Introduction: Apply for Environmental Education Local Grants Program for Region 6 (US), The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is championing environmental education within Region 6 through its newly launched Environmental Education Local Grants Program. This initiative is dedicated to empowering local communities, fostering environmental stewardship, and cultivating a generation of informed and responsible individuals, including students, educators, and community members.

Under this grant program, we are committed to providing crucial financial support to projects that not only conceive but also actively demonstrate and disseminate effective environmental education practices. These practices encompass innovative methods and techniques aimed at elevating public awareness and understanding of local environmental issues. Furthermore, they equip participants with the essential skills needed to make informed decisions and take responsible actions for the benefit of our environment.

Our mission is to offer financial backing to projects that foster environmental stewardship and nurture knowledgeable, informed, and responsible individuals within the communities they serve. The focus is firmly on empowering communities in Region 6 to become proactive environmental champions, ensuring a brighter and more sustainable future for us all.

Environmental Education Local Grants Program for Region 6 (US) Goals and Objectives

Goal 1: Tackle the Climate Crisis

• Objective 1.2: Accelerate Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Change Impacts

Goal 2: Take Decisive Action to Advance Environmental Justice and Civil Rights

• Objective 2.1: Promote Environmental Justice and Civil Rights at the Federal, Tribal, State, and Local Levels

Goal 5: Ensure Clean and Safe Water for All Communities

• Objective 5.2: Protect and Restore Water bodies and Watersheds

Cross-Agency Strategy 4: Strengthen Tribal, State, and Local Partnerships and Enhance Engagement

• Action:Promoting Environmental Education

Environmental Education Local Grants Program for Region 6 (US) Educational and Environmental Priorities

EPA’s Educational Priorities

Applications must address at least one of these Educational Priorities to be considered eligible.

• Community Projects

• Increasing public understanding of the benefits of and participation in environmental stewardship through community collaboration on issues including, but not limited to climate change, water and soil quality, food waste management, management of ecosystem health and/or local fire or flood prevention.
• Projects can take place in rural, suburban, and urban settings, in a formal or non-formal educational context, and use outdoor, place-based, experiential, service learning and/or community-focused stewardship activities as the primary teaching tool(s).

• Career Development

• Educating students of any age group and/or training their educators or community leaders on how to teach, in formal and non-formal settings, about environmental issues, solutions and stewardship for the purpose of encouraging interest in gratifying careers in one of the environmental fields.
• These fields include, but are not limited to natural resource conservation and/or management, climate change, water infrastructure, and water and air quality management.

• Environmental Education Capacity Building

• Building the capacity of agencies and organizations to develop, deliver, and sustain comprehensive environmental education programs. Capacity building proposals may focus on one state, multiple states, or a region of the country.

• Environmental Justice

• For purposes of this solicitation, Environmental Justice (EJ) refers to activities increasing public awareness and knowledge that disproportionate and adverse environmental, human health, climate-related and other cumulative impacts are more likely to affect or have affected underserved communities.
• By learning about environmental justice and local environmental issues, program participants will enhance their ability to be meaningfully involved in future EJ discussions that affect their local environments.

• Indigenous Knowledge

• Educating project participants on the importance of recognizing, understanding, supporting, and incorporating Indigenous Knowledge into strategies aimed at solving local environmental issues.
• By enriching environmental education with diverse perspectives and cultivating deep respect for the environment and Indigenous Knowledge holders’ relationship to it, program participants will value both cultural diversity and environmental stewardship.

EPA’s Environmental Priorities

Addressing Climate Change and Improving Air Quality

• These efforts help protect the health of all Americans and the ecosystems they depend on by preventing pollution, increasing energy efficiency, improving indoor and outdoor air quality, reducing industrial air pollution and pollution from vehicles and engines, protecting the stratospheric ozone layer, reducing acid rain, and addressing climate change.

• Sample Topics

• Educate students and community members about the impacts of climate change and explore local adaptation strategies that reduce vulnerability to the harmful impacts of climate change in schools, homes, and underserved communities.
• Educate students and community members about the impacts of climate change and explore local mitigation strategies and/or strategies that incorporate indigenous knowledge to reduce the flow of heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, especially in underserved communities where the adverse impacts of climate change are often disproportionately felt.

