Background

The Scaling Urban Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for Climate Adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SUNCASA) is a 3-year project aiming at enhancing climate resilience and promoting gender equality, social inclusion, and biodiversity protection across three cities: Dire Dawa (Ethiopia), Kigali (Rwanda) and Johannesburg (South Africa).

Led by the International Institute for Sustainable Development and the World Resources Institute, and implemented in partnership with local organizations and communities, SUNCASA seeks to address climate change impacts—such as floods, landslides, and soil erosion—through gender-responsive and socially inclusive NbS. These include afforestation, reforestation, agroforestry, urban greening, the removal of invasive alien species, and the creation of vegetated buffer zones in flood-prone areas.

Entering its third and final year of the current implementation phase, SUNCASA is already achieving significant results, generating measurable adaptation outcomes and strengthening the resilience of communities and landscapes across its project sites. To sustain these achievements beyond the project time frame, SUNCASA is investing in building local ownership and stewardship, with a particular emphasis on engaging children and youth as future custodians of their environments. For more information, visit www.suncasa.org.

As part of this effort, SUNCASA is developing a series of four animated videos, with stories and scripts co-created alongside local partners to ensure they reflect community realities, priorities, and cultural contexts. Through engaging storytelling and accessible messages, the animations will encourage young audiences to understand the importance of protecting local ecosystems and livelihoods, recognize their role in sustaining climate adaptation efforts, and contribute to building more resilient and sustainable communities.

Purpose of the Consultancy

Within the framework of SUNCASA’s Communications Strategy, IISD is seeking an experienced animator or animation studio to conceptualize, design, and produce a series of three animated videos showcasing the project's NbS impacts and highlighting the role of local youth in sustaining these achievements across SUNCASA's three project cities. A fourth animation will focus on promoting the project's gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) approach.

Working closely with SUNCASA's Communications team and representatives from the project's local partners, the consultant will be responsible for translating existing scripts into engaging visual narratives through the development of high-quality animations of approximately 2–2.5 minutes each. The videos should communicate the project's approach, results, and impact in a way that is compelling, accessible, and suitable for diverse audiences, with a particular focus on young people. Animations and supporting illustrations must be designed on Adobe Creative Cloud software—After Effects, Illustrator, and InDesign.

SUNCASA will provide relevant reference materials—including photographs, videos, project documentation, and brand assets—to inform the visual concept, character design, and storytelling. The animations will be based on scripts co-created with local partners to ensure they authentically reflect the social, cultural, and environmental contexts of each project location. The consultant will be expected to develop a distinctive visual style that resonates with local audiences while maintaining consistency across the animation series.

The animations are expected to be developed primarily in English. The SUNCASA Communications team will provide all voiceover and dialogue recordings, including versions in local languages such as Amharic, Afaan Oromo, and Kinyarwanda, which the consultant will integrate into the final productions. The assignment covers the full animation production process, including visual concept development, character and environment design, storyboarding, illustration, animation, editing, and post-production.

Final deliverables will include landscape and portrait versions of each animation, optimized for web, social media, and mobile platforms. The consultant will also provide all editable source files—including artwork, illustrations, animation assets, and project files—to allow future adaptation and reuse by the SUNCASA Communications team.

The completed animations will support educational and awareness-raising activities led by SUNCASA’s local

Consultancy for the Design and Production of Four Animated Videos Showcasing SUNCASA’s Achievements and Inspiring Youth Engagement in Sustaining Project Results at IISD