Grants

Recipient: Figus Consulting Services, LLC

Project Partners: Organized Village of Kake Tribe; Spruce Root

Southeast Alaska is experiencing increasing extreme weather events and new patterns as the climate changes, notably with periods of drought followed by intense rainfall. Residents in the Keex Kwaan Community Use Area, which surrounds the community of Kake on Kupreanof Island, are especially vulnerable, as this majority Alaska Native community is geographically isolated and historically underserved. This grant will make it possible for the project team to develop a comprehensive climate adaptation plan for Keex Kwaan that emphasizes outreach, education, and food sovereignty. The project team includes the Organized Village of Kake Tribe; community development organization Spruce Root; and climate adaptation practitioner Figus Consulting Services, LLC. Contact: Elizabeth Figus, Owner, Figus Consulting Services, LLC.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: American Rivers

Project Partners: Juaneño Band of Mission Indians; Acjachemen Nation – Belardes; Juaneño Band of Mission Indians; Acjachemen Nation – 84A; Gabrieleno/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians; Orange County Environmental Justice Education Fund (OCEJEF); Friends of Puvungna

The Indigenous and low-income communities of Orange County, California disproportionately bear the burden of escalating climate impacts, which include rising temperatures and extreme heat events, and increased risk of drought and flood. With this grant, the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation – Belardes, the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians, Acjachemen Nation – 84A, and the Gabrieleno/Tongva San Gabriel Band of Mission Indians will work together with Orange County Environmental Justice Education Fund (OCEJEF), Friends of Puvungna, and American Rivers, to design a pilot floodplain restoration project that promotes collaborative stewardship, engages local residents, and identifies solutions that can be applied throughout the region. Contact: Patricia Flores, Associate Director, American Rivers.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Sierra Streams Institute

Project Partners: California Heritage Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP); Nisenan Tribe

The residents of Nevada County are well aware of the impacts of a changing climate, including the increased risk of wildfire. California Heritage Indigenous Research Project (CHIRP), the non-profit guided by the Nisenan, the indigenous people of the region, will partner with Sierra Streams Institute to craft an approach to wildfire mitigation grounded in Traditional Ecological Knowledge and nature-based solutions. The project team will initiate a crucial workforce development pilot in the form of a new nonprofit called Greensleeves: a rewilding project, which will recruit and train restoration crews from the local population. This project will serve as a model for building the restoration economy locally and regionally, as crews  will be trained to deploy and implement wildfire mitigation treatments for various organizations. These treatments will include controlled burns; hand-thinning and piling; invasive species removal; and native herbaceous layer restoration, all in pursuit of a return to overall forest health. Contact: Helen Fitanides, Science Director, Sierra Streams Institute.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: ICF

Project Partners: Straughan Environmental; CHPlanning

More intense rain events have significantly impacted residents and businesses of the Watts Branch Watershed, which spans a portion of Ward 7 in Washington, D.C. and Prince George’s County, Maryland. This grant will enable the project team to expand on the efforts of the Blue Green Infrastructure Community Engagement and Planning (BGI) study, a partnership between various DC and Prince George’s County government agencies that enables the implementation of nature-based climate resilience efforts. The project team, consisting of ICF, Straughan Environmental, and CHPlanning, will work with the community to help design a flood mitigation strategy within the Capitol Heights area of the watershed. Contact: Amanda Vargo, Managing Consultant – Climate Resilience, ICF.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability USA (ICLEI USA)

Project Partners: City of Boynton Beach; Community Greening; EcoAdapt; American Forests

As extreme heat intensifies in South Florida, communities in Boynton Beach face growing health risks from rising temperatures and limited access to shade and cooling resources. The award will aid the City of Boynton Beach in the development of a community-driven urban heat resilience strategy in partnership with ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability USA, Community Greening, EcoAdapt, and American Forests. The project will bring together data analysis and local voices to identify and prioritize equitable cooling solutions. A pilot tree distribution program will prioritize residents in low-canopy neighborhoods. The resilience strategy will guide future planning and policy for a cooler, healthier Boynton Beach. Contact: Jess Grannis, Director of Programs, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability USA (ICLEI USA).

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Resilient Cities Catalyst

Project Partners: Georgia Conservancy; Chatham County government

With its coastal location, Chatham County is especially vulnerable to climate-related impacts. Rising sea levels and groundwater tables, stronger storms, and increased flooding now pose significant threats to the area’s natural and built environments. And neighborhoods such as Montgomery, Pin Point, Sandfly, and other small communities along the Ogeechee River are at high risk due to a combination of geographic exposure, economic challenges, and historic underinvestment. With this grant, Resilient Cities Catalyst (RCC) will work with representatives from the community, the Georgia Conservancy, and the Chatham County government to develop a “Resilience Roadmap.” This roadmap will articulate a clear vision for the county’s climate resilience efforts, and provide a common set of goals and priorities to guide county staff, elected officials, and community partners alike. Contact: Paul Nelson, Founding Principal, Resilient Cities Catalyst.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Headwaters Economics

Project Partners: Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization; Maui County officials

Maui County consists of the Hawaiian islands of Maui, Lana’i, Moloka’i, Kaho’olawe, and Molokini. Rising temperatures, longer droughts, and extreme wind events have combined with the spread of invasive grasses to make these islands increasingly vulnerable to wildfires. In 2023, the Lahaina wildfire drew global attention to this vulnerability and the destruction that can result. Over the coming year, the project team, consisting of issue experts from Headwaters Economics working alongside the Hawaii Wildfire Management Organization and local officials from Maui County, will engage local stakeholders, including and especially the most vulnerable populations, in a comprehensive review of wildfire risk and suggest improvements to local plans and policies. Contact: Patty Hernandez, Executive Director, Headwaters Economics.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: The Keystone Concept

