Call for Applications: USDA International Climate Hub Collaboration – US

The International Climate Hub is a year-old USDA initiative that builds on the model of USDA’s 10 regional climate hubs to translate climate science into action around the world. It supports domestic and international natural resource managers, country officials, researchers, students, and communities with three streams of work: scientific research and data synthesis; tools and resources; and training, outreach, and convening opportunities. These efforts are intended to lead to more climate-informed decision making, both at home and abroad. The International Climate Hub seeks to work closely with an institution with comparable goals to develop and execute initiatives where collaboration would yield stronger results than independent efforts.

This collaboration would involve climate-smart agriculture, forestry, and ranching initiatives with global interest and impact; mutually beneficial research and development of outputs such as resources, tools, trainings, and events on climate-smart topics that could result in practical and scalable application of that research to international users and audiences; and technical, programmatic, human capital, and administrative support for these endeavors.

Scope and Learning Objectives

• The goal of this Notice of Funding Opportunity is to research and develop tangible outputs that analyze, demonstrate or predict climate impacts on global working lands and build resilience through recommended adaptation strategies or that reduce greenhouse gas impacts through recommended mitigation strategies; to improve international climate literacy involving the agriculture, ranching and forestry sectors; and to improve International Climate Hub information and services, and other related topics as proposed.
• Applications must include the following elements:
  • Proposed research and outputs (e.g. summaries for non-technical audiences, decision support tools, trainings, supporting international symposiums, etc.) that would analyze, demonstrate, or predict specified climate impacts or challenges affecting international farmers, ranchers, and/or foresters and that would include localized or regionally appropriate adaptation strategies to increase resilience of those working lands to the specified climate impacts or that would seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through recommended mitigation strategies in these sectors, or other related research and outputs as proposed, to include the expected international impact from this research and outputs.
  • Proposed research and outputs (e.g. surveys, training modules, international events, tools, etc.) that would identify unfulfilled climate information needs of the International Climate Hub’s primary audiences (global farmers/ranchers/foresters, country officials, international youth and communities, researchers), that would identify the factors contributing to their decision making, and that would propose outputs to improve their climate literacy and climate-related decision making, to include the expected international impact from this research and outputs.
  • Provision of a climate scientific coordinator to provide overall coordination of this proposed research and outputs and to work closely with the International Climate Hub.

Funding Information

• Total Available Federal Funding: $575,590
• The initial funding amount will be $575,590. Subject to availability of funding, a cumulative total of $2,575,590, may be available throughout the period of performance of the award.
• Projected Period of Performance Start: September 15, 2024
• Projected Period of Performance End: September 14, 2027

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible Applicants: State cooperative institutions or other colleges and universities in the United States.
• All applicants must have an active registration in the U.S. Government System for Award Management before the application submission deadline of the announcement; applicants with inactive, expired, pending, or excluded listings will be deemed ineligible. Exceptions, waivers, or extensions will not be considered.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.