TERMS OF REFERENCE- Consultancy for Heat Subject-Matter Expert | Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Consultancy for Heat Subject-Matter Expert | Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City

1. Background

Youth Innovation Lab (YI-Lab) is a not-for-profit civic-tech organization that operates at the intersection of cutting-edge technology and its applications, empowering young professionals to tackle emerging challenges in our communities. YI-Lab's mission is to engage young people in bridging science to people and policy through innovation.

HeatAI (“Harnessing Equitable Actionable Technologies through Artificial Intelligence”) is one of YI-Lab's flagship initiatives, funded under a Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) grant and piloted in Nepalgunj Sub-Metropolitan City, one of Nepal's hottest urban centres, where temperatures regularly exceed 38°C and severe heat events disproportionately affect women, children, outdoor workers, and marginalised communities in informal settlements. HeatAI combines an AI-powered forecasting platform with a network of low-cost environmental sensors deployed in schools and community hotspots to deliver localised, actionable early warnings up to seven days ahead.

Alongside the technology, HeatAI embeds a Heatwave Resilience Fellow within the municipality to translate forecasts into coordinated local action and delivers community and school-based education so that residents, teachers, and students can understand and act on the warnings they receive. The education component is where this assignment sits, developing heatwave learning content for Shikshya.org, YI-Lab's open-access e-learning platform, and supporting the accompanying Heatwave Toolkit used to train municipal officials and teachers.

As part of the project's education component, five bilingual (Nepali/Awadhi) heatwave education modules are being developed for deployment on Shikshya.org. In parallel, the project's Heatwave Toolkit, used to train municipal officials and teachers, also requires subject-matter expert input.

2. Purpose of the Assignment

The project needs a consultant who can write accurate, engaging module content, contribute technical expertise to the Toolkit, and support storyboarding for accompanying video content combining heat subject-matter expertise directly into content development. The selected consultant will:

• Write and develop instructionally sound, technically accurate content for all five Shikshya.org heatwave education modules.
• Provide subject matter expertise in the development of the HeatAI Heatwave Toolkit.
• Support storyboarding and shot-list development for the video content accompanying the Shikshya.org modules.

The assignment is focused primarily on high-quality, technically accurate content development. Instructional design and platform integration will be handled by YI-Lab.

3. Objectives

• Write and develop the content for all five Shikshya.org heatwave education modules, ensuring both instructional quality and technical/scientific accuracy.
• Provide subject-matter expertise to the development of the HeatAI Heatwave Toolkit.
• Support storyboarding/shot-list development for the video content that will accompany the Shikshya.org modules.

4. Scope of the Work

a. Module Content Development

• Develop all five heatwave education modules: What Is a Heatwave?, How Heat Affects Our Bodies, Protecting Yourself, Your Family, and Your School (protective actions/first aid), Early Warnings: Understanding Forecasts and HeatAI, and Heat-Resilient Communities.
• Write full scripts and storyboards for each module, ensuring content is technically accurate on heat-health impacts, protective/first-aid guidance, and correct explanation of HeatAI's 7-day forecasts and DHM heatwave thresholds for a school-age audience.
• Define learning objectives, scenario-based quizzes, and classroom/home activities per module.
• Draft teacher facilitation notes for each module.
• Write content with Awadhi voiceover in mind (in addition to Nepali) for low-literacy households  short sentences, minimal reliance on on-screen text.
• Deliver modules one at a time rather than as a single batch, so voiceover/production/QA can begin each as soon as it's ready.

b. HeatAI Toolkit Support

• Provide subject-matter input and technical review on the Heatwave Toolkit content used for municipal official and teacher training.
• Ensure consistency between the technical content used in the Shikshya.org modules and the Heatwave Toolkit.

c. Video Storyboarding Support

• Develop storyboards and shot lists for each module's accompanying video/animated content.
• Review the produced video content for technical accuracy before finalization.