Project Partners: Wood River Land Trust; Blaine County Government

Blaine County faces several vulnerabilities related to climate change, including elevated wildfire risk, increased water scarcity, and extreme weather events. Those who work in the county’s agriculture, construction, hospitality, and recreation industries can be especially vulnerable. With this award, adaptation practitioners at The Keystone Concept will collaborate with the Wood River Land Trust and the Blaine County Government to engage community stakeholders in the implementation of previously identified priorities, including nature-based solutions such as planting shade trees, improving forest management, and restoring riparian areas. Through these efforts, the partners aim to reduce risks and increase preparedness. Contact: Lance Davisson, Owner and Principal Consultant, The Keystone Concept.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Central Appalachian Network

Project Partners: Floyd County KY BRECC; Floyd County Fiscal Court; Central Appalachian Network’s Community Resilience Working Group

Floyd County has more historic coal camps than any other county in Appalachian Kentucky, reflecting a rich cultural history as well as decades of economic challenges. The county also faces climate-related challenges, with intense storms bringing increased flooding. To address these challenges, members of the community are coming together in pursuit of strategies to foster economic recovery and increase climate resilience. With this grant, Floyd County KY BRECC (Building Resilient Economies in Coal Communities), working alongside the Floyd County Fiscal Court and the Central Appalachian Network’s Community Resilience Working Group, will undertake a flood mitigation assessment, consider the creation of a community resilience hub, and develop a “Higher Ground Housing Strategy,” which will include research on how best to help homeowners. Contact: Emily Carlson, Network Coordinator, Central Appalachian Network.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: EcoAdapt

Project Partners: New Orleans East Green Infrastructure Collective; Water Wise Gulf South; New Orleans Department of Parks and Parkways

New Orleans East is experiencing rising temperatures and intensifying urban heat island effects that strain infrastructure and threaten public health. In response, the New Orleans East Green Infrastructure Collective (NOEGIC), EcoAdapt, Water Wise Gulf South, and the New Orleans Department of Parks and Parkways are partnering to undertake a climate vulnerability and risk assessment process and initiate the implementation of a targeted green infrastructure initiative. The grant will allow NOEGIC and partners to identify areas most affected by extreme heat, engage residents through workshops and strategy sessions, and expand the community’s urban tree canopy. Together, these efforts will build long-term resilience and support a healthier, greener New Orleans East. Contact: Kathryn Braddock, Lead Scientist, EcoAdapt.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Creation Justice Ministries

Project Partners: Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NOVA); Wicomico County officials

This grant will enable the project team to collaborate with faith-based communities in the city of Salisbury to pursue a range of climate resilience solutions, including the establishment of resilience hubs and the implementation of stormwater mitigation efforts, food sovereignty initiatives, and workforce development programs. These solutions had been identified during listening and planning sessions, where community members discussed the climate impacts affecting their neighborhoods and emphasized the disruption to daily life that has come with the flooding resulting from rising sea-levels. The project team will include adaptation experts from Creation Justice Ministries, working alongside local leaders from Interfaith Power & Light (DC.MD.NOVA), and government officials from Wicomico County. Contact: Avery Lamb, Executive Director, Creation Justice Ministries.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center

Project Partners: Rio Chama Acequia Association; New Mexico Acequia Association; American Rivers

During the summer of 2024, intense rain triggered catastrophic flooding and significant sediment accumulation in the Rio Chama basin, damaging homes and fields, as well as acequias, which are traditional, community-managed irrigation ditches. With the increasing temperatures and altered precipitation patterns expected with climate change, more intense storms and periods of prolonged drought will continue to compromise water supply and local agricultural practices. In response, the Rio Chama Acequia Association will use this grant to work with member acequias, the New Mexico Acequia Association, American Rivers, and the South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center to develop a community-led watershed resilience plan focused on mitigating the impacts of drought, flooding, and erosion. The plan will build on local knowledge to assess climate risks and identify adaptive strategies for building resilience. Contact: Stephanie Mladinich, Climate Adaptation Specialist, South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: BSC Group, Inc.

Project Partners: Town of Navassa, North Carolina

Climate change and development pressures threaten the cultural heritage and safety of Navassa, a coastal town facing increasing risks from flooding, sea level rise, and extreme heat. A grant will support the town and its partners in launching “EcoProtect,” a community-driven project to assess, prioritize, and advance nature-based solutions (NbS) to increase resilience to these threats. Building on the Navassa Resilience Strategy, this initiative will align vulnerable locations and assets with effective NbS to protect public health, the local economy, and critical natural and cultural resources. Through community engagement, technical analysis, and site-based dialogue, the project will co-develop ten implementable NbS strategies and foster public understanding of local climate risks. By employing a collaborative approach, this project aims to serve as a model for climate resilience efforts along the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor. Contact: Charlie Foster, Coastal Program Manager, BSC Group, Inc.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Fernleaf

Project Partners: Swannanoa Grassroots Alliance; Town of Woodfin; Land of Sky Regional Council, Swannanoa Resilience Coordination Hub; RiverLink; Equinox; Appalachian Voices; Warren Wilson College; Thrive Asheville; MountainTrue

Hurricane Helene brought devastating impacts to the small communities of Swannanoa and Woodfin, exposing long-standing vulnerabilities and disrupting lives. A grant of $130,000 will enable Fernleaf to facilitate an array of partners, including the Swannanoa Grassroots Alliance, the Town of Woodfin, the Land of Sky Regional Council, the Swannanoa Resilience Coordination Hub, RiverLink, Equinox, Appalachian Voices, Warren Wilson College, Thrive Asheville, and MountainTrue, to advance community-driven climate resilience and recovery planning. Through hazard assessments, inclusive engagement, and targeted training, the project will co-develop actionable, fundable strategies to reduce risk and strengthen long-term resilience. By centering community voices and local priorities, this initiative will serve as a model for climate resilience and recovery, demonstrating how place-based solutions can guide future adaptation across the region. Contact: Matt Hutchins, CEO & Senior Resilience Specialist, Fernleaf.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: BSC Group, Inc.

