Deadline: 11-Oct-23
The Public Diplomacy Section of the U.S. Embassy in Madrid and U.S. Consulate General in Barcelona (known collectively as PD Spain) of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit proposals to design, manage, and implement “Defensa y Yo 4.0,” a program promoting security and defense issues among Spanish public university students.
Program Components
- The program includes three elements:
- Lectures by U.S. experts in select Spanish public universities on a variety of topics related to security and defense.
- Attendees can then participate in a competition where they submit a project on one of the topics covered in the lecture series.
- A winner is selected from each university, with winning students traveling to Brussels to visit NATO headquarters and other security and defense institutions.
- For this fourth edition of the Defensa y Yo program, Mission Spain welcomes creative proposals to continue the program in sixteen selected universities, strengthen the relationships with both the university administrators and professors, and engage the network of participants from the three previous editions.
- The specific objectives for the program are:
- Objective 1: Spanish public university students gain knowledge and tools to discuss and share accurate information on security and defense issues with their peers and become better informed future leaders.
- Objective 2: Strong relationships are formed with both the university administrators and professors.
- Objective 3: Mentorship relationships are formed between participating students of all four editions of DyY and the alumni association GeoSeDe.
Funding Information
- Length of performance period: Approximately 11 months
- Award amount: up to $90,000
- Anticipated program start date: January 2024
- Program Performance Period: Proposed program should be completed before the end of November 2024.
Responsibilities
- The applicants of this NOFO (Notice of Funding Opportunity) must:
- Develop and implement a program consisting of a series of lectures (in-person or virtual, when necessary) on security and defense themes featuring a U.S. expert (i.e. representatives from academia, civil society, international organizations, think tanks, U.S. government, etc.). These lectures will take place at sixteen selected Spanish public universities – one session per university from February 2024 to May 2024. Ideally, the grantee will invite a total of four speakers, one per month. Each speaker would reach four of the participating universities during the course of one week. These U.S. speakers will be selected by the grantee in collaboration with PD Spain.
- Create program guidelines and other relevant materials for professors of the participating Defensa y Yo universities.
- Conduct a formal registration of all attendees of the Defensa y Yo sessions at the sixteen participating universities. Design and conduct qualitative and quantitative research pre and post program via survey, focus groups, etc. to measure the program’s effect on the participants as well as general trends, mindsets, and knowledge of the target audience on security and defense issues.
- Design, launch, and support a mobile-friendly program website to convey program information and highlights with featured editorial space on the grantee’s website.
- Develop and implement a media and social media plan, with a specific emphasis on promoting the program and highlighting program impact in the sixteen universities. The press and social media campaign should be coordinated with the communications departments of the participating universities and PD Spain.
- Develop a competition for lecture attendees (students) that identifies the best project per University around a chosen theme related to security and defense issues. Pieces should be submitted by the student participants of the Defensa y Yo program who have registered and attended the Defensa y Yo sessions;
- Develop a transparent review process that involves PD Spain to evaluate competition applicants (one selected candidate from each one of the participating universities) for the exchange program in Brussels.
Participants and Audiences
- Project should involve at least 500 Spanish public university undergraduate students (18-25) enrolled in International Relations, Law, Journalism, and Business Administration programs at sixteen universities, and a network of professors of all sixteen selected universities.
Priority Region: Spain
Eligibility Criteria
- The following organizations are eligible to apply:
- Not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations
- Public and private educational institutions
- Public International Organizations and Governmental institutions
For more information, visit U.S. Embassy & Consulate in Spain and Andorra.