Partner with us
Accelerating Action-Orientated Climate Solutions
Partner with us to turn existing, scattered climate data into immediate, real-world policies and protect vulnerable communities.
Why partner
Why partner with ASCEND
A massive wealth of diverse data, evidence and knowledge on climate, society and the environment already exists across Africa and globally. However, because these data-sets are often scattered and poorly integrated, the potentially life-saving insights they hold remain largely unrealised for climate action. ASCEND offers an established, high-impact pipeline to turn funding directly into new discoveries and real-world resilience.
Funding for real impact
When you invest in ASCEND, your funding goes directly toward scientific discovery, policy, and practitioner impact. ASCEND acts as the central operational hub, absorbing all administrative, logistical, and contracting burdens. This allows our hosted synthesis teams to focus fully on transdisciplinary collaboration and breakthrough solutions.
Specialised, World-Class Synthesis Infrastructure
Synthesis research requires specialised facilities. ASCEND provides teams with top-tier physical and virtual collaboration spaces, high-performance computing capabilities, expert-led facilitation, and custom-built AI synthesis tools designed to mine and integrate diverse datasets rapidly.
Practical Capacity Strengthening
We don't just generate research articles, we build long-term climate leadership. Our model provides hands-on capacity strengthening to postdoctoral fellows and also to policymakers and practitioners. We teach them how to co-design research to meet decision needs in a timely way, and how to integrate actionable research insights into active legislative, policymaking, and implementation environments.
Pathways
Our three partnership pathways
We offer three distinct, structured pathways for philanthropic partners and bilateral donors to invest in climate resilience.
Fund Issue-Specific Synthesis Teams
Direct your investment to the specific climate-related challenge aligned with your strategic mission.
- How it works
- You select a key thematic focus, for example climate-proofing education systems, managing health risks from climate change, or energy transition pathways. ASCEND will assemble, host, and guide dedicated, transdisciplinary teams of experts to synthesise the data, evidence and knowledge to co-design actionable solutions.
- The outcome
- New research and tailored toolkits, interactive datasets, and policy guidance co-developed with key decision-makers to drive policy and implementation change from local to global scales.
Invest in the Synthesis Pipeline
Support a rolling cohort of diverse, high-impact synthesis teams selected by ASCEND's expert leadership.
- How it works
- Trust-based portfolio funding that allows ASCEND to fund, hold open calls for teams, and scale multiple concurrent synthesis teams, for example a pipeline of 10 highly ambitious teams.
- The outcome
- Broad, scalable impact across multiple interlinked systems, from biodiversity to water security to climate justice and health outcomes, while fostering a new generation of Global South climate leaders.
Fund Our Infrastructure and AI Synthesis Tools
Invest in the foundational engine of African and Global South climate synthesis to lower the barrier to discovery.
- How it works
- Direct funding to scale ASCEND's operational, scientific, and research-to-impact capabilities. This includes expanding our specialised AI-driven data and evidence synthesis tools, and scaling our early-career researcher, policymaker and practitioner training programmes.
- The outcome
- A stronger, permanent research infrastructure in Africa that accelerates the pace of discoveries informing enhanced climate action and empowers Global South decision-makers for decades to come.
Let's talk
Ready to accelerate data-driven discoveries for climate action?
Use the form to connect with our partnership team and discuss how we can collaborate.
Partnership enquiry
Proudly supported by
- African Climate and Development Initiative (ACDI)
- University of Cape Town
- The Gabriel Foundation
- BAOBAB, jointly funded by CLARE, UK International Development, IDRC and the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- Wellcome Trust