Project Partners: Athens County; Rural Action

The Athens County Hazard Mitigation Plan identified flooding as the most significant natural hazard facing the community. With a changing climate, the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is expected to increase the number of intense downpours that can lead to flooding. Under this grant, Athens County and Rural Action, along with adaptation practitioners from BSC Group, will collaborate with local stakeholders to develop flood impact mapping from a combination of community observations and computational watershed modeling. Together this will improve their shared understanding of the risk from flood, erosion, and sedimentation, an essential step in the county’s pursuit of climate resilience. Contact: Ryan Gilliom, Conservation Project Specialist, Rural Action.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: WaterNow Alliance

Project Partners: City of Pittsburgh; Pittsburgh Water

Pittsburgh residents are experiencing chronic adverse impacts from flooding and sewage overflows, which have disproportionately affected low-income neighborhoods. To address this, the WaterNow Alliance, the City of Pittsburgh, and Pittsburgh Water have partnered to establish the Rain Reclaim: Vacant Lots to Green Stormwater Infrastructure project, which will repurpose city-owned vacant lots into long-term green stormwater infrastructure (GSI). This work aims to reduce urban flooding, improve water quality, and provide multiple community benefits. The project will pilot the selection and technical design of 1-2 vacant lot sites in the City’s Negley Run watershed, conduct a cost-benefit analysis, and analyze financing options to lay the foundation for a scalable, long-term GSI effort. Contact: Amy Weinfurter, Director of Strategic Projects, WaterNow Alliance.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Insurance for Good

Project Partners: City of Philadelphia Office of Sustainability; Eastwick United CDC

The low-lying Eastwick neighborhood in Southwest Philadelphia has experienced repeated floods, and climate change threatens to increase the frequency and intensity of these events. Residents struggle to find appropriate and affordable flood insurance protection, leaving them vulnerable to financial hardships after floods. In response, Insurance for Good, the City of Philadelphia Office of Sustainability, and Eastwick United CDC are partnering to assess the feasibility of new and innovative insurance products for residents. The partners will survey and speak with residents about their flood insurance needs; engage with regulators; and work with private-sector companies to identify solutions. Additionally, the partners will develop a menu of funding options for voluntary property buyouts to provide more equitable and affordable flood recovery options for residents. Contact: Carolyn Kousky, Executive Director and Founder, Insurance for Good.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Climigration Network

Project Partners: Un Nuevo Amanecer, Inc.; Autonomous Municipality of Ponce

Through this grant, Un Nuevo Amanecer (UNA), the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce, and climate resilience experts from the Climigration Network will work hand-in-hand with residents of Barrio Playa to address the rising threats of extreme heat, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding. Barrio Playa is a low-lying coastal area in Ponce. The area is home to many low-income families, including those living in informal settlements, making the area especially vulnerable to climate impacts. This project will feature a collaborative, community-driven effort that will result in a practical and inclusive climate resilience plan that reflects the lived realities of Playa’s residents. The project will include a robust public engagement campaign, expanded local training programs, the implementation of nature-based solutions, and the development of effective emergency response and evacuation strategies — all guided by the voices and leadership of the community itself. Contact: Kristin Marcell, Director Climigration Network or David Southgate, Board Member and Advisor, Un Nuevo Amanecer, Inc.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Coastal Quest

Project Partners: Protectores de Cuencas Inc.; Culebra municipal government

Culebra, a small island community located 17 miles east of Puerto Rico’s main island, faces significant climate change-related challenges. Rising global temperatures have contributed to an increase in the frequency and intensity of tropical storms, while rising sea levels and expanded coastal erosion threaten to damage the island’s environment and economy. With this grant, the adaptation experts at Coastal Quest will work with the community-based organization Protectores de Cuencas (PDC) and the Culebra municipal government to take one of the essential steps identified in a prior planning process, the creation of a plant nursery with the capacity to grow the native trees and vetiver grasses that are needed for the restoration of coastal ecosystems. Contact: Mary Ann King, Coastal Ecosystem Project Manager, Coastal Quest.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Adaptation International

Project Partners: Fuerza Unida; City of San Antonio’s Office of Sustainability

With support from this grant, Adaptation International, Fuerza Unida, and the City of San Antonio’s Office of Sustainability will deepen their collaboration to reduce climate risks—particularly for the elderly and low-income residents of the city’s South San neighborhood who are especially vulnerable to heat, flooding, and poor air quality. The team will build local capacity by launching a Neighborhood Cooling Committee and training youth to plant native, drought-tolerant trees that provide shade and improve environmental health. The effort will combine education, workforce development, and nature-based solutions to advance long-term, community-driven climate resilience. Contact: Celine Rendon, Climate Resilience Specialist, Adaptation International.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: PICEA Consulting Group

Project Partners: Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe; Conservation Biology Institute

Climate change threatens the ancestral lands, cultural traditions, and livelihoods of the Sauk-Suiattle Indian Tribe (SSIT). Rising temperatures are melting glaciers, lowering the water quality of local rivers and raising the risk of flooding. These combined impacts are shifting habitats of culturally significant species, including species and natural resources that provide food security. With this grant, the Tribe and its partners, including the community-based Conservation Biology Institute and the adaptation practitioner PICEA Consulting Group, will conduct a comprehensive climate vulnerability assessment and develop a climate resilience plan that integrates traditional ecological knowledge, incorporates nature-based solutions, and guides future adaptation efforts. Contact: Chas Jones, Principal Scientist and CEO, PICEA Consulting Group.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center (UMD EFC)

