ecology and climate change, and how these issues are affecting their surroundings and communities
• co-curate a final exhibition with partner organisations
• develop meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships with partners that inspire, challenge and explore the understanding of the natural world and biodiversity.

The local partner will be required to:

• identify local schools or other organisations to recruit and shortlist all participants for the programmes in Kazakhstan/Uzbekistan
• host and facilitate the workshop programme
• produce (printing, framing, exhibition design) and host the exhibition and related events
• prepare a report and evaluation of the programme.

Team, Resources and Responsibilities

The delivery partner will work closely with, and report to, the British Council. They envision the following division of roles:

• British Council team
  • The Head of Arts for Central Asia based in Almaty is the programme lead and will take overall responsibility for the programme in both countries.
  • The Arts manager based in Tashkent will work closely with Central Asia and UK partners and co-ordinate day-to-day work, including supervision of communication and marketing activities, and will also liaise with the marcomms manager from the delivery team.
• Natural History Museum, London team
  • The Head of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year programme will steer direction, take overall curatorial responsibility for programme content and ensure there is UK representation at the event.
  • The WPY Competition Manager will secure Photography Mentors, develop content for the week-long workshop and curate participant images for the exhibition.
• Local delivery team
  • Although it will be up to the applicant to suggest their team structure, they suggest it should include:
    • Programme manager as the main contact point for communication with the British Council, and who is responsible for the overall programme delivery and content and reporting
    • Curator(s) responsible for organising and co-curating activities and discussions, briefing and liaison with speakers and guests
    • Marcomms manager responsible for the marketing plan and its delivery
    • Event manager/technical support responsible for the organisation of the events and activities who has the expertise and skills to provide technical support for the digital activities.

Eligibility Criteria

• They are able to accept proposals from organisations based in Almaty and Tashkent. They will accept proposals from consortiums of teams/organisations, but all partners and spaces required must be based in the above cities and should demonstrate the skills and capacities.
• They invite proposals only from organisations or individual entrepreneurs who can demonstrate relevant experience in organising international cultural events and conferences, and who have the team and resources required for delivery of the programme and the financial capacity to administer the budget.
• The programme will be delivered in person. The delivery partner should have strong skills and experience of conducting outreach projects with young people aged 15–17 and have the technical expertise to digitise the various activities.
• The local delivery team should have a good knowledge of English and be able to communicate with UK partners.
• Organisations who apply must confirm that the planned programme and activities will be delivered according to the key dates and that they will provide the British Council with the required reports.

For more information, visit British Council.