Arctic Indigenous Cultural Heritage Initiative (AICHI)
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION The Cultural Heritage Center (CHC) in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), in coordination with the bureaus of European and Eurasian Affairs (EUR) and Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA), launched the Arctic Indigenous Cultural Heritage Initiative (AICHI) in 2021 to support the protection, preservation, and perpetuation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage within Arctic Indigenous communities. The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State announces an open competition for organizations to submit applications to the participating U.S. embassies for projects in their country. The U.S. Embassy in Norway invites proposals for cultural heritage protection, preservation, and perpetuation projects that will strengthen people-to-people relationships to advance cooperation between the United States and Arctic Indigenous communities across a spectrum of issues, including education, culture, and the environment. Priority Countries: Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Participants and Audiences: Indigenous communities, museums, governmental institutions, NGOs, or other Indigenous-focused organizations. Authorizing legislation, type and year of funding: FY22 ECA Funding authority rests in the Smith-Mundt Act and the Fulbright-Hays Act. B. FEDERAL AWARD INFORMATION Length of performance period: 1-12 months Number of awards anticipated: may vary depending on applications Award amounts: awards may range from a minimum of $10,000 to a maximum of $50,000 Type of Funding: Fiscal Year 2022 ECA funding, CFDA 19.036 This notice is subject to availability of funding. Funding Instrument Type: Grant, Co-operative Agreement or Fixed Award Amount. Program Performance Period: Proposed programs should be completed in 12 months or less. The U.S. Embassy Oslo will entertain applications for continuation grants funded under these awards beyond the initial budget period on a non-competitive basis subject to availability of funds, satisfactory progress of the program, and a determination that continued funding would be in the best interest of the U.S. Department of State. C. ELIGILIBITY INFORMATION 1. Eligible Applicants The Public Diplomacy Section encourages applications from organizations in Norway: · Registered not-for-profit organizations, including think tanks and civil society/non-governmental organizations with programming experience · Non-profit or governmental educational institutions · Governmental institutions For-profit or commercial entities are not eligible to apply. 2. Cost Sharing or Matching Cost sharing is not required. 3. Other Eligibility Requirements Applicants are only allowed to submit one proposal per organization. If more than one proposal is submitted from an organization, all proposals from that institution will be considered ineligible for funding. D. APPLICATION AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION U.S. Embassy Oslo invites Statements of Interest (SOI) for the Arctic Indigenous Cultural Heritage Initiative (AICHI) program. This is a three-tier competitive process, where the submission of the SOI is the first step. An SOI is a concise proposal designed to communicate program ideas and objectives. Upon a merit review of eligible SOIs, selected applications will be invited to submit a full grant application to be considered by the Embassy’s Grants Committee. Competitive grant proposals will then be submitted to the Cultural Heritage Center at the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs for final selection.