China WBG Global Center for Ecological Systems and Transitions CWGC

SELECTION OF CONSULTING FIRMS BY THE WORLD BANK GROUP REQUEST FOR EXPRESSION OF INTEREST (EOI) Electronic Submissions through WBGeProcure RFx Now ASSIGNMENT OVERVIEW Assignment Title: China WBG Global Center for Ecological Systems and Transitions CWGC Assignment Countries: China ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION 1. Background Launched in December 2024, the China-WBG Global Center for Ecological Systems and Transitions (CWGC) aims to contribute to large-scale ecosystem conservation and restoration through structured, two-way knowledge exchange between China and developing countries. The CWGC curates and disseminates scalable solutions from China, while also bringing cutting-edge knowledge to China. It is a partnership between the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China and the World Bank Group (WBG), with the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) designated as the key delivery partner. As a dedicated global knowledge exchange center, the CWGC is a tangible example of the WBG's Knowledge Bank in action, and a new step in the evolving WBG-China partnership from primarily financing toward a more selective engagement built on knowledge, innovation, and mutual learning. The Knowledge Hub. Building on its work to date, the CWGC is developing a new initiative: the CWGC Knowledge Hub for Ecosystem Restoration Solutions (the "Knowledge Hub").[^1] It is an evolution of the CWGC's knowledge work, from individual events and products toward a structured, accessible and regularly updated body of knowledge. The Knowledge Hub will curate the most relevant and up-to-date knowledge from China on solutions in policy, technology and finance that promote large-scale ecosystem restoration. It will include peer-reviewed papers, videos and manuals, together with a curated set of specialized institutions and associated experts, and it will make them accessible to the countries engaged by the CWGC. The Knowledge Hub is about curation only: it brings together existing knowledge and does not produce new knowledge. The Knowledge Hub is a beginning, not an end point. It will be built over time through a series of modules (Table 1). Its overall objective is to strengthen the quality and impact of the CWGC's three product lines: ● Knowledge Curation and Analytics: curating relevant WBG and external knowledge and producing new analytical knowledge. ● Knowledge Exchange and Learning: facilitating learning through study tours, dialogue series, workshops, trainings and hybrid exchanges. ● Country Engagement and Partnerships: longer-term, demand-driven collaboration with partner countries and institutions to apply, adapt and scale knowledge and solutions, delivered through Country Action Plans, technical assistance (including bilateral technical assistance), institutional partnerships, twinning, peer-to-peer learning, and joint restoration demonstration sites. Objectives The Consultant will help the CWGC to: ● Curate the most relevant and up-to-date knowledge from China for Module 1 (solutions on policy, finance and technology to address desertification and grassland degradation), together with a list of specialized experts and institutions. ● Design a Knowledge Hub Architecture that can be applied to all future modules, and that can be built and maintained with the minimum possible effort and cost. ● Identify the areas where China itself would benefit from inbound global knowledge on these topics, in line with the two-way nature of the CWGC. ● Connect the curated knowledge to the demand of the countries engaged by the CWGC, and advise on the most effective ways of sharing it for impact. Task 1 Country Demand and Scoping At the start of the assignment, the WBG and theConsultant will consult WBG teams and country teams on the demands of thecountries engaged by the CWGC initial focus Kenya, Ethiopia, Brazil and Mongolia, so that what is curated is calibrated to country demand. All directengagement with country counterparts is led by the WBG country team. TheConsultant provides technical support, prepares materials and synthesizes findings,and does not engage country counterparts independently. Review existing CWGC work, WBG reports andoperational experience, and relevant external literature, to see what knowledgealready exists on Module 1 topics. Produce a Scoping Report that summarizes countrydemand, maps existing knowledge and gaps, and proposes the content of Module 1building on Table 2 for CWGC approval. Task 2 Knowledge Hub Architecture The Knowledge Hub Architectureis the blueprint for how the knowledge in the Knowledge Hub is organized,selected and described. It is designed once and applied to every module. Module1 is its first application, and later modules can be added without redesign.The Consultant will Structure. Define how the Hub is organized byecosystem module, pillar policy, finance, technology and thematic collection. Athematic collection is a curated group of existing materials and exp