Project Partners: Town of Brentwood, Maryland; Nature Forward

An award of $50,707 will allow local officials, community organizations, and residents in this small town near the nation’s capital to work with experts from the University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center to advance priority projects from their Climate Action Plan. The town is increasingly susceptible to flooding, and the project team will involve the community through diverse engagement strategies to build climate resilience through community education and empowerment, green infrastructure, and landscapes designed to accommodate the impacts of a changing climate.  Contact:  Stephanie Dalke, Program Manager, University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Fernleaf

Project Partners: Charleston County; Lowcountry Alliance for Model Communities (LAMC)

Recipient: ICF, Geosynte, Metro Strategies

Project Partners: County Cook, Department of Environment and Sustainability; Chicago Regional Trees Initiative (CRTI)

Recipient: South Central Climate Adaptation Science Center at the University of Oklahoma

Project Partners: Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana; Parishes Allen, Evangeline and Jefferson Davis; Louisiana Watershed Initiative, Regions 4 and 5

Recipient: Coastal Quest

Project Partners: City of East Palo Alto; Climate Resilient Communities (CRC)

Recipient: Headwaters Economics

Project Partners: City of Fremont, Nebraska; Fremont Area United Way (FAUW)

The families that live in mobile and manufactured homes on the southwest side of this small city in eastern Nebraska are especially at risk with a changing climate. Increasingly intense storms and ice jams are causing flash floods that put lives and livelihoods at risk. Thanks to a grant of $114,978, community leaders from the City of Fremont and the Fremont Area United Way will be able to work with the experts from Headwaters Economics to augment their existing plans, and identify feasible solutions for these neighborhoods, exploring options for improved gray and green infrastructure. Contact: Nate Kommers, Communications Director, Headwaters Economics.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Climigration Network

Project Partners: Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, Louisiana; The Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government; Red Plains Professional; The Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX)

Recipient: Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance

Project Partners: Lower Brule Sioux Tribe

Recipient: Fernleaf

Project Partners: Local Environmental Action Demanded (L.E.A.D.) Agency; City of Miami; Ottawa County; Inter-Tribal Council

Representatives from the county, the city of Miami, Oklahoma, the Inter-Tribal Council of Northeast Oklahoma and L.E.A.D. Agency, Inc, will collaborate with Fernleaf under a $119,000 award.  This support will allow the partners to engage the local community, conduct a vulnerability analysis, and develop a corresponding climate resilience plan.  This area in Northeast Oklahoma already was ranked “very high” on the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), and is now experiencing additional pain from climate related impacts, including severe storms and toxic flooding, as well as extended drought and extreme heat.  The plan will identify a path forward, with a focus on building the capacity and securing the funding needed for success. Contact: Matt Hutchins, CEO, Fernleaf.

This grant was awarded through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).

Recipient: Model Forest Policy Program

Project Partners: City of Sandpoint, Idaho; Bonner County Climate Coalition

Recipient: Coastal Quest

Project Partners: City of South San Francisco; Rise South City

Recipient: 18 organizations

Project Partners: Fernleaf

CRF is pleased to announce new awards to 18 organizations through its Coordination and Collaboration in the Resilience Ecosystem Program. These grants provided funding to train 23 climate service practitioners who will support efforts to scale up and accelerate equity-centered adaptation planning across the U.S. CRF has provided additional support to our partners at Fernleaf to design and lead the Training, as well as to four organizations that will participate in the Training as subject matter expert lecturers.

Grants were made on a competitive basis to organizations that are interested in learning to utilize the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit’s (CRT) Steps to Resilience to help communities plan and prepare for climate-related impacts proactively.

Trainees will be pre-qualified as practitioners for NOAA’s Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI), which will be administered by the Climate Resilience Fund and is expected to launch in 2023, if funding becomes available (see RFA document for details).

These trainees will also have the opportunity to be included as vetted practitioners listed on the Climate Adaptation Practitioner Registry, a resource for communities that are seeking expertise and assistance with climate resilience planning and action.

CRF has awarded $200,000 to 18 different organizations to support 23 Steps to Resilience Trainees:

• University of Maryland
• ICF
• CAPA Strategies
• Coastal Quest
• Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance
• Arizona State University
• Antioch University of New England
• The Coastal States Organization
• Optimum Climate Weather & Environment
• ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability
• Model Forest Policy Program
• Climate Adaptation Partners
• University of Oklahoma
• EcoAdapt
• Geos Institute
• Climate Resolve
• Greenbelt Alliance
• University of Minnesota

Recipient: American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP)

Project Partners: Climate Resilience Consulting

The American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) and their partners at Climate Resilience Consulting will create a ready-to-fund Resilience Guidebook by seeking insights from practitioners and advisor networks, reviewing grey and peer-reviewed literature, organizing and validating information to identify themes and gaps, and creating case studies and examples of working strategies. ASAP will work with the US Climate Resilience Team to integrate the new guidance developed into a practitioner and training guide for climate service practitioners.

Recipient: National Wildlife Federation (NWF)

Project Partners: EcoAdapt

The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and its partners at EcoAdapt will draw on existing literature and the Federation’s extensive experience to develop a best practices guide for employing nature-based solutions to reduce climate impacts and risks to communities. The project team will work with Climate Resilience Toolkit staff to advise on where and how nature-based solutions can be more fully integrated into the Steps to Resilience planning framework.

Recipient: Antioch University’s Center for Climate Preparedness and Community Resilience

Project Partners: CREW, Eastie Farm

The Antioch project team, together with partners in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities, will review and summarize existing best practices for community engagement in climate adaptation planning that integrates diversity, equity, and inclusion. The team will create a white paper that summarizes the findings and will refine the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit’s Steps to Resilience to include these lessons learned.

