FY 2024 Build to Scale NOFO

This funding opportunity is authorized under the “Legislative Branch Appropriations Act of 2023” (Pub. L. 117-389 (H.R. 8237)), subject to availability of funding. The resulting awards will be subject to the Library of Congress Regulation (LCR) 7-310. In addition, while the Library, as a legislative agency, is not subject to 2 CFR 200 – Uniform Administrative Requirements, Costs Principles and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards, the resulting awards will be subject to selective provisions of 2 CFR 200 as determined by the Library and indicated in this NOFO. About the Library of Congress The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world, with millions of books, films and video, audio recordings, photographs, newspapers, maps and manuscripts in its collections. The Library is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress. It is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. The Library’s mission is to engage, inspire, and inform Congress and the American people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity. About the Teaching with Primary Sources Program (TPS) The Teaching with Primary Sources program (www.loc.gov/teachers) has been the Library of Congress’s premier educational grant program since 2006. The goals of the program have included providing instructional materials, tools, education and professional development that enhance teachers’ ability to integrate digitized primary sources from the Library of Congress into instruction that builds student literacy, critical thinking skills, content knowledge and ability to conduct original research. Since the establishment of the Center for Learning, Literacy and Engagement in 2018, and the release of the Library’s 2024-2028 Strategic Plan, the TPS goals both influence and reflect the Library’s broader outreach goals. About the Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy Initiative (LHI) Named in honor of Rep. John R. Lewis (D-GA) and Rep. Amo Houghton (R-NY), the Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy Initiative (LHI) is included under the Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program. In the joint explanatory statement for the Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 2023, Congress established the Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy Initiative and appropriated funds to the Library of Congress to award grants to eligible organizations within the United States (U.S.) and its territories to develop digitally-enabled, creative arts-driven projects focused on using the digitized primary sources of the Library of Congress to teach history, civics and/or democracy. More information and a description of past LHI-funded projects can be found at: https://www.loc.gov/programs/teachers/about-this-program/teaching-with-primary-sources-partner-program/lewis-houghton/. TPS Educational Consortium Grantee organizations become members of the TPS Educational Consortium. They include a wide variety of educational organizations including school districts, libraries, cultural institutions, universities and technology firms that have received Library funding to deliver teacher professional development, create teaching materials and develop apps and online interactives, based on Library of Congress materials. TPS Consortium members are valued as “Connectors” who help the Library achieve its vision of connecting to all Americans. TPS Consortium members extend the Library’s reach by connecting hundreds of thousands of American educators and learners, including K-12 teachers and their students, to Library of Congress methods and materials. Consortium members collaborate, co-create, share ideas, network and actively participate as an educational community. Purpose The purpose of this notice is for the Library of Congress to solicit project proposals from eligible organizations and select awardee organizations that will design and implement educational projects in which the Library’s music or creative arts-related digitized primary sources and other online materials are central to teaching and learning about history, civics, and/or democracy. Awards made under Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy Initiative must include rights-free materials from the Library’s music or creative arts digital collections, to develop curriculum, teaching materials, educational programs, pedagogical approaches, and/or other tools for history, civic and democracy instruction targeted toward middle and high school educators and learners. LHI awards should center on inquiry-driven analysis of primary sources, build learners’ civic skills and foster participation in our nation’s democracy. In addition to highlighting primary sources from the Library’s collections of music, dance, theater, visual arts, folk arts, film, photography, book arts, arts and literary manuscripts, and/or other creative arts, proposals may also include the use of arts-based pedagogies and other creative approaches. All proposals must expand the body of innovative strategies, tools, and materials for meaningful teaching and learning with Library of Congress materials. The focus of LHI awards includes the design of educational projects using Library of Congress materials for use in and outside of formal classroom settings. In addition to using Library primary sources to deliver history, civics, and/or democracy learning experiences integrating the arts, projects must address demonstrated educational needs of specific recipient populations and provide solutions that standard practice, documented experience, or research suggest would be effective. Organizations that receive LHI awards make up a subset of the TPS Educational Consortium whose work spans areas of interest including but not limited to arts integration, civics education, multimodal learning, and teaching with audiovisual primary sources. Funded projects will support the Library’s mission to use its collections to connect with all Americans, including those representing multiple communities, beliefs and endeavors, to engage, inspire and inform Congress and the American people with a universal and enduring source of knowledge and creativity. Projects must use the Library’s digital collections for one or more of the following approaches: a) Deliver educational programming to various categories of educators and learners in secondary education (middle and high school); b) Create and distribute educational materials or tools for teaching specific content in history, civics, and/or democracy; c) Convene meetings of like organizations to devise strategies for furthering common learning and teaching goals with Library of Congress materials related to music and/or the arts; and/or d) Conduct research with significant practitioner involvement that investigates the impact of incorporating Library of Congress music and/or creative arts collections into history, civics, and/or democracy educational initiatives. Questions and Answers General Questions and Answers: All questions relating to this Notice must be submitted via email to tps-grant@loc.gov no later than the date stated in Section B of the Notice (“General Questions Submission Deadline”). “The subject of each e-mail must read as follows: Notice 030ADV26R0050 – Lewis-Houghton Initiative New Awards – 2027.” Answers will be provided in a Q&A document uploaded to grants.gov. Questions received after the deadline(s) stated in Section B above may not be answered. Technical Questions Submission: Applicants experiencing problems with submitting proposals can request technical assistance until the date specified in Section B above (“Technical Questions Submission Deadline”). Funding Opportunity Number: 030ADV26R0050. Assistance Listing: 42.015. Funding Instrument: CA. Category: ED. Award Amount: Up to $100K per award.