5. Key Deliverables

The consultant will submit the following deliverables:

6. Required Qualifications and Experience

Applications are open to individual consultants. Applicants should have:

• Background in Public Health, Occupational/Environmental Health, Climate Health, Cimate Change, Environmental Science (heat-health specifically preferred).
• Experience writing e-learning or school-based curriculum content, ideally in Nepal or South Asia.
• Comfort communicating technical content to non-specialist and school-age audiences, in writing.
• Familiarity with bilingual/multilingual content design for low-literacy audiences.
• Experience with training/toolkit content for government or municipal audiences is an asset.
• Nepali (and ideally some Awadhi) language ability is an advantage.

7. Application Requirements

Applicants must submit both a Technical Proposal and a Financial Proposal, using the templates provided in Annex 1 and Annex 2. Technical and Financial Proposals must be submitted as separate documents; no financial information should be included in the Technical Proposal.

Technical Proposal should include:

• Introduction, including background in public health, heat-health, environmental/occupational health, climate change, or related fields, and experience developing e-learning or school-based curriculum content
• Understanding of the assignment
• Relevant experience in e-learning, curriculum, public health communication, or training/toolkit content development
• Portfolio or evidence of previous work (writing samples, published modules, curricula, or toolkit content)
• Proposed methodology for content development, covering module content, Heatwave Toolkit input, and video storyboarding support
• Confirmation of understanding of the key deliverables and their formats
• Quality assurance approach for verifying technical/scientific accuracy
• Work plan and timeframe covering all five modules, Toolkit input, and storyboards.
• Completed documents checklist and signed declaration

Financial Proposal:

• Consultant's contact and registration details (PAN number and VAT status, if applicable)
• A detailed budget covering all applicable line items -content development fee, Heatwave Toolkit input, video storyboarding support, professional/consultancy fee (if billed on a per-day basis), and communication/incidental costs with quantity, frequency, and rate shown for each.
• Total cost, VAT (13%, where applicable), and grand total, with the amount also written in words
• Signed declaration (name, signature, date)

8. Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated based on both technical and financial proposals.

Only applications scoring at least 60% in the technical evaluation will be considered for financial evaluation

9. Payment Schedule

The final payment schedule will be agreed upon during contract negotiation. A preliminary schedule of payments is as follows:

Payments will be processed as per YI-Lab's finance and procurement procedures, upon submission of required invoices and supporting documentation.

10. Reporting and Supervision

The consultant will report to YI-Lab's Project Coordinator, who will monitor and review progress and quality of work. In turn, YI-Lab will:

• Provide the existing needs assessment findings as a starting reference.
• Provide timely review and feedback on each module, toolkit input, and storyboard as it is submitted.
• Share the current draft of the Heatwave Toolkit for review.
• Share produced video content with the consultant for a technical accuracy review.

11. Submission Procedure

Interested consultants are requested to submit their physical copies of Technical and Financial Proposals, along with required documents, to YI-Lab by 5:30 PM, 11 August 2026.

For queries, write to YI-Lab at: procurement@youthinnovationlab.org

12. Deadline

Applications received after the deadline may not be considered.

13. Confidentiality / Non-Disclosure

The consultant will not disclose any information and materials shared between YI-Lab and the consultant, or any other information known as a result of this assignment, without the prior written consent of YI-Lab. A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) is to be signed with YI-Lab regarding the confidentiality of all data pertaining to YI-Lab and YI-Lab-related stakeholders. Any breach of this clause will be dealt with as per YI-Lab's rules and policies.

14. Intellectual Property, Copyrights, and Ownership

All materials produced or acquired under the terms of this consultancy shall remain the property of the Project, and the website shall be hosted on Youth Innovation Lab's server. The project therefore retains the exclusive right to publish or disseminate the reports arising from such materials. The consultant shall not use or reproduce any materials or software developed for the Project without the prior written approval of YI-Lab. Any breach of this clause will be dealt with as per YI-Lab's rules and policies.

15. Right to Accept or Reject Applications

YI-Lab reserves the right to accept or reject any or all proposals, request clarification, negotiate with selected applicants, or cancel the procurement process without providing reasons. Submission of a proposal does not guarantee selection or contract award.

16. Annexes:

• Annex 1: Technical Proposal Template
• Annex 2: Financial Proposal Template