Recipient: EcoAdapt

Project Partners: Adaptation Insight

EcoAdapt and partners at Adaptation Insight will review and synthesize approaches, indicators, and metrics for evaluating adaptation project and program effectiveness at meeting a range of goals, including social, environmental, economic, and climate hazard risk-reduction. The project will develop an interactive catalog of indicators and metrics to support practitioners in designing context-appropriate adaptation processes. EcoAdapt and partners at Adaptation Insight will work with the U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit staff to develop trainings based on findings.

Recipient: Earth Economics

Project Partners: U.S. Forest Service

Building ecosystem resilience on US Forest Service (USFS) land is critically important to preserving these natural assets in a changing climate. Earth Economics builds upon existing partnership with USFS to integrate its ecosystem service valuation framework—which provides dollar values for ecosystem services produced by forest lands—with the existing USFS decision-support tool, called the Conservation Finance Opportunities Map. This project will leverage an ecosystem service valuation approach to quantify the economic, social, and environmental value created by the natural and built infrastructure on USFS land— these are the “Values at Risk” of being lost to fire and pests, which can be protected by restoring forests to a more resilient state. Combining valuation methodologies with the Map will help make the business case to potential conservation finance investors that spending on nature-based solutions in and around our national forests is an effective way of building community resilience and ecosystem health.

Recipient: Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, Northern Arizona University Foundation

Project Partners: Swinomish Indian Tribal Community

Indigenous peoples experience some of the most devastating impacts from climate change. Many Indigenous people view environmental impacts as symbiotically connected to community health impacts and as such they must be evaluated together. Yet there are no established community health evaluation methods that reflect the interconnected Indigenous view of health; assessments rely primarily on technical physical and physiological data from climate models, with limited local knowledge and little to no values-driven community data. Values-driven data provide important information about how people define what a health community means, their priorities, and preferred actions to maintain or improve health. This project will redesign the existing climate health modules developed by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community to better engage, communicate with, and support resilience in diverse Indigenous communities from different regions who have unique worldviews and perspectives and who are often on the frontlines of climate change impacts and action planning.

Recipient: American Forests

Project Partners: CAPA Strategies, State of Rhode Island

Climate change is widely considered one of the greatest challenges to human survivorship, especially among those who have less access to resources and support. One of the more profound and insidious – yet largely misunderstood – disasters to affect humans and the built environment is urban heat. Exposure to heat claims more lives than all other natural disasters combined, yet fatalities to humans and impacts on infrastructure are largely preventable. A well understood strategy to reduce extreme heat is the use of greening techniques, particularly tree plantings. Trees provide essential shade, evapotranspiration the heat which increases cooling potential, and their capacity to provide these ‘ecosystem services’ increases as they mature and grow larger and older.

American Forests has pioneered an evidence-based and technologically astute approach to addressing urban tree inequities with a Tree Equity Score. The project will 1) implement the Tree Equity Score for every urbanized neighborhood in the State of Rhode Island, which will measure how well the benefits of urban tree canopy are reaching low income communities, populations of color and populations that are particularly susceptible to extreme heat; (2) conduct a community-based urban heat field campaign in four municipalities within the State of Rhode Island — Providence, East Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls; and (3) scale the empirical results from the four municipalities to the whole State, while integrating results into the Tree Equity Score. The scaling of the Tree Equity Score model is one of the penultimate aims of the urban heat campaigns, which, over time and with sufficient data, will support the creation of a national ambient temperature and humidity dataset.

Recipient: Local Government Commission

Project Partners: Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation, Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network, Central Coast Climate Collaborative, Capital Region Climate Readiness Collaborative, Los Angeles Regional Collaborative for Climate Action, North Coast Resource Partnership, San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative, Sierra Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Partnership

As central as equity is to creating resilient communities, calls for the prioritization of equity in adaptation processes and projects remain largely unanswered. Deliberate action must be taken to address the deeply entrenched challenges that have hindered meaningful progress – from capacity and resource constraints to all forms and expressions of systemic racism in the adaptation field. Embedding Equity in Adaptation seeks to mitigate these challenges by leveraging the Alliance of Regional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation (ARCCA) to set in motion an accelerated cycle of learning, institutionalizing, and implementing equity principles and practices. ARCCA will leverage existing resources and work with regional climate collaboratives to build equity awareness, expertise, and capacity among adaptation practitioners; integrate equity into governance structures and the Adaptation Capability Advancement Toolkit; and provide technical assistance to support the local implementation of replicable strategies.

Recipient: Bonneville Environmental Foundation

Project Partners: CalTrout, City of Portland, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, Clean Water Services, EcoTrust, US Forest Service, North Santiam Watershed Council, Northwest Natural Resource Group, One Tree Planted, Oregon Department of Agriculture Water Resources Program, Oregon State University and Extension, Pierce Conservation District, Seattle Parks and Recreation/Green Seattle Partnership, Skagit River System Cooperative, Upper Columbia United Tribes, WSU Extension, Wisdom of the Elders

This project seeks to build a literal and figurative through-line across human networks and riparian corridors to sustain culturally important species and their ability to support future generations of plants and people in mitigating and adapting to climate change. Thousands of miles of Pacific Northwest (PNW) riparian forests are degraded, and dozens of individual Tribes, watershed groups, nurseries and agencies work to improve riparian conditions, planting millions of trees and shrubs annually for restoration. As assisted migration of native plant materials gains traction as a PNW climate adaptation and mitigation strategy, the absence of a regional network of non-profit, Tribal and agency restoration practitioners and partners, including nurseries and Extension research, hampers collective capacity to scale strategic solutions. This work will integrate numerous existing efforts in a learning and action network that will increase community capacity to care for the riparian forests essential to healthy watersheds, fish, wildlife and people, and create new restoration partnerships and mechanisms to centralize and share information.

