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Accelerating Climate Resilience Grant Program
MAPC is working in partnership with the Barr Foundation to accelerate climate resilience in the region by helping municipalities advance strategies that protect people, places, and communities from the impacts of climate change.
The intent is to fund actionable resilience interventions that facilitate long-term, innovative changes leading to greater readiness for climate change. In particular, MAPC seeks to elevate projects that will advance climate equity, regional coordination, and social cohesion.
While the application deadline (Friday, September 15, 2023) has now passed, you can learn more about the Program and our application process by reading the Invitation for Proposals below.
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Questions?
Van Du
Assistant Director, Environmental Planning
vdu@mapc.org
Francelis Morillo Suarez
Clean Energy and Climate Planner I
fmorillosuarez@mapc.org
Program Priorities
We're supporting projects in the following categories:
- Nature-based solutions for climate resilience, such as green infrastructure, climate-smart parks, urban forestry, floodplain protection, and restoration of natural systems.
- Municipal climate resilience policy; including regulations, zoning, permitting, and inspectional services.
- Innovative financing or infrastructure investment program models.
- Capacity building through municipal staffing or climate coalitions/convenings, such as stormwater partnerships, regional climate networks, or watershed-based climate resilience initiatives.
- Contributions to social resilience or cohesion, such as public space improvements, dialogues, gatherings, training programs, and public health improvements, particularly for populations or neighborhoods vulnerable to climate change.
- Projects that combine climate adaptation with climate mitigation.
- Local food systems or community agriculture resilience measures.
- District-scale climate resilience pilots that are scalable and replicable.
- Innovative public outreach, engagement, and education efforts; including artistic, cultural, or creative projects that advance climate change knowledge or action.
Case Studies
Funded Projects: FY2024
Acton: Greening the Red House: A Living Example of Community and Climate Resilience
Project Type: Capital
Partners: Acton Water District
Grant Amount: $37,600
Boston: Building Climate Resilience Through Immersive Education and Training
Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation, University of Massachusetts Boston, Sustainable Aquaculture Program and Environmental Innovation Clinic, Wentworth Institute of Technology
Grant Amount: $45,000
Braintree: Watson Park Stormwater Retrofits
Project Type: Capital
Partners: N/A
Grant Amount: $20,000
Cambridge: Community Center Resilience Hub Solar Panels
Project Type: Capital
Partners: Cambridge Community Center, Climable, CESI
Grant Amount: $50,000
Chelsea: Urban Garden and Green Roof Design Pilot
Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Chelsea Senior Center, Chelsea's Department of Housing & Community Development, Green Roots
Grant Amount: $15,000
Everett: Main St. Meadows, Making Everett Cool
Project Type: Capital
Partners: Neighborways Design
Grant Amount: $20,000
Hopkinton: HopPlanning for Climate
Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Hopkinton’s Sustainable Green Committee (SGC), Cconservation Committee, Youth and Family Services, Planning Board, Hopkinton, Senior Center
Grant Amount: $35,000
Hull: Cadish Avenue Resilience Project
Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Stone Living Lab
Grant Amount: $50,000
Ipswich: Leveraging Rainwater Harvesting to Promote Accessible Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies
Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Earthwater Design Solutions, Inc., Ipswich Housing Authority
Grant Amount: $33,000
Wayland, Ashland, Framingham, Natick, and Weston: Empowering Climate Resilience for Aging Residents
Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: HeatSmart Alliance, MassEnergize
Grant Amount: $44,000
Funded Projects: FY2023
Beverly: Public Art to Illuminate Clean Energy Futures with Beverly Public School Students
Partners: Beverly Public Schools
Grant Amount: $20,100
Cambridge: Shade is Social Justice
Partners: Cambridge Arts, Harvard Office of Sustainability, MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, and more
