Intro

The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has granted the project: Regional action for combating forest crime and corruption (Project).  Project is implemented by organisations CNVP, FEA and Green Home. In frame of the Project consultancy services are envisaged with an aim for achieving the general objective of the project towards good governance in forestry sector in the WB region (Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia).

The Project is launching the open call for regional media campaign in the four project countries and is expecting offers from relevant companies to submit their proposals. The project aims to support increase of public’s knowledge and public awareness raising on causes and impacts of deforestation/illegal logging.

This Project will create more enabling conditions for control on forests related crime, including innovative information system, as well as the improvement of the monitoring mechanisms through practical sets of indicators and surveys. Based on detailed analyses and lessons learned of the outdated and mostly not implemented regional/national policy documents and action plans related to this or similar issues, new national action plans will recommend more efficient regulatory, monitoring, control and supervision actions for combating forest related crimes and corruption activities.

Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. It is difficult to identify illegally traded timber. Illegal logging leads to the destruction of forests and loss of biodiversity. It also has economic and social impacts on the poor.

Furthermore, illegal logging is often associated with organized crime, corruption, human rights abuse, violent conflict and money laundering. It undermines proper forest management, reduces the income of the producer countries and encourages tax evasion and corruption.

Trees alter the environment in which we live by moderating climate, improving air quality, reducing storm water runoff, and harbouring wildlife. Environmental impacts include the loss or degradation of forests, as illegal logging tends to be associated with poor forest management. This can result in the loss of habitats and biodiversity. Illegal logging is threatening the survival of some of the most endangered species in the above-mentioned countries. Deforestation and forest degradation also has implications for climate change, as forests have a crucial role in both mitigating against and adapting to climate change.

Illegal logging can result in the loss of government revenue.  The social impacts of illegal logging are diverse. Illegal logging undermines the rule of law and is often associated with corruption. It may also entail a lack of recognition of the land and resource use rights of forest communities, or of the rights of other concession-holders. This can have negative impacts on the livelihoods of local people and result in lowering the quality of life in rural areas and migration due to economic or environmental reasons.

Goal of media campaign

The media campaign (in further text campaign) should have regional character. It should be delivered in the four project countries: Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Hercegovina and Montenegro.

Goal of this campaign is to inform and educate citizens in the Balkan region for causes and effect of crime and corruption in forestry, and importance of vital forest ecosystems and proper forest management. The campaign should contribute to raising awareness of the citizens for importance of fight against crime and corruption in forestry, as vital aspect of sustainable forest management, as well as environment protection and rule of law. The public shall be informed about the achieved results and monitoring mechanisms/tools within the project.

The campaign should be conducted in a positive spirit in order to receive support from the governments, public institutions on local level, NGO sector in the region, international organizations, and last but not least the citizens of the project countries (MK, SRB, BiH & MNE). 

Assignment

• To create regional digital marketing plan and to use the visual identity created by the project, for   the campaign.
• The company/organisation shall use already developed logo of the project in developing all deliverables
• To cooperate with the project team and to follow instructions in preparation and conducting the campaign
• To present the marketing plan and visual identity of the campaign in front of the project team and to adjust it according to the requests made by the project team
• To conduct regional media campaign in four countries (MK, SRB, BiH, MNE) for importance of forests and negative influence of crime and corruption in forestry, with duration of 15 months, through proper media channels
• To involve experts or public figures if possible, to promote the regional media campaign and the messages of the campaign. Persons selected should be agreed with the project team
• Support and instruct the project team in developing of texts related to illegal activities
• Develop press and media coverage during project’s events (development of texts prior and after the events, media release, etc.)
• To report on request by the project team on results achieved and to deliver results to the project team.
• Content and language should be adjusted to the local needs and language in the respective countries

Deliverables

• The visual identity shall include:
  • Messages/statement related to the project which will be used on all social media and project’s website
  • Develop animated video up to max 2 min duration (spoken language shall be English and subtitles on 4 local languages). The video shall have educational and awareness raising messages related to illegal activities in forestry.
  • Infographics related to the following topics: (i) Losses due to illegal logging in 4 countries, (ii) Why does legal timber matter, (iii) Results of the project and benefits of improving forest governance, (iv) Illegal activities in forestry (corruption in public procurement, reclassification of forest wood assortments, etc.).

Timeframe and value of the contract

Time for development of the digital marketing plan is set to 20 days from the day of signing of the agreement.

Time for conducting the campaign and its activities should be distributed through the lifetime of the project, after approval by the project team.

Reports will be requested from project team with announcements of 10 working days, before the due date of the project, not more than 4 times a year. Final report to be delivered one month before the end of the project, no later than 31 October 2021. The report shall be submitted in English.

The value of the contract cannot exceed 15.000 euros.

Needed documents for application

Applicants should deliver the following documents:

1. Short summary of the organization/company profile
2. Portfolio of conducted campaigns for digital media, possible campaigns in field of environment, the rule of law and similar.
3. CV’s of at least two persons with experience in this field that will be engaged in the preparation and conducting of the requested service.
4. Concept document for the regional media campaign   
5. Registration document not older than 6 months
6. Financial offer as specified per deliverables (Annex 1).

Requested documentation should be in English language (except from the registration document) and send in electronic version.

Team composition

The proposed team should include at least two persons, 0ne person shall have a role as Team Expert and the other one as Key Expert.

Team Expert shall be responsible for communication with the project team

Minimum requirements of the Team Expert shall be:

1. University degree in Marketing and Digital Marketing or equivalent disciplines such as Economics
2. General professional experience of at least 10 years
3. Specific professional experience and work on projects related to environment, climate change, forestry and corruption, of at least 5 to 7 years
4. Proficient in spoken, in particular in written English

Minimum requirements of the Key Expert shall be:

1. University degree in Marketing and Digital Marketing or equivalent disciplines such as Economics
2. General professional experience of at least 3-5 years
3. Specific professional experience and work on projects related to environment, climate change, forestry and corruption of at least 2-4 years

The project is committed to diversity and encourages all candidates irrespective of gender, nationality, religious and ethnic backgrounds, persons living with disabilities to apply.

Criteria for applicants

The company/organization that is willing to apply on this call, needs to fulfil the following criteria:

1. To be active company registered at least 5 years before this call, under positive legislation in the country of origin.
2. Not to be bankrupt or be involved in illegal activities of any kind
3. To submit internal document that the company do not support and strongly objects corruption
4. Company statement that shows the company’s/organisation’s commitment to protection of environment in their everyday work

Evaluation of offers

The evaluation committee will inform only the candidate which offer will be selected.

Evaluation will be done under the following criteria:

- Experience of the company/organization                         30 points

- Proposed concept for the regional media campaign      50 points

- Offered price                                                                          20 points

                                                            

The contract will be signed with the company/organization that will receive the highest score. 

How to apply

Full application should be sent electronically via e-mail to: belma.jahovic@feasee.org, no later than 24 July 2020, 24:00 h. The title of the message should be: “Application for development and conducting of regional media campaign, Project ref.no: RER-18/0008”.

Offers that are not complete or are send after the set deadline will not be taken into consideration.

More information about this call can be obtained by interested parties on the following e-mail address: belma.jahovic@feasee.org, latest one week before the deadline of the call.

Annex 1

Financial offer

	Item	Price including VAT
1	Development of regional digital marketing plan agreed with the project team
2	Development of visual identity of the campaign
3	Conducting the campaign via digital media in duration of 15 months
4	Engagement of at least three experts/public figures in the campaign
5	Preparation of report for the results achieved
Total