RFPs: The United States-Brazil Climate/Inclusive Education Grant Competition

This 100K Strong U.S.-Brazil CLIMA/IE competition supports the Department of State’s priorities to ensure a greener, more inclusive, democratic, prosperous, and climate-resilient Hemisphere via regional education cooperation and exchanges.

The 100K Strong CLIMA/IE initiatives will catalyze regional higher education collaboration on climate action and increase access to inclusive exchange opportunities that will equip students with workforce skills to lead in a climate-positive, 21st century regional economy. The goals of the 100K Strong CLIMA/IE initiatives include the following:

• Expand access to innovative, climate-focused, inclusive exchange and training programs for students in fields such as climate resilience, renewable energy, green economy, and other related thematic areas.
• Stimulate inter-regional partnerships to expand climate-action and inclusive education opportunities.
• Support inclusive climate action projects (CAPs) led by higher education institutions (HEIs) in the Western Hemisphere.

Thematic Areas

• HEIs are invited to work together in teams to design and carry-out proposed innovative, inclusive student/faculty exchange and training programs in various academic disciplines related to climate action. Eligible thematic and academic areas include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Environment and Climate Solutions 
    • Biodiversity Protection
    • Bio-economy and Sustainable Value Chains
    • Carbon Capture and Storage (CSS)
    • Climate Justice
    • Climate Technology
    • Community Conservation Practices
    • Conservation and Reforestation
    • Decarbonization
    • Digital and Sustainable Industrial Production Chains
    • Endangered/Threatened Species Management and Protection
    • Environmental Protection
    • Green/Climate Finance
    • Renewable Energy
      • Renewable Energy Engineering
      • Clean Energy Technologies in Production Processes
      • Energy Economics
      • Solar/Wind/Hydro/Thermal Power Generation and Strategies
      • Power Storage
      • Energy Efficiency
      • Energy transition and security
      • Sustainable Business
      • Technical Skills for the Renewable Energy Workforce
      • “Last Mile” Electrification with Renewables
      • Other topics related to renewable energy
    • Natural Resource Management
    • Protection and Restoration of Oceans and Corals
    • Public Health and Climate
    • STEM for Climate Purposes
    • Sustainable Design, Architecture, and Construction
    • Sustainable Land Use
    • Sustainable/Regenerative Agriculture and Food Security
    • Sustainable/Electric Transportation
    • Water Protection and Restoration
  • Inclusive Education 
    • Professional Training
    • Adaptive Learning
    • Inclusive TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) Technologies
    • Information Technology as a Tool for Inclusion
    • Artificial Intelligence in Inclusive Education

Program Components 

• The purpose of this 100K Strong CLIMA/IE competition is to provide funds to support innovative partnerships between HEIs that will result in (1) inclusive education solutions, participant exchange and training programs, and (2) climate action projects (CAPs) that contribute to climateaction solutions between the U.S. and Brazil.
  • Participant Exchanges
    • Proposals must describe how the participating HEIs will use the grant resources to create and implement new inclusive exchange and training programs between the U.S. and Brazil in climate-related fields of study.
  • Climate Action Projects (CAPs)
    • Proposals must describe how HEIs will take action through climate action projects (CAPs). Faculty and students must be included as participants in proposed CAPs, and grant proposals must show how faculty and students will work in teams to expand their knowledge, skills and/or capacity through their participation in the CAPs. This should be demonstrated in the description of the intended results and in the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework.
  • Other Requirements
    • Proposed programs must promote exchange and training programs – using both virtual and in-person modalities – for students in one or more of the above themes and
    • incorporate one of the following programmatic elements:
      • Development of innovative products and services for the industrial sector; and/or
      • Innovative educational solutions (e.g., methodologies, teaching resources, programs, etc.) to meet issues related to the agenda of the Future of Work, as
      • described in the World Economic Forum’s 2020 publication, “Jobs of Tomorrow: Mapping Opportunity in the New Economy.”
    • Proposals involving a SENAI Innovation Institute must involve applied research actions for technological innovation aimed at the industrial sector.
    • Proposals should include an approach for inclusive education within project development. Proposals may use the SENAI Inclusive Actions Program (PSAI) as a guideline.
    • Special consideration will be given to proposals that include programming to:
      • Incorporate entrepreneurship skills and training;
      • Promote women in science careers; and/or
      • Include the field of mobility, and industry 4.0.

Funding Information

• The intent of the 2024 Bicentennial 100K Strong U.S.-Brazil CLIMA/IE grant competition is to award up to seven (7) grants of up to $40,000 each to teams of institutions in the U.S. and Brazil. Partners of the Americas, in coordination with the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Mission-Brazil, and SENAI, reserve the right to fund any or none of the grant proposals submitted for consideration in this competition.
• Duration
  • The grant period will be from January 1, 2025 – January 31, 2026. Extensions may be granted pending analysis of the program at the time of the request, and in coordination with POA, WHA/DOS, the U.S.-Mission-Brazil, and SENAI.

