Strengthening the Public's and/or K-12 Students' Environmental Literacy for Community Resilience to Extreme Weather Events and Other Environmental Hazards

precipitation events, persistent drought, heat waves, increased global temperatures, acidification of the ocean, and sea level rise (Weather-ready Nation: NOAA’s National Weather Service Strategic Plan 2011; The Third National Climate Assessment, 2014). Preparing for and responding effectively to present and future environmental challenges enhances the resilience of communities. Projects should build the environmental literacy necessary for community resilience by focusing on geographic awareness and an understanding of Earth systems and the threats and vulnerabilities that are associated with a community’s location. In order for communities to become more resilient, their members must have the ability to reason about the ways that human and natural systems function and interact; to understand the scientific process and uncertainty; to reason about the ways that people and places are connected to each other across time and space; and to weigh the potential impacts of their decisions systematically. Projects will be based on the established scientific evidence about current and future natural hazards and stresses facing communities and consider socio-economic and ecological factors. Projects should also (1) leverage and incorporate relevant state and local hazard mitigation and/or adaptation plans and (2) collaborate with institutions that are involved in efforts to develop or implement those plans. Projects may focus on a single type of environmental hazard or a range of hazards that may impact a community or communities. NOAA will consider funding a wide range of project types, but all projects must actively engage participants in learning and addressing real-world issues. In addition, projects must utilize NOAA’s vast scientific data, data access tools, data visualizations, and/or other physical and intellectual assets available on these topics. In order to facilitate the use of NOAA’s assets, projects are strongly encouraged to partner with relevant NOAA entities (offices, programs, etc.) and/or NOAA employees and affiliates. NOAA's education website (www.education.noaa.gov) and an additional list of relevant assets (http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/grants/resilience_assets.html) provide links to NOAA datasets, potential NOAA partners, and other resilience-related assets from federal and non-federal organizations. Projects must be implemented within the United States and its territories. They may be implemented on local to regional scales. Project topics must relate to NOAA's mission in the areas of ocean, coastal, Great Lakes, weather, and climate sciences and stewardship and should focus on one or more of the goals of NOAA's Next Generation Strategic Plan (http://www.ppi.noaa.gov/goals/): healthy oceans; weather-ready nation; climate adaptation and mitigation; and resilient coastal communities and economies. Eligible applicants for this funding opportunity are limited to institutions of higher education; other nonprofits, including informal education institutions such as museums, zoos, and aquariums; K-12 public and independent schools and school systems; and state, local and Indian tribal governments in the United States. For-profit organizations, foreign institutions, and individuals are not eligible to apply. Proposed projects must be between 2 and 5 years in duration and have total federal requests of $250,000 to $500,000 for all years of the project. It is anticipated that awards funded under this announcement during this fiscal year will be made by September 30, 2016 and that the projects funded under this announcement will have a start date no earlier than October 1, 2016. Note: Links to helpful information for applying to this opportunity are available at http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/grants/elg.html#page=funding.