USAID Higher Education Partnership for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure Activity (India)

Deadline: 3-Oct-23

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI), and USAID/India, is announcing the ‘Higher Education Partnership for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (HEP-DRI) Activity’ Addendum to the Higher Education for Leadership, Innovation, and Exchange (HELIX), a New Partnerships Initiative (NPI) Annual Program Statement (APS), hereafter known as the HELIX APS.

Through this ‘Higher Education Partnership for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (HEP-DRI) Activity’ Addendum, USAID/India aims to engage new, non-traditional, and local actors to expand and amplify the Agency’s work through and with higher education. NPI seeks to support partner countries to achieve sustainable and resilient results and catalyze more effective partnering for impact.

Purpose

The HEP-DRI Activity aims to utilize Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to enhance the systemic resilience of infrastructure against disaster and climate risks. This will be achieved by establishing a network of selected HEIs from the United States and India, working in collaboration with other stakeholders, to address gaps in infrastructure resilience education, training, and knowledge management.
The activity aims to strengthen the capacity of stakeholders and foster a higher education ecosystem focused on infrastructure resilience.

Objectives

Proposed interventions under this Activity should address the following four key objectives:
- Objective 1-Enhance the Technical Capacity and Integration of Infrastructure Resilience in HEIs’ Academic Curricula and Improve Pedagogical Approaches:
  - This objective of the activity will focus on the integration of infrastructure resilience into the academic curriculum of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and work to improve pedagogical approaches of relevant faculty members.
  - This should involve updating existing curricula at participating HEIs, developing new multidisciplinary curriculum, incorporating project-and work-based learning opportunities into the curricula, improving faculty pedagogical approaches to deliver the new and revised curricula, and incorporating these changes into academic offerings across the higher education system.
- Objective 2-Enhance Higher Education and Industry Collaboration for Disaster and Climate Resilience of Infrastructure Systems:
  - This objective will focus on the enhancing the collaboration between higher education, the private sector, and government to improve curricula and pedagogy in alignment with current labor market needs and in fostering collaborative research efforts.
  - Essential to the achievement of this objective will be engagement with relevant government actors to ensure the enabling policy environment for higher education and industry collaboration.
- Objective 3-Enhance Professional Development in Disaster Resilient Infrastructure:
  - This objective is focused on strengthening professional development in disaster resilient infrastructure through tailored continuing education and capacity-strengthening initiatives for working professionals across various infrastructure sectors.
  - This involves developing targeted continuing education modules and providing short-duration certification courses to enhance skills. Additionally, sector-specific professional development programs may be introduced for early and mid-career professionals, alongside leadership development programs for policy makers and senior executives.
- Objective 4-Enhance Knowledge Management in Disaster Resilient Infrastructure:
  - This objective is focused on improving knowledge management in the field of disaster resilient infrastructure by developing and supporting innovative knowledge products and solutions.

Outcomes

In partnership with higher education partners in the U.S. and regionally, these objectives are expected to help achieve the following outcomes of the HEP-DRI activity:
- Expansion of Academic Offerings: Increased availability and quality of academic programs and courses focused on infrastructure resilience in India, with the vision to create an adaptable and scalable model for the broader CDRI/IRAX community.
- Enhanced Organizational and Human Resource Capacity: Strengthened capabilities of infrastructure actors, including governments, public sector entities, private sector organizations, and development organizations and the people within these organizations in India and other CDRI member countries.
- Improved Curriculum and Pedagogy: Enhancement of the curriculum and pedagogical approaches in targeted Indian Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to align with the requirements of infrastructure resilience and the National Education Policy.
- University-Industry Collaboration: Strengthened collaborations between higher education institutions and industries in both India, the U.S., and other CDRI member countries to enhance the employability of students in infrastructure-related sectors.

