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

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 partners, particularly among children and youth. They will also be disseminated through community WhatsApp and Telegram groups and promoted through SUNCASA’s and partners’ websites and social media channels, helping to expand outreach, strengthen engagement, and reinforce the long-term sustainability of project outcomes.

Objectives of the Consultancy

General Objective 

The overall objective of this consultancy is to design and produce a series of four short, animated videos that communicate the achievements and impacts of the SUNCASA project in an engaging and accessible way. This includes three animations highlighting the project’s NbS interventions and their contribution to community and ecosystem resilience across three cities, while one will focus on SUNCASA’s GESI approach.

The animations aim to strengthen local ownership and long-term sustainability of project results by engaging children and youth as key audiences. Through culturally relevant storytelling co-developed with local partners, the animations should inspire behavioural change and reinforce the role of youth as key agents of resilience and environmental stewardship. The final products will serve as adaptable communication tools for community outreach, education, and broader dissemination through digital platforms and partner networks.

Specific Objectives 

• To design and produce four high-quality animated videos (approximately 2–2.5 minutes each) that communicate SUNCASA’s results, impacts, and approaches in an engaging, accessible, and visually compelling format, particularly to younger audiences.
  • To develop three animations showcasing SUNCASA’s NbS interventions and their contribution to strengthening the resilience of communities and ecosystems across the project’s three cities.
  • To produce one animation highlighting SUNCASA’s GESI approach and its role in promoting inclusive and equitable climate adaptation outcomes.
• To lead the full animation production process, including visual concept development, character and environment design, storyboarding, illustration, animation, editing, and post-production, in close collaboration with SUNCASA’s Communications team and local partners.
• To deliver final outputs in both landscape and portrait formats, as well as short versions of each video optimized for social media, along with all editable source files (including artwork, illustrations, animation assets, and project files) to enable future adaptation and reuse by the SUNCASA Communications team.

 Tasks and Deliverables

The consultant will be responsible for leading the full animation production process as outlined below:

Activity 1: Inception and Creative Development

• Review all aesthetics and visual reference materials provided by SUNCASA.
• Participate in a kickoff meeting with the SUNCASA Communications teams and representatives of the local partner organizations.
• Develop a creative concept and visual approach aligned with SUNCASA branding and the visual references provided.
• Prepare a detailed production plan and timeline, including at least three rounds of feedback and the platform on which concepts and drafts will be shared for review.
  

Deliverable 1: Detailed work plan, including time frame; Creative concept with animation style and visual approach.

Activity 2: Storyboards
-    Based on the co-created scripts provided by the SUNCASA Communications team and informed by the approved creative concept, the consultant will design individual storyboards for each animation.
Deliverable 2: Individual storyboards for each video, with a detailed description of each sequence and scene. 

Activity 3: Initial Video Drafts
-    Following the scripts provided by the SUNCASA Comms team and the approved storyboard, the consultant will develop initial versions of all four animations with no audio and submit them for review. Based on feedback, the updated versions will be created and submitted for approval.
-    Drafts should include motion graphics, character animations, as well as maps and geographic visualization where applicable.
Deliverable 3: The initial and updated cut of each video animation draft with no audio, including the feedback provided by the team.

Activity 4: Final versions of all four animated videos in English and integration of voiceover, dialogues in local languages, as well as soundtrack; create cut-down social media cuts 
-    The consultant will use the approved versions to integrate the voiceover, dialogues, and soundtrack into each animation. 
-    In addition to English, one animation will have a version in Kinyarwanda; and one will have versions in Amharic and Afaan Oromo—translations to be provided by the SUNCASA Communications team. 
-    An additional round of feedback will be required at this stage before approval of the final versions.
-    In addition to the full animations, the consultant will deliver a cut-down version (30 to 45 seconds) of each video, optimized for social media. 

Deliverable 4: A final version of each animation in English with voiceover, dialogues, and soundtrack in local languages, as applicable. A cut-down version of each animation for social media. 

Activity 5: Submit all editable source files (including artwork, illustrations, animation assets, and project files)

• 
  -    Organize, name, and share all working files, including artwork, illustrations, animation assets, and project files. 
  Deliverable 5: A folder with all required assets to be shared with the SUNCASA Communications team.
  

Read the full Terms of Reference here for Reporting, Evaluation and Selection Criteria.

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

Application deadline: August 3, 2026

Application Process

All applications must be submitted in English. 

To apply for this consultancy, please send:

• Cover Letter outlining relevant professional experience of proposed consultant(s). Please
  include the name and contact details of the primary contact person.
• Detailed resume of proposed consultant(s) highlighting relevant experience in all stages
  of animation production, from creative concept to post-production.
• Technical Proposal outlining understanding of the assignment and how the consultant(s)
  plan to undertake the project, including a proposed work plan and timeline. The proposed
  work plan must align with the deliverables and timeline set out in Sections 4 and 5.
• Portfolio with at least three examples of relevant animation videos. Please indicate the
  links to the videos in the technical proposal.
• Financial Proposal that includes the consultant’s daily rate and any additional costs
  associated with this assignment, with all costs clearly broken down and aligned to each
  deliverable and key activities outlined in the Scope of Work. Financial proposals must be
  aligned with the scope described in Section 5 of this RFP.
• At least two (2) references from previous related projects.