Expected Results

• Applicants that are successful in implementing grants in this 100K Strong U.S.-Brazil CLIMA/IE competition will accomplish the following:
  • Create/strengthen institutional partnerships and expand regional cooperation through bilateral exchange programs and collaboration on climate action;
  • Implement new, inclusive education solutions and climate-focused exchange/training opportunities for program participants;
  • Design and implement strategic, inclusive education solutions and climate action projects that fall within one or more of the thematic areas described above;
  • Increase number and diversity of students and researchers that gain technical skills;
  • Involve faculty, students, and researchers as key actors in CAPs and expand their knowledge, skills and/or capacity through their participation;
  • Produce a final document of the CAP project with recommendations for sustainability of the 100K Strong CLIMA/IE project;
  • Evaluate and report on project outcomes as they relate to impact on students, researchers, faculty, and institutions; and
  • Engage/collaborate with the 100K Strong program during and after the grant period to share lessons learned, participant outcomes, and models of multilateral training programs.

Project Design and Requirements 

• Academic Credit
  • Students that participate in the proposed programs must receive some level of academic credit from their home institution that counts toward their studies during, or as a result of, the proposed program. Note that this requirement does not apply to researchers from SENAI institutions.
• Recruitment of Diverse Students
  • Potential teams of HEIs are strongly encouraged to submit proposals that will clearly demonstrate how proposed 100K programming will include and benefit students from diverse social, racial, and non-traditional communities. Teams of HEI applicants need to show that they have identified student populations within proposed partner institution(s) that might not have access to regional exchange education opportunities and outline how the proposed 100K exchange programming will expand access and participation for underrepresented student populations.
• Participant Mobility and Activities
  • Proposed programs should include student/researcher mobility between the U.S. and Brazil. Proposals should include both virtual and in-person programming activities between partnering institutions. Virtual activities should enhance or complement, not replace, inperson training and exchange components. Consider practices and strategies to using technology/virtual platforms to enhance traditional academic exchange programs and improve education equality, such as the incorporation of Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL).
• Sustainability
  • Applicants should highlight how the 100K Strong grant would impact HEI teams’ ability to secure additional in-kind and/or other resources to expand the 100K Strong proposed activities beyond the grant period. Proposals must clearly demonstrate the institutional support from all partnering institutionsinvolved – as well as from any proposed local organizations – through letters of support (required) from senior leadership and/or the international office and contribution to the program in the form of cost-share (cash or in-kind).
• Effective Practices & Strategies to Exchanges
  • 100K Strong grant proposals should include the use of innovative practices and models that will increase exchange and training opportunities for students and researchers in selected academic areas in the United States and Brazil.
  • Applicants should also include proposed program activities that enhance academic learning, for example, through practical training, service-learning, community-based activities, or other methods.
• Carbon Offsets
  • It is encouraged, but not required, that applicants commit to offsetting carbon1 emissions produced by air travel involved in proposed programming and use reputable providers of carbon offset services. MyClimate is one provider of carbon offsets which makes it very easy to determine the carbon cost of any given flight and offers a number of options to invest in carbon savings in communities in the western hemisphere. Proposals that contain a commitment to offset the carbon produced by flights during the program will be viewed favorably in the review process.

Innovation Fund Award Responsibilities 

• 100K Strong Staff at Partners of the Americas
  • Partners of the Americas, based in Washington, D.C., will work in close coordination with 100K Strong grant award Recipients in the following areas:
  • Technical support of grant activities and oversight of award contract/terms;
  • Coordination of virtual 100K Strong program orientation and conclusion sessions for all participants;
  • Review of the recipient’s progress reports;
• HEI Award Recipients
  • Support POA coordination with participants to ensure participation in virtual 100K Strong program orientation and conclusion sessions;
  • Share information on a regular basis with 100K Strong staff on program activities through report mechanisms provided by POA, which will include:
  • Progress on program goals and objectives, including the development of grant activities, participant travel, and climate action projects;

Eligibility Criteria

• 100K Strong seeks a diversity of institutions to compete for grants and to create and carry-out innovative, inclusive, sustainable exchange programs for students and faculty that will have the greatest possibility of replication throughout the United States and rest of the Western Hemisphere. As such, the following types of higher education institutions (HEIs) are eligible to apply for the 100K Strong United States-Brazil CLIMA/IE Grant Competition.
• Mandatory:
  • Proposals must include a team of at least one eligible institution from each category below:
  • HEIs in the United States: HEIs located and legally registered in the U.S., including fouryear degree-issuing institutions (public and private), with special emphasis on Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and other minority-serving institutions (MSIs); community colleges; and other post-secondary institutions with credit-bearing programs.
  • Eligible institutions in Brazil: SENAI Innovation Institutes (Institutos SENAI de Inovação) and SENAI Higher Education Schools (Escolas de Ensino Superior do SENAI).
• Recommended additional Brazilian Institution as a 3rd Partner:
  • Proposals may also present a tripartite alliance between a (1) U.S. HEI, a (2) SENAI Innovation Institute or Higher Education School, and a (3) Brazilian post-secondary institution located and legally registered, including:
  • Private and public universities (universidades privadas e públicas de todos as esferas da federação – estaduais/federais),
  • Federal institutes/centers for technological education (Institutos Federais de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia – IFETs e Centros Federais de Educação Tecnológica – CEFETs),
  • Professional technical institutes (institutos técnico-profissional),
  • Research centers (centros de pesquisa), and
  • Other post-secondary institutions.

For more information, visit 100,000 Strong in the Americas.