Middle East Regional Cooperation Program is sponsored by Department of State. The Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC) Program funds peer-reviewed, collaborative, scientific research projects on development topics between Israel and its Arab neighbors across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Objectives of the program include: (1) Supporting applied actionable research that generates results relevant to regional development; (2) Fostering the implementation of research results and innovations to improve quality of life and achieve development impact in the MENA region; (3) Building science and technology capacity in developing countries in the MENA region; (4) Increasing direct Arab-Israeli cooperation by establishing strong working relationships that last beyond the life of the project. This listing is currently active. Program number: 19.502. Last updated on 2024-05-22.

Digital Skills and Jobs Platform: The National Coalitions for Digital Skills and Jobs is sponsored by European Commission — Digital Europe Programme. Expected Outcome: Deliverable: Connected National Coalitions for Digital Skills and Jobs to the Core Platform. Objective: The Digital Skills and Jobs Platform provides a single point of information related to digital skills in Europe. At EU level, the Platform gathers all relevant information and funding opportunities for stakeholders to benefit from. At national level, it connects to National Coalition websites, establishing a mutually enriching exchange with relevant content and data on digital skills and jobs. In 2024, 22 national websites are connected to the Platform. Additional Member States websites will be connected by the ongoing project on National Coalitions for Digital Skills and Jobs [1] by 2026. The Platform also hosts the Cyber Security Skills Academy and will host other relevant sectoral academies and initiatives. The objective of this topic is to consolidate and uphold the operation of the Digital Skills and Jobs Platform, including corrective and adaptive maintenance. This topic will also sustain and extend the activities related to the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition, as well as deepening the exchange between the National Coalition websites and the core Platform. This topic aims to further increase the number of National Coalitions, to get existing and new National Coalitions to be more active and engaged, and to increase the number of members of the Digital Skills and Jobs Coalition. Synergies should be sought with the EIT Campus, EIT Digital’s (d)Academy Skills Passport Platform, the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative (DTTI) and other relevant initiatives. 1 Project selected under the call DIGITAL-2024-ADVANCED-DIGITAL-06-SKILLS. Scope: The action under this work-strand will aim to further extend the activities of National Coalitions’ websites established under CEF calls in 2019 and 2020 and DIGITAL call of 2024, as well as support the creation of new websites in Member States who do not have any National Coalition or website yet. Activities under the second work strand will: Develop and connect the infrastructures (websites) of National Coalitions that are not yet connected to the Core Platform through interoperable interconnections, integrating and enabling exchanges with the Core Platform components. Provide access to national/regional/local actors and practices, building interoperable links to provide services relevant to the local context. Expand and engage National Coalitions that are already connected to the Core Platform. The support to Nation Coalitions in a given Member State can take the form of Financial Support for Third Parties (FSTP) of a maximum amount of 150.000 EUR per third party to allow sufficient funding for the implementation of their activities. Programme areas: DIGITAL-1 Keywords: Civil society organisations, Communication, Communication network, Communities of practices, Digital Services and Platforms, Interoperability, Knowledge transfer, Localisation, Public administration, Training, Content creation, DSJP, Digital Skills and Jobs Coalitions, Digital Skills and Jobs Platform, Interoperability of links, National Coalitions for Digital Skills and Jobs