Grant Amount: $100,000
Chelsea: White Roof Pilot for Heat Mitigation
Partners: GreenRoots, Chelsea Boys and Girls Club
Grant Amount: $85,000
Malden: Beat the Heat: Cooling the Wicked Hot Outdoors
Partners: Mystic River Watershed Association
Grant Amount: $100,000
Medford: Staff Capacity for Climate Change Zoning & Policy Capacity Building
Partners: N/A
Grant Amount: $75,000
Milton: Energy Resilience: Winter Valley Microgrid
Partners: Milton Residences for the Elderly
Grant Amount: $50,000
Milton and the Neponset River Watershed Association: Neponset Estuary Climate Resiliency Group
Partners: Neponset River Watershed Association, Boston Harbor Now, and other local community organizations in Boston and Quincy
Grant Amount: $44,450
Natick: Tiny Forest and Tree Planting
Partners: Bio4Climate (non-profit), Natick High School Earth Club, and Natick Sustainability Committee
Grant Amount: $57,000
Norwood: Green Stormwater Design at Senior Center and Emergency Shelter
Partners: Neponset River Watershed Association
Grant Amount: $50,000
Reading: Mattera Cabin Community Garden Phase II
Partners: Community Garden Collective
Grant Amount: $42,500
Scituate: Development of a Resilient Waterfront Park in Scituate Harbor
Partners: Scituate Harbor Redevelopment Commission
Grant Amount: $100,000
Watertown: Edible Watertown
Partners: Watertown Community Gardens, Watertown School Gardens
Grant Amount: $70,600
Winchester, Arlington, and Stoneham: Sustainable Landscape Handbook and Trainings
Partners: N/A
Grant Amount: $40,400
Funded Projects: Second Round of FY2021
Arlington: Remembrance of Climate Futures
Partners: Arlington Commission for Arts & Culture, Arlington Public Schools Green Team, artist Tom Starr
Grant Amount: $17,350
Short Description: Series of public art markers created by Arlington students.
Beverly/Salem: Community Outreach Campaign for Building Retrofits
Project Partners: Cities of Beverly and Salem
Grant Amount: $50,000
Short description: Targeted community outreach campaign to retrofit buildings to be more energy-efficient.
Boston Food Forest Coalition
Partners: Boston Department of Neighborhood Development, Boston Food Forest Coalition
Grant Amount: $50,000
Short description: Train local community members to maintain food forests, create educational signage for visitors, and hold summit.
Brookline: Tech Buddies Program
Partners: Brookline Housing Authority; Brookline Center for Community Mental Health; Brookline Council on Aging
Grant Amount: $28,000
Short description: Provide user-friendly tablets and internet access to seniors.
Chelsea/Revere/Winthrop: Social Vulnerability Assessment
Partners: City of Chelsea, City of Revere, Town of Winthrop, GreenRoots, Mystic River Watershed Association
Grant Amount: $50,000
Short description: Social vulnerability assessment for climate-vulnerable communities in Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop
Marlborough: Tree Planting Initiative
Project Partners: Boys and Girls Club of Metro West
Grant Amount: $44,500
Short description: Strategic tree planting in Environmental Justice neighborhoods
Medford: Resilience Hubs
Project Partners: Medford Housing Authority, Climate CREW, Medford Health Matters, Wayside Youth & Family Services, Safe Medford, Medford Food Security Task Force, Regional Mystic Collaborative
Grant Amount: $29,330
Short description: Conceptualization and community-building for equitable, community-driven resilience hubs
Revere/Saugus/Lynn/Everett/Malden: Regional Resiliency Working Group
Partners: Municipalities – Revere, Saugus, Lynn, Malden and Everett; Saugus River Watershed, Alliance for Health and the Environment; Riverside Association; Point of Pines Beach Association
Grant Amount: $46,000
Short description: Establish a regional resiliency working group with a focus on regional flood protection.
Salem: Mack Park Farm and Food Forest
Partners: Salem Pantry
Grant Amount: $45,019
Short description: Construct a solar-powered storage building and water catchment system as part of the Mack Park Farm & Food Forest municipal agriculture project.
Stoughton: Community Pollinator Gardens
Partners: Mass Audubon Museum of American Bird Art; Recreation Dept, Environmental Affairs and Conservation Commission, Stoughton Public Library, Youth Commission, and Stoughton Diversity and Inclusion Organization, Public Works, and Council on Aging
Grant Amount: $20,000
Short description: Create three pollinator gardens accessible to the town's senior population.