Recipient: Headwaters Economics

Project Partners: Adaptation International and two NOAA Regional Integrated Science and Assements Programs (GLISA and SCIPP)

The free Neighborhoods at Risk online tool can help community leaders and adaptation professionals apply economic and climate data to reduce risk for vulnerable populations, but: 1) users may not immediately understand the tool’s full potential; and 2) those who may benefit from the tool may not be aware of its availability. In partnership with Adaptation International and two NOAA RISAs (GLISA and SCIPP), Headwaters Economics will create and distribute training resources that improve the accessibility and scalability of the existing Neighborhoods at Risk tool in 18 cities.

This project will make economic data and arguments more accessible to community leaders working on climate adaptation projects. Training resources will be developed for (1) community planners and leaders, (2) regional and national climate adaptation professionals, and (3) organizations that advocate for equitable climate action. The training resources will explain how community leaders can use the economic and climate data in Neighborhoods at Risk to support climate adaptation.

Recipient: GEOS Institute

Project Partners: Adaptation International, Azavea, NOAA, NEMAC, Fernleaf, Aspen Global Change Institute, American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP)

The Climate Resilience Strategy Database aims to address a significant gap in the Resilience Ecosystem. Neither professional practitioners nor local leaders working in communities are currently able to access up-to-date information regarding the effectiveness and tradeoffs of possible resilience strategies for the climate vulnerabilities they have identified. The lack of this information is slowing individual planning processes and inhibiting the ability of the larger field to share critically important information about what strategies are working, where different strategies may be appropriate, and the impacts of specific strategies on social equity and ecological systems. The Climate Resilience Strategies Database brings those strategies together, along with information about what should be considered with each strategy in terms of social equity, effects on ecosystems, and impact on mitigation efforts, in a free, searchable database that will be kept current over time by engagement with the Resilience Ecosystem.

Recipient: Mapping Action Collective

Project Partners: CAPA Strategies, Science Museum of Virginia, Boston Museum of Science, Collective of South Florida Cities, GroundWork New York (Yonkers), and the City of Honolulu’s Office of Climate Sustainability and Resilience

This grant supports two major initiatives. The first is the development of a web-based platform for conducting community science campaigns, which provides the essential elements for managing and organizing a scientific field campaign for towns and cities. The platform will include information materials (e.g. manuals and videos), guidelines for ordering relatively inexpensive campaign temperature equipment (e.g. thermocouple, mounting instructions, downloading data, etc.), and an online invitation system for enabling partners to engage volunteers (e.g. recruiting drivers, marking areas of interest, generating route maps, etc.), and templates for communications and promotion both before and after these single-day campaigns. These refined “do-it-yourself” campaigns will be hosted and championed by local lead organizers representing informal science learning centers, other NGO’s, and municipalities that are already invested in participatory, civics-to-action climate resilience programming, thereby leveraging cost-share funding and volunteer time in the process.

Read more about this project from our partners at NOAA

Recipient: Model Forest Policy Project

Project Partners: EcoAdapt, NOAA Climate Program Office, International City/County Management Association, Geos Institute

The rural counties and small towns of America manage the farms, forests, watersheds and fisheries that provide air, water, food and fiber for urban and rural people alike. However, rural jurisdictions and businesses face escalating risks from extreme weather events and the impacts of heat, storms, flood, drought, wildfire, and much more. The capacity to address these challenges is sometimes limited by a lack of resources, staff capacity, and technical expertise in rural areas. Unfortunately, most existing climate services are also urban-focused. These resources do not mesh with the uniquely rural need to address both small towns and large landscapes that include farms, forests, rangelands, deserts, and waterways. There is a real and growing need for capacity and services that address rural obstacles, geographic conditions, and conservative ideological influences.

The Resilient Rural America Project (RRAP) proposes to accelerate rural climate adaptation by strengthening the ability of adaptation professionals to meet the needs of underserved rural jurisdictions, organizations, and businesses. The proposed project will enable rural leaders to take action on resilience strategies that meet their distinct priorities in ways that are feasible with limited staff and resources. The project is using a co-production approach to work in partnership with rural leaders and adaptation practitioners to understand specific rural priorities and needs and co-produce a series of training modules that meet those needs by drawing from the strengths of the existing resilience ecosystem resources and by using rural-friendly delivery methods.

Recipient: EcoAdapt

Project Partners: The American Association of Adaptation Professionals

Decision makers from communities and organizations of all sizes represent the constituency and market for the climate service providers sector. These practitioners and local leaders need expertise and guidance as they seek to make climate-informed decisions. Yet, this rapidly growing field currently has no mechanism to help connect service providers with those in need of their services. Because the field does not have standard certification, practitioners who contract with service providers have no way to determine the degree to which services providers are experienced, capable, or competent. As a result, they may work with providers who may not be a good fit for their community or organization and at worst contribute to maladaptation or increased risk. The Registry addresses this challenge by gathering information about service providers that is useful to service seekers and by making that information accessible and user friendly.

Recipient: Headwaters Economics

Project Partners: Northeast Regional Climate Center, Cornell University, NOAA, Mapbox Community, Azavea, Inc., Urban Sustainability Directors Network, US Bureau of Land Management

Headwaters Economics developed the Neighborhoods at Risk web-based tool to help 18 Midwestern and Mid-Atlantic communities identify the location of socioeconomically at-risk populations who are especially vulnerable to extreme weather events. The tool was developed in close partnership with sustainability directors from each of the 18 cities and with guidance from the NOAA Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic RISA teams. It was originally published in December 2018 and later expanded to include 9 additional communities in the Great Lakes region.

Headwaters Economics will integrate two open-access tools, Neighborhoods at Risk and the Applied Climate Information System (ACIS). The ACIS, hosted by the Northeast Regional Climate Center, provides open and free access to the latest downscaled climate model projections as well as historical climate data. The NRCC ACIS was designed for integration into other tools, such as Neighborhoods at Risk, to reduce resources required to make climate information accessible to decision makers. This project will expand the Neighborhoods at Risk tool, making it available to every community and county in the nation.