• Ensuring Clean and Safe Water

• These efforts help ensure that drinking water is clean and safe for all communities. They also contribute to the restoration and maintenance of oceans, watersheds, and their aquatic ecosystems to protect human health, support economic and recreational activities, and provide healthy habitats for wildlife and plants.

• Sample Topics

• Prevent future water quality and human health issues through appropriate communications about the risks of poor water quality in local area(s), especially in communities with existing water quality issues.
• Participate in the conservation of quality water resources; e.g., educating school-age children, their parents, and the community about water conservation through the establishment and maintenance of school or community gardens or the removal of invasive plant species and/or planting of native gardens.

• Cleaning Up the Communities by Revitalizing Land and Preventing Contamination

• These efforts provide guidelines for safe and environmentally friendly practices in waste management to support cleaning up and restoring land for productive uses and healthy communities. These efforts also lead to a reduction in waste, an increase in reuse, and prevention of environmental contamination.

• Sample Topics

• Work to manage food waste for environmental benefits (e.g., the benefits of composting, reduction of waste going to landfills, etc.).
• Increase plastic recycling and other efforts to reduce plastic disposal in landfills.

Environmental Education Local Grants Program for Region 6 (US) Funding Information

Number and Amount of Awards

• The total amount of funding available under this announcement is approximately $360,000, depending on Agency funding levels, the quality of applications received, agency priorities, and other applicable considerations. It is anticipated that 3-5 awards will be made under this announcement.

• Each Region 6 grant will be funded for no less than $50,000, and no more than $100,000 in federal funds.

• Region 6 covers the states of Arkansas (AR), Louisiana (LA), New Mexico (NM), Oklahoma (OK), and Texas (TX).

Period of Performance

• Applications should plan for projects to start no earlier than July 1, 2024.
• Applicants should plan for a flexible start date since the date awards are made depends on a variety of factors.
• Project periods should be proposed for one or two years or any time period between one and two years.

Environmental Education Local Grants Program for Region 6 (US) Outcomes

Examples of possible outcome measures expected to result from awards under this competition include, but are not limited to:

Short-Term Outcome Examples

• Percentage of K-12 students reporting an increase in awareness and knowledge of local environmental issues.
• Percentage of student participants in underserved communities reporting greater feeling of connection to nature.
• Greater understanding of environmental education tools and techniques in context of this grant program’s priorities among mentors and community partners.
• Youth participants’ increased awareness of careers in environmental fields.
• Educators gain perspective on how indigenous knowledge melds with science standards.

Intermediate Outcome Examples

• Increase in the number of EE instruction hours at participating schools and after school programs.
• Students implement and lead sustainability/EJ-related projects in their schools, homes, and communities, creating innovative solutions to real-world problems.
• Audiences seek additional environmental protection resources from local, regional, and national sources.
• Mentors and community partners develop a greater understanding of how they and local youth can promote indigenous knowledge and environmental stewardship.
• Adoption of pro-environmental behavior by project participants such as changing lifestyle habits, participating in restoration activities, and taking other actions aligned with this grant program’s environmental priorities.

Long-Term Outcome Examples

• Creation of EE programs in underserved communities.
• Curriculum created by grant funds adopted by counties throughout the state.
• Elimination of barriers to participate in outdoor programming.
• Improved biodiversity.
• Ecosystems become more resilient through their restoration and overall improvement through the implementation of successful managements plans.

Environmental Education Local Grants Program for Region 6 (US) Eligibility Criteria

• Entities that are eligible to receive a grant under this competition are:
  • Local education agencies
  • College or universities
  • State education or environmental agencies
  • Nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
  • Tribal organizations that qualify as nonprofit organization
  • Tribal education agencies
  • Noncommercial educational broadcasting entity as defined and licensed by Federal Communications Commission (FCC)

Additional eligibility considerations: Applicant organizations must be located in the United States or in U.S. territories.

Ineligibility Criteria

The following entities are ineligible to receive an award:

• For-profit organizations
• Individual teachers, educators, or faculty members
• Individual students
• Individual citizens
• Individual schools that are not nonprofit 501(C)(3)s
• Tribal education agencies that are administered by the Bureau of Indian Education
• Nonprofit organizations described in Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code that engage in lobbying activities as defined in Section 3 of the Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995

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