Stow: Climate Resilience Coalition
Partners: OARS, Sudbury Valley Trustees, MetroWest Conservation Alliance, municipalities – Acton, Bedford, Bolton, Boxborough, Lexington, Lincoln, Stow, SuAsCo Wild & Scenic River Stewardship Council (RSC), Massachusetts Ecosystem Climate Adaptation Network (MassECAN)
Grant Amount: $15,000
Short description: Establish a Climate Resiliency Coalition with the 13 MAGIC municipalities in the SuAsCo watershed.
Funded Projects: First Round of FY2021
Beverly Strategic Tree Planting Initiative
Partners: Karen and Thomas Blair-Urban Horticultural Consultants
Grant Amount: $75,000 one-year grant
Cambridge: Charles River Floating Wetland Phase II Expansion
Project Partners: Charles River Conservancy, MIT Sea Grant, Cambridge Public Schools, Cambridge Dept. of Public Works
Grant Amount: $52,250 one-year grant
Canton Resilience @ Home
Partners: Canton Housing Authority, Neponset River Watershed Association, MA Audubon, Canton Public Schools
Grant Amount: $42,817 one-year grant
Chelsea Energy Resilience: Neighborhood Grid
Project Partners: Greenroots, Inc., The Neighborhood Developers
Grant Amount: $142,500 two-year grant
Framingham: Lake Waushakum Resiliency Design
Partners: Framingham Parks & Recreation Commission, Town of Ashland, Coburnville-Tripoli Neighborhood Association, Waushakum Pond Association, Downtown Framingham, Inc.
Grant Amount: $52,500 one-year grant
Malden River Works for Waterfront Equity and Resilience
Partners: Mystic River Watershed Association, MIT (Urban Studies and Center for Environmental Health), and the Malden Riverworks Steering Committee
Grant Amount: $52,500 one-year grant
Growing Food and Social Resilience in Natick
Project Partners: Natick Housing Authority, Natick Service Council, Natick Community Organic Farm, Keefe Tech High School
Grant Amount: $141,793 two-year capital grant
Somerville: Solutions to Build a Heat Healthy Community
Project Partners: Somerville Health and Human Services, Council on Aging, Shape Up Somerville
Grant Amount: $52,250 one-year grant
Wenham: Development Regulations for Climate Resilience
Grant Amount: $49,875 one-year grant
Winchester Sustainability Director: Rapid Implementation of Winchester's Climate Action Plan
Partners: Winchester Climate Action Advisory Committee
Grant Amount: $52,500 one-year grant for capacity-building
Woburn Senior Center Community Garden
Grant Amount: $29,376 one-year grant
Funded Projects: FY2020
Strengthening Social and Climate Resilience in East Boston
Grantees: Boston Public Health Commission & The Harborkeepers
Grant Amount: $44,995
Tree Box Installations for Stormwater Management in Braintree
Grantee: Braintree Department of Public Works
Grant Amount: $38,755
Sustainable Landscaping in Concord
Grantee: Concord Sustainability Division
Grant Amount: $26,000
Snug Harbor Resilience Master Plan in Duxbury
Grantee: Duxbury Planning Department
Grant Amount: $24,800
Youth Stewardship of Northern Strand Green Infrastructure Sites in Everett
Grantee: Everett Office of Planning and Development
Grant Amount: $30,000
Community Gardens at Public Housing in Medford
Grantees: Medford Planning Department, Mass In Motion, and Affordable Housing
Grant Amount: $31,105
Burke-Memorial Elementary School Rain Garden in Medway
Grantee:
Town of Medway
Grant Amount:
$50,000
Equity and Climate Resiliency in Needham
Grantees: Needham Public Health Division and Green Needham
Grant Amount: $26,089
Long Beach Living Shoreline Project in Rockport
Grantee: Rockport Department of Public Works
Grant Amount: $32,500
Peggoty Beach Managed Retreat Feasibility Study in Scituate
Grantee: Scituate Department of Planning and Development
Grant Amount: $35,000