Programmatic Focus

USAID/India anticipates that ultimately the HEP-DRI activity will contribute to USAID’s Mission and objectives through successful achievement of one or more of the following outcomes and focal areas as leverage points in higher education programming:
- Increase Capability, Contributions, and Quality of Individuals: Individuals, whether working infrastructure professionals, faculty members, researchers, students, or CDRI staff, can play important roles in strengthening resilience of infrastructure systems. Individuals that are within the infrastructure system are best placed to elevate solutions that can lead to infrastructure resilience. Individuals have the ability to act as leverage points for change within the organizations and systems that they are a part of, and can bring important connections, unique experiences, and a high degree of expertise to the work that they do related to infrastructure planning, designing and operations.
- Enhance Sustainable and Self-Reliant Institutions of Higher Education: Strategically, HEP-DRI activity outcomes will be best achieved within the India context by strengthening local ownership and fostering partnerships across organizations and sectors, in particular higher education institutions. USAID strongly encourages the CDRI-HEP recipients to partner with both Indian and U.S. higher education institutions, and non-HEI partners such as the private sector and to leverage external resources to promote infrastructure resilience and long-term development impacts. USAID also supports collaboration with other donors and multi-laterals, both local and international, to avoid duplication of effort and allow for more efficient, catalytic, and effective programming.
- Strengthen Higher Education Systems to Ensure Long-lasting Impact: Higher Education systems achieve sustainable outcomes through partnerships and leveraging of resources. Strategically, HEP-DRI outcomes will be best achieved by strengthening local ownership and fostering partnerships across organizations and sectors in India, within the Indo-Pacific, and globally. It is equally important to support an enabling environment (including, but not limited to: policy, private sector engagement, innovation, and environment) primed for integrating promising findings and solutions into the appropriate channels for successful uptake and sustainability.
- Advance the Higher Education Evidence Base for Learning: It is anticipated that HEP-DRI activities will contribute towards larger learning and building the evidence base concerning the role of higher education systems in strengthening infrastructure resilience and the role of higher education as a central actor in infrastructure resilience regardless of sector, in support of the Agency-wide Higher Education Learning Agenda, as well as specific learning priorities as identified in this Addendum. HEPDRI activities may use implementation research, cost capture and analysis, performance and impact evaluations, or a broad range of methods to contribute to building the evidence base and may also seek to utilize the higher education community to advance the evidence base for strengthening infrastructure resilience.

Funding Information

Subject to the availability of funds, USAID/India anticipates supporting one or more assistance awards (cooperative agreement) of up to US$5,000,000 of USAID funding in total over the life of the award(s).
The anticipated period of performance for the award made under the HEP-DRI Addendum to the HELIX APS is 5-years with an anticipated start date of January 1, 2024.

Geographic Focus

In their response to the solicitation, applicants should propose where their interventions will be implemented based on objectives and the programmatic focus mentioned above. The final selection of geographic locations will be at the co-design stage (Phase 2), in consultation with the USAID/India and CDRI.

Eligibility Criteria

U.S. and non-U.S. HEIs, private, for-profit, and non-profit organizations and non-governmental organizations are eligible to submit a concept note. Further, the organization must be a legally recognized organizational entity in the country where it operates.
USAID values the participation of the U.S. higher education community in this activity. U.S. Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are key partners for developing solutions to development challenges, by serving as intellectual hubs for knowledge, research support, and innovation.
Given the multi-faceted nature of the Activity, a consortium is welcome and encouraged, including partners with expertise in relevant programmatic areas, such as higher education, infrastructure resilience, climate change, engineering, and/or youth empowerment.
Eligibility for this addendum is not restricted. Please refer to the HELIX APS for additional information on eligibility requirements, including NPI requirements, for Addendum under the APS.
All eligible interested organizations are restricted to submitting only one Concept Note as the Prime Applicant. If more than one Concept Note is received with the same Prime Applicant, USAID will seek written clarification from the relevant entity regarding which Concept Note should be considered for review. If clarification is not resolved within five (5) business days, all Concept Notes submitted by the Applicant will be deemed ineligible.
Note: Please note that Applicants can serve as sub-awardees or supporting partners on multiple Concept Notes under an Addendum.

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