Climate Resilience Request for Proposals

The Climate Resilience Working Group, one of six working groups under the Task Force, is seeking proposals from qualified proponents to design, pilot, and deliver a Research Portfolio and Prioritization Framework for the BC wine grape industry.

This project will establish a structured and transparent approach to cataloguing, organizing, and prioritizing research to better align research investments with industry needs and climate resilience priorities.

Specifically, the project will:

• Develop a structured and clustered research inventory for the BC wine grape sector
• Define innovation clusters aligned with key climate resilience challenges
• Design a repeatable research prioritization framework to guide decision-making and funding alignment
• Pilot the framework within a priority cluster to test its application
• Establish governance and processes to support ongoing maintenance, prioritization, and coordination of research

The resulting framework and tools must be practical, defensible, and accessible to industry stakeholders, including growers, wineries, researchers, and funding bodies. The work will be informed through structured engagement to ensure alignment with industry needs and long-term adoption.

Success will be demonstrated through:

• Delivery of a functional and user-ready research inventory that enables clear visibility of existing research across the sector
• Evidence of identified gaps, overlaps, and opportunities – in the piloted cluster – that inform future research direction
• A validated prioritization framework that can be applied consistently and supports transparent decision-making
• Demonstrated ability to apply the framework within a pilot cluster to generate prioritized research recommendations
• Clear, decision-ready outputs that support alignment between research activity, industry needs, and funding opportunities
• Stakeholder confidence in the usability and relevance of the framework and its outputs

This project will run concurrently with the Long-Term Industry Strategy, including the Environmental Industry Scan. The successful proponent will coordinate with the strategic planning consultants and leverage existing research, datasets, and related outputs to ensure alignment, integration of findings, and avoidance of duplication.

Click here to view the full RFP.