International Expert in Business Plan for Ecothon 2023 (HSF)

Terms of Reference

Post Title: International Expert in Business Plan for Ecothon 2023
Organisation(s): Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) – ASEAN Regional Project in partnership with the ASEM SMEs Eco-Innovation Center (ASEIC), relevant ministries and local partners in 4 ASEAN countries
Duty Station: Home-based (potentially with travel to the offline event)
Duration: max. 15.5 working days from July to October 2023
Renumeration: max. 400 USD/full working day.
Type of Contract: Consulting Contract

Context

Ecothon (Eco-entrepreneurs’ Marathon) is a sustainable and innovative business model competition that provides a selected group of startups in the ASEAN region with intensive training, mentoring, and coaching programmes in making sustainable business strategies and IR pitching, by adopting a ‘hackathon’ method. Ecothon seeks to foster an eco-entrepreneurship and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a focus on SDG 12 - Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP), by promoting and enabling an innovative and sustainable business model development that minimises negative environmental impact.

Since its pilot run in 2019 as part of the Republic of Korea (ROK) - Association of South East Asian Nations(ASEAN) Startup Partnership, Ecothon has been co-organised annually by the ASEM SMEs Eco-Innovation Center (ASEIC) the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF), hosted/supported by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups of the Republic of Korea (MSS, ROK) in close partnerships with the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on MSME (ACCMSME) focal ministries and Implementing Partners (IPs) nominated by the participating ASEAN countries.Being co-hosted by the respective line ministry in each country, Ecothon further provides a much-needed dialogue platform for innovative eco-friendly start-ups and entrepreneurial groups on the one hand and decision-makers on the other.

In 2023, Ecothon takes place in 4 ASEAN countries, namely Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia and the Philippines. The programme is broken into 3 main parts:

Online course that provides participating teams with lectures on sustainable entrepreneurship and business model development;
Individual mentoring sessions to support participating teams in consolidating their business models and strategies and preparing for the final pitching; and
Demo-Day to identify 3 winners in each country.

In addition, a Sustainable Business Coach Training (ToT) is organised within the framework of this programme to strengthen professional capacities of sustainable business coaches, start-up accelerators and other stakeholders in the ASEAN region. Furthermore, 20 ToT participants will be selected to act as local coaches for Ecothon in 4 ASEAN countries.

Objectives

Through this ToR, ONE international expert is to be identified to work closely with HSF, ASEIC and ASEIC-service provider (Nemopartners) to take the following roles and responsibilities in Ecothon 2023:

Support the curriculum development for Ecothon programme (including ToT)
Act as an instructor in the ToT
Act as an instructor in 2 online courses (1 for Lao PDR, 1 for Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines)
Act as an international mentor for Ecothon in Indonesia 2023
Act as an international judge for Demo-Day in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines

Specific tasks and proposed level of efforts

Project activity	Tasks and deliverables	No. of working days
ToT	Support the curriculum development for the ToT and Ecothon 2023	1.5
	Design and deliver a lecture on “Business Plan” for sustainable business coaches, start-up accelerators and representatives from relevant governmental agencies in the ASEAN region	1
	Design and deliver a lecture on “Coaching and feedback skills”	1
Ecothon in Lao PDR	Design and deliver a lecture on “Business Plan” for participating teams in Lao PDR (mainly project teams with limited background knowledge of business management)	1
Ecothon in Indonesia	Design and deliver a lecture on “Business Plan” for participating teams in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines (mainly early-stage start-ups with certain background knowledge of business management)	1
	Act as international mentor who Provides professional advice on the feasibility and sustainability of all participating teams’ business models (around 15 teams), and Supports all teams in writing and improving their business plan	7
	Act as an international judge in the Demo-Day of Ecothon in Indonesia (online)	1
Ecothon in Malaysia	Act as an international judge in the Demo-Day of Ecothon in Malaysia (online)	1
Ecothon in the Philippines	Act as an international judge in the Demo-Day of Ecothon in the Philippines (hybrid)	1
Total		15.5

Preferred qualifications and experiences

At least a Master’s degree in economics, sustainable entrepreneurship, business administration, business management or related fields; Ph.D. in sustainable business management, business consulting or related areas is a strong asset;
Min. 15 years of experience in teaching, researching and/or consultancy services in sustainable entrepreneurship, business management, business development or related areas;
Understanding emerging markets’ context, experience with start-ups and SMEs in the ASEAN region is a plus;
Professional proficiency in English.

Application format

Documents to be submitted include:

Cover Letter indicating the motivation and suitability for this position (max. 2 pages)
Technical approach including a suggested daily rate (max. 1 page)
Comprehensive CV
Language: English
Format: PDF, one single file

Interested individuals are requested to send the application documents Ms Kyeongjin Lee (kjlee@nemopartners.com) and Ms Ngoc-Mai Trinh (Mai@hss.de). Please indicate as the subject of the application: “Ecothon 2023 International Expert in Business Plan”. Please also direct potential questions to this email addresses.

Deadline for submission is 16^th July 2023 at 5pm UTC+9.