Shared Beringian Heritage Program 2020 Funding Call | P19AS00018

Opportunity Information: Apply for P19AS00018

The Shared Beringian Heritage Program (SBHP) 2020 Funding Call is a discretionary federal grant opportunity offered by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, through a cooperative agreement (Funding Opportunity Number P19AS00018). The program is built around the idea that the Beringia region holds a rare and globally significant blend of natural resources and cultural heritage shared across what is now Russia and the United States. Geographically, the program frames Beringia broadly, stretching from the Kolyma River area in Russia across to Alaska and up to Alaska's border with Canada’s Yukon Territory. This is the same region that once linked Asia and North America during the Pleistocene ice ages, making it a key place for understanding both human history and earth history, as well as the ongoing lifeways of Indigenous peoples.

At its core, SBHP is meant to strengthen understanding, protection, and long-term stewardship of Beringia’s resources while supporting the cultural vitality of the Indigenous communities connected to this landscape. The program emphasizes that the region is not only historically important, but also living and contemporary, with subsistence traditions, community knowledge, and cross-regional relationships that continue today. SBHP funding is intended to support projects that create meaningful connections among people, organizations, and activities across the Beringia region, and the expectation is that funded work will clearly advance one or more of the program’s stated goals rather than operating as a stand-alone activity with only indirect relevance.

The program lays out four main goals for proposed projects. First, projects should improve conservation, sustainability, and knowledge of Beringia’s natural and cultural resources, which can include efforts that build better understanding of ecological systems, cultural landscapes, heritage resources, or community-based observations. Second, SBHP prioritizes preserving subsistence opportunities and other historic traditions and practices, reflecting the importance of maintaining food security, seasonal practices, and intergenerational knowledge tied to place. Third, the program supports interpretation and communication about Beringia’s unique and internationally significant values, meaning projects that help the public, communities, and decision-makers understand why the region matters and how it should be cared for. Fourth, SBHP seeks to create opportunities for cultural connections and knowledge exchange, which can include relationship-building and sharing of expertise, stories, and practices across communities and institutions linked by Beringia.

SBHP is open to a wide range of project types as long as they clearly align with the program’s purpose and goals. The solicitation notes that projects may be research-focused, community-based, educational, cultural, or conservation-oriented. In practice, that means an application might center on field research, documentation and preservation of cultural knowledge, educational programming, interpretive products, community gatherings, or conservation planning and on-the-ground work, so long as the proposal explains how it connects people and activities in the Beringia region and how outcomes will support stewardship and cultural continuity. A key requirement is that every project must explicitly demonstrate how it fulfills SBHP goals, rather than assuming relevance based only on geography or general topic area.

Eligible applicants include a broad mix of public and nonprofit entities: state, county, and city or township governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; and nonprofit organizations with IRS 501(c)(3) status (excluding institutions of higher education in that nonprofit category). The funding activity categories listed for this opportunity include arts and humanities (noted as cultural affairs in CFDA), education, environment, and natural resources, reflecting the program’s interdisciplinary nature. The CFDA numbers associated with the opportunity are 15.944, 15.945, and 15.946.

For the 2020 funding call described here, the opportunity was created on August 6, 2019, with applications due by 5:00 p.m. Alaska Time on October 21, 2019. The maximum award amount (award ceiling) is listed as $425,000, and the National Park Service expected to make about seven awards under this call. Taken together, this announcement signals a competitive funding round aimed at supporting a small set of relatively substantial projects that can demonstrate clear alignment with SBHP priorities, produce tangible benefits for understanding and preserving Beringia’s resources, and strengthen cultural continuity and exchange across the region.

• The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the arts (see cultural affairs in cfda), education, environment, humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda), natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Shared Beringian Heritage Program 2020 Funding Call" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.944, 15.945, 15.946.
• This funding opportunity was created on Aug 06, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 21, 2019 Applications will be accepted until 5pm Alaska Time, October 21, 2019.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $425,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 7 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education.

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