Deadline: 16-Jun-21
The Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs’ (OES) Office of Environmental Quality (ENV) at the U.S. Department of State (DOS), has announced this Notice of Funding Opportunity (“NOFO”) for the project “Air Quality Management Community of Practice in Southern Africa”.
Goals: The overarching goal of this funding opportunity is to strengthen capacity and regional cooperation on air quality monitoring and management in Southern Africa. The project funded through this award will build on the foundation of the Lusaka Agreement by building a regional community of practice to convene air quality experts, decision-makers, community groups, the private sector, and other air quality practitioners and stakeholders.
The community will create knowledge and develop best practices to:
- improve air quality monitoring, modeling, forecasting, and data management;
- expand awareness and understanding of air quality issues; and
- develop and implement air quality management frameworks and clean air solutions across regional, national, and sub-national levels.
Objectives
Objectives for this project are:
- Objective 1: Build a community of practice to advance action and address gaps on air pollution in the region. The community would: connect relevant air quality experts, practitioners, and stakeholders across sectors to each other and to resources; facilitate their regular interactions; and provide structures and activities to enable collective learning, relationship building, and problem solving.
- Objective 2: Strengthen air quality monitoring, data management, and applications development (e.g. modeling, forecasting, communications, and other tools to support decision-making) in at least two countries eligible for funding.
- Objective 3: Develop, support, and implement air quality management frameworks and clean air solutions (e.g., air quality management plans and regulatory structures) across scales (i.e., regional, national, and sub-national levels), including raising public awareness to improve accountability.
Funding Information
- Funding Amount: $440,440 USD
- Number of Awards: 1
- Award Date: September 2021
- Project Completion Date: September 2024
Main Activities
To achieve the objectives and expected results, the funded project could include activities such as those listed below. Organizations should strive for gender balance and inclusion where applicable. Organizations should also consider using U.S. environmental technologies.
- Design and delivery of information, education, and training to expand awareness and understanding of air quality issues among practitioners, decision-makers, and the public (e.g., through communication materials, online and mobile data platforms, tools, and campaigns, as well as through curricula, training/certification programs, etc.).
- Development, adoption, and implementation of management approaches at local, national and regional scales (e.g., toolkits, action/management plans, regulatory and enforcement frameworks, etc.)
- Design and implementation of community structures that allow air quality practitioners and stakeholders across the region to connect and interact regularly with each other. Within these structures, development of mechanisms for knowledge creation and development of best practices (e.g., through meetings, workshops, trainings, etc.).
- Design and deployment of low-cost sensor networks, and other activities to enhance data coverage, accuracy, precision (e.g. co-location with reference-grade monitors, sensor intercomparisons, integration with satellite data, integration into global data repositories, as well as training for local staff in proper deployment, calibration, operation and maintenance of sensor networks).
- Development and implementation of systems for data management, analysis, and interpretation, and other activities to facilitate the transformation of data into useful information (e.g., data storage, data quality control and assurance, visualizations, models, etc.).
- Development of knowledge and tools to support decision-making (e.g., forecasts, early warning ystems, emissions inventories, source apportionment, impacts estimates, etc.).
Eligible Countries
Countries that may be eligible for finding under this award include: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini (Swaziland), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligibility is limited to U.S. non-profit/nongovernmental organizations subject to section 501 (c) (3) of the U. S. tax code, foreign not-for-profit/nongovernmental organizations, U.S. and foreign educational institutions, and public international organizations.
- Technically eligible submissions are those which: 1) arrive electronically to the given website by the designated deadline; 2) have heeded all instructions contained in the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), including registrations, length and completeness of submission; and 3) do not violate any of the guidelines stated in the solicitation and this document.
For more information, visit https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=332751