Recipient: ICLEI

Project Partners: Azavea, Fernleaf

…integration of a Top Hazards analysis and visualization feature within the NOAA Climate Explorer, and ground-test the module with US partner communities to refine and revise the tool in order to ensure it is useful and relevant to potential users. This feature provides suggested hazards specific to a user’s location based on the 2014 National Climate Assessment findings for their geographic region.

Recipient: Future Earth

Project Partners: FernLeaf, World Resources Institute, Vizzuality

Local planners and decision-makers are facing tough questions in a changing climate. Should city officials update building codes to climate-proof infrastructure against storm surges from monster hurricanes like Maria or move to higher ground? Should farmers in drought-prone regions adopt more efficient irrigation systems or switch to climate-resilient seeds? A barrier to answering these questions is the lack of access to useful and timely climate data and information. Existing resources, such as the Climate Explorer and the Partnership for Resilience and Preparedness (PREP), have made strides in increasing the usability and accessibility of data for the resilience ecosystem.

The Climate Explorer has improved the accessibility of climate information in decision making by building several data visualization modules with historic and projected climate and high tide flooding data. The newly developed open-source PREPdata platform is designed to help users to find relevant data for climate adaptation and resilience planning. With support from CRF, Future Earth will improve user visualizations in Climate Explorer and incorporate them into PREPdata, allowing the modules to be included on PREPdata dashboards. This project will benefit the resilience ecosystem by increasing practitioner’s ability to incorporate and translate critical climate data into local decision making.

Recipient: The Model Forest Policy Program

Project Partners: International City/County Management Association, EcoAdapt, Geos Institute, NOAA

An impressive collaborative effort of the Model Forest Policy Program (MFPP), the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), the Geos Institute, EcoAdapt, and the NOAA Climate Program Office, this team will work to accelerate climate resilience action in small, rural communities by co-producing and beta-testing a rural climate resilience training module, building sustainable funding support for adaptation service providers, and catalyzing action for adaptation strategies in communities where climate resources and guidance remain scarce.

Recipient: EcoAdapt

Project Partners: American Society of Adaptation Professionals, Geos Institute, Adaptation Service Bureau

Managers and planners from communities and organizations of all sizes are in need of guidance as they seek to make climate-informed decisions. EcoAdapt and its partners are creating a new online open-access Registry that will help to connect local decision-makers with vetted climate services providers.The rapidly growing Resilience Ecosystem contains many accomplished service providers and adaptation resource organizations. This product will help decision-makers quickly find the expertise they need to plan for, implement and evaluate climate resilience actions in their communities. The Registry will promote a common understanding of good practice and create a new system of service provider accountability. While other efforts are underway to identify, map, and create better access to adaptation organizations, there are currently no means available to locate and connect individual service providers with those in need of their services. In an emergent field that lacks certification standards, the Registry will provide local leaders with an efficient way to contract with service providers with relevant experience and proven performance.

Recipient: American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP)

Project Partners: EcoAdapt, Georgetown Climate Center, UNC Asheville’s National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

To ensure a climate-resilient future, effective decision making is needed in every sector and at every scale. The foundation of effective decision making is actionable, relevant, and appropriate information. EcoAdapt’s Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKE), Georgetown Climate Center’s (GCC) Adaptation Clearinghouse, and the federal government’s Climate Resilience Toolkit (CRT) are the adaptation field’s key knowledge brokers. These web portals act as toolboxes for members of the Resilience Ecosystem by providing curated access to a wide range of resources and information.

This project aims to examine these three platforms to identify key similarities and differences, build collaboration, and develop a plan for platform interoperability. The key objectives of the project include (1) helping users recognize when to use which tool in the toolbox, and (2) preparing the field’s knowledge brokers for further integration and collaboration. Deliverables include enhanced site linkages and connections among the three platforms where overlap exists and identification of complementary content for possible cross-platform synthesis.

Recipient: Freshwater Future

Project Partners: Sky Island Alliance, Adaptation/Insight, EcoAdapt, American Society of Adaptation Professionals

By bringing the concept of decision analysis into the Resilience Ecosystem, this project will help to increase use of analytic tools and concepts for communities making decisions on climate adaptation strategies.The partnership will develop a series of case studies illustrating how the tools of decision analysis have been applied to climate-related decision making and implement two pilot trainings: one to guide city decision-makers and community members to evaluate tradeoffs and options to upgrade infrastructure and build resilience; and another to support a diverse team of stakeholders developing a climate-smart conservation plan for the desert Southwest.

Recipient: Climate Access

Project Partners: NOAA Climate Program Office, Bellwether Collaboratory, American Association of Adaptation Professionals, Science to Action Community

The Resilience Navigator is aimed at scaling adaptation/resilience services by developing a dynamic web-based landscape analysis tool for identifying key actors in the Resilience Ecosystem based on roles, functions, and relationships. The Navigator will allow service providers and end users to gain insights as to how skill sets and services fit together, provide a better understanding of what is happening on the ground, and to identify gaps and opportunities for implementing climate adaptation strategies in their communities. This effort will consolidate data from a landscape analysis and member surveys of service organizations and use this as the basis for the map that will update dynamically as other actors in the Resilience Ecosystem add themselves to the database via a publicly accessible web app. The project will establish a foundation for ongoing coordination among service providers as the organizations involved will determine how to better connect their assets together in the landscape so end users find it easier to navigate the adaptation/resilience field, will pilot a process for sharing proprietary information with each other, and using this data to foster collaboration.

Recipient: EcoAdapt


Support for a three-day workshop that will be co-hosted by NOAA, EcoAdapt, and CRF. The goal of the event, planned for January 2018, is to facilitate the forging of an “ecosystem” of public and private collaborators committed to sustaining and evolving science-based tools, information, and expertise that can help communities and businesses build resilience to climate change impacts and extreme events. Core elements of this meeting include identifying how to fill the gaps in the Resilience Ecosystem but, how to sustain those current resources upon which everyone already relies. Funds will be used to provide travel support for key participants, as well as staff time for organizers. NOAA has provided a $25,000 match to support the workshop.

