Funding abounds this week for organizations who are involved in the Arts and Humanities. Between the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities, there are four new grant opportunities one of which is highlighted below. A Federal Funding Opportunity has become available to support the education of K-12 students and the public so they are knowledgeable of the ways in which their community can become more resilient to extreme weather events and/or other environmental hazards. The Millennium Challenge Corporation has publicized its Annual Program Statement for opportunities to support its mission of poverty reduction through growth.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Grant Title: Media Projects Grants
Grant Info: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=298572
Details: The Media Projects program supports film, television, and radio projects that engage public audiences with humanities ideas in creative and appealing ways. All projects must be grounded in humanities scholarship in disciplines such as history, art history, film studies, literature, drama, religious studies, philosophy, or anthropology. Projects must also demonstrate an approach that is thoughtful, balanced, and analytical (rather than celebratory). The approach to the subject matter must go beyond the mere presentation of factual information to explore its larger significance and stimulate critical thinking. NEH is a national funding agency, so the projects that we support must demonstrate the potential to attract a broad general audience. Film and television projects may be single programs or a series addressing significant figures, events, or ideas. Programs must be intended for national distribution, via traditional carriage or online distribution. The Division of Public Programs welcomes projects that range in length from short-form to broadcast-length video. The Division of Public Programs also encourages film and television projects that examine international themes and subjects in the humanities, in order to spark Americans’ engagement with the broader world beyond the United States. These projects should demonstrate international collaboration by enlisting scholars based both in the United States and abroad, and/or by working with an international media team. The collaborations should bring broad cross-cultural perspectives to the proposed topics and should be intended primarily for U.S. public audiences. Radio projects, including podcasts, may involve single programs, limited series, or segments within an ongoing program. They may also develop new humanities content to augment existing radio programming or add greater historical background or humanities analysis to the subjects of existing programs. They may be intended for regional or national distribution. NEH encourages projects that engage public audiences through multiple formats in the exploration of humanities ideas. Proposed projects might include complementary components to a film, television, or radio project. These components should deepen the audience’s understanding of the subject in a supplementary manner: for example, book/film discussion programs, supplementary educational websites, or museum exhibitions. Development grants enable media producers to collaborate with scholars to develop humanities content and to prepare programs for production. Grants should result in a script (for a film or television project) or a detailed treatment (for a radio or podcast project) and may also yield a plan for outreach and public engagement. Production grants support the production and distribution of films, television programs, and radio programs or podcasts that promise to engage a broad public audience.
Department of Commerce
Grant Title: Environmental Literacy Grants: Supporting the education of K-12 students and the public for community resilience
Grant Info: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=298495
Details: The goal of this Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO) is to support the education of K-12 students and the public so they are knowledgeable of the ways in which their community can become more resilient to extreme weather events and/or other environmental hazards, and become involved in achieving that resilience. Many U.S. communities are increasingly contending with issues related to preventing, withstanding, and recovering from disruptions caused by extreme weather and other environmental hazards (U.S. Department of Commerce FY2014-FY2018 Strategic Plan). These hazards include but are not limited to severe storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, flooding, heavy precipitation events, persistent drought, heat waves, increased global temperatures, acidification of the ocean, and sea level rise (Weather-ready Nation: NOAA’s National Weather Service Strategic Plan 2011; Melillo et al., 2014). These extreme weather and climate events put stress on infrastructure, ecological systems, and the humans that live in the impacted places. U.S. communities can become more resilient to such events by exploring the hazards they face, assessing their specific vulnerabilities and risks, considering options, prioritizing and planning, and finally taking action (U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit). This process is typically performed by scientists and municipal planners, but in order for resilience to occur, other members of a community must have some understanding of the hazards they face and how to mitigate them, both at the individual and the community level. Education projects focused on resilience enable and empower community members, including children and youth, to protect themselves and their communities from these hazards. Projects should build the environmental literacy necessary for communities to become more resilient to extreme weather and other environmental hazards they face. In order for communities to become more resilient, their members must have the ability to reason about the ways that human and natural systems function and interact; to understand the scientific process and uncertainty; to reason about the ways that people and places are connected to each other across time and space; and to weigh the potential impacts of their decisions systematically. Projects should leverage and incorporate relevant state and local hazard mitigation and/or adaptation plans and collaborate with institutions that are involved in efforts to develop or implement those plans. Projects may focus on a single type of environmental hazard or a range of hazards that may impact a community or communities. Projects will be based on the established scientific evidence about current and future natural hazards and stresses facing communities and should consider relevant socio-economic and ecological factors in the targeted geographic area(s). Projects should engage participants in active learning activities. In addition, projects must utilize NOAA’s scientific data, data access tools, data visualizations, and/or other physical and intellectual assets available on these topics. In order to facilitate the use of NOAA’s assets, projects are strongly encouraged to partner with relevant NOAA entities (offices, programs, etc.) and/or NOAA employees and affiliates. Applicants are also strongly encouraged to review the resilience education projects funded by this program since 2015 and proposed projects should be informed by the lessons learned by these current grantees. Projects must be implemented within the United States and its territories. Projects will likely be implemented at the local level, but may occur in more than one locality. Project topics must relate to NOAA's mission in the areas of ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather, and climate sciences and stewardship and should focus on one or more of the goals of NOAA's Next Generation Strategic Plan: healthy oceans; weather-ready nation; climate adaptation and mitigation; and resilient coastal communities and economies. Eligible applicants for this funding opportunity are limited to institutions of higher education; other nonprofits, including informal education institutions such as museums, zoos, and aquariums; K-12 public and independent schools and school systems; and state, local and Indian tribal governments in the United States. Federal agencies, for-profit organizations, foreign institutions, and individuals are not eligible to apply. Proposed projects must be between 2 and 5 years in duration and have total federal requests of $250,000 to $500,000 for all years of the project. It is anticipated that awards funded under this announcement during this fiscal year will be made by September 30, 2018 and that the projects funded under this announcement will have a start date no earlier than October 1, 2018. Note: Links to helpful information for applying to this opportunity are available at http://www.noaa.gov/office-education/elp/grants/apply.
Millennium Challenge Corporation
Grant Title: NOFO Annual Program Statement (APS) PARTNERSHIPS with MCC Program
Grant Info: http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=298597
Details: The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is pleased to launch this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) Annual Program Statement (APS) for opportunities to support MCC in achieving our mission of poverty reduction through growth. Specifically, this NOFO is reaching out to organizations with demonstrated interest, relevant experience, creativity and know-how to participate in Partnerships with MCC to achieve specific outcomes and optimize impact of our investments. MCC defines “Partnership” as a collaborative relationship between two or more entities -- governmental or nongovernmental -- in which the partners work together to achieve a common purpose or undertake a specific task and to share risks, responsibilities, resources, competencies, and benefits. The partners mutually determine the goals, structure, governance, roles, and responsibilities of their collaboration. This APS is aimed at fostering extensive collaboration and partnerships with external organizations, including but not limited to businesses, foundations, academic institutions, think tanks, and non-governmental organizations, to achieve a greater development impact. Through the APS, MCC aims to foster proactive collaboration and engagement among MCC and the partner(s) around specific areas for collaboration, co-financing, catalytic investment, and innovation that advance MCC’s mission. By partnering with other entities in the public, private, and civil sectors, MCC and its country counterparts can increase the scale, impact, and sustainability of MCC compact and threshold program investments.