Recipient: Science to Action Community


Support for the Science to Action Community (S2AC), a nascent network of networks and organizations from the public, private NGO and academic sectors that are working together to coordinate and support climate action, environmental protections, and the production and use of science. S2AC formed in early 2017 on the heels of a meeting of more than 50 organizational leaders from the nonprofit community, academic institutions, federal agencies, and many practitioner networks in Washington DC. The group has organized to meet the challenges posed by the new political environment in DC. Funds will be used to provide staff support focused on the coordination of ten standing committees; development of a long-term coordination plan and a communications plan for the (now 80-plus members in the) S2A Community; and organization of the S2A Community meeting at the National Adaptation Forum in May 2017.

*Resources Legacy Fund served as fiscal agent and provided a $25,000 match for CRF’s grant.

Recipient: GEOS Institute

Support for the Designing a Nation-wide Climate Adaptation Service Delivery System project, a collaborative effort involving more than a dozen institutions focused on increasing the visibility of, access to, and utilization of climate adaptation tools and resources for local and regional practitioners across the country. The Service Bureau collaboration is working to design and create an effective climate services delivery system to make existing and newly developed resources more visible, transparent, and usable. Funds will be distributed among a core group of organizational leaders who will take on key research and planning elements, and to provide travel and convening support for the working group which is comprised of representatives from nearly 30 organizations.

Recipient: University of Virginia Institute for Environmental Negotiation

Virginia’s coastal communities are also among the most vulnerable in the US to the impacts of sea-level rise. In fact, Hampton Roads is facing the highest rates of sea level rise along the entire east coast. These rival New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta as the country’s most at risk for the effects of coastal flooding. Unfortunately, as is the case elsewhere, it is the most disadvantaged Virginians who are most impacted and least equipped to plan for and respond to coastal hazards. The University of Virginia (UVA) and a consortium of partners including the Virginia Coastal Policy Center at William & Mary Law School and the Old Dominion University Climate Adaptation and Resilience Program have designed the RAFT: Resilience Adaptation Feasibility Tool and the RAFT Scorecard assessment, a project aimed at building the capacity of people and towns in Virginia’s coastal regions to understand and adapt to the impact of sea level rise. The RAFT Scorecard provides a comprehensive assessment of a locality’s current resilience to flooding and other coastal hazards, issues of social equity, and potential impacts to economic and social viability.

With support from the Climate Resilience Fund, UVA and its partners will conduct a RAFT Scorecard assessment of seven localities on Virginia’s Eastern Shore that are already vulnerable to flooding. Scorecard results will be shared with community leaders through participatory discussions around their own towns’ challenges for effective climate change adaptation. UVA will assist communities in creating and implementing Resilience Action Checklists that prioritize their greatest opportunities for increasing local resilience. Prioritized actions may range from increasing local environmental regulations, to applying nature-based solutions such as green infrastructure installations, and improved land and water management practices. The collaboration will also facilitate a regional planning meeting to bring participants from across Virginia’s Eastern Shore into a regional dialogue around shared challenges, resources, and opportunities for region-wide collaboration on climate adaptation and resilience.

Recipient: Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, Coastal Resilience Program

The Eastern Shore of Maryland is one of the nation’s most vulnerable regions to sea-level rise impacts (only a handful of regions, including south Florida and coastal Louisiana are considered more at-risk). Maryland’s coastal region has fewer resources available to address these vulnerabilities. Led by the climate resilience team at the Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC), The Eastern Shore Climate Adaptation Partnership has been established as a multi-jurisdictional collaborative workgroup to build local capacity for shared resilience priorities across the region.

Support from the Climate Resilience Fund will help the ESLC provide vulnerability analyses, planning tools, coordination, and collaborative learning opportunities to help communities prepare for climate impacts through science-driven resilience planning and nature-based adaptation solutions like open space plans, hazard mitigation plans, stormwater ordinances, and green infrastructure improvements. Over the next two years, ESLC will host facilitated “Game of Floods” simulations and participatory workshops to help planners and decision-makers to: 1) translate the sea-level rise science and modeling scenarios so that they can assess the impacts to their communities; 2) understand the range of possible flood mitigation and sea-level rise adaptation strategies available to them; and 3) identify effective strategies and policy changes for adoption in their communities.

Recipient: The Nature Conservancy, New Jersey Chapter

Current research shows that New Jersey is likely to experience additional sea-level rise between 3-6 feet by the end of this century. Sea-level rise is not the only threat to the region. Concurrent increases in the frequency and intensity of precipitation events will coincide with expected increases in storm surge, nuisance flooding, and coastal erosion. These impacts, in combination with human development patterns including a predisposition by coastal communities to harden shorelines, will combine to put New Jersey’s extensive and rich coastal habitats at risk. These coastal ecosystems – tidal wetlands, salt marshes and sand dunes – buffer communities from impacts of flooding and storm surge that can cause millions of dollars in damage to homes, businesses, and infrastructure.

With support from the Climate Resilience Fund, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) will work to transform management of the coastline by enabling and encouraging partner communities to integrate the use of nature-based solutions into community and state response to climate-related hazards. Through engagement with stakeholders and a broad range of partners in 25 local communities, TNC will use its Coastal Resilience Took Kit to help assess flood risk, identify solutions, inform climate resilience planning, and implement proof of concept projects to demonstrate how restoration of coastal wetland habitats can protect both human communities and wildlife while mitigating the impacts of sea-level rise. TNC will also create a “Small Grant Living Shorelines Fund” to provide financial incentives and technical assistance for municipalities implementing their own nature-based shoreline resilience projects.