Funding Opportunity: Innovative Community Engagement Methods

When the Water Lives, We Live: Cohort-Based Community Engagement and Planning in Southcentral Alaska

Project Director (PD): Willow Hetrick
PD Organization: Chugach Regional Resources Commission
Project Location: Anchorage, AK
Award Amount: $299,688

Overview: Alaska Native Tribes are on the frontlines of climate change, seeing daily reminders of the environmental change that is affecting their livelihoods and well-being. This is particularly true in the rural communities of Southcentral Alaska, many of which are not on the road system and are heavily dependent on plants, animals, and other resources, primarily from the sea, for food, cultural activities, and economic opportunities. Building on the Chugach Regional Resources Commission’s (CRRC) regional vulnerability assessment, we propose a community engagement effort that: 1) engages a cohort, of two people from each of the seven communities in the region, to participate in a series of two workshops focused on adaptation planning to enhance community wellbeing; 2) works with the cohort to co-create information or tools that improve the accessibility and access of real-time data to enhance the communities ability to adapt to climate change (ex: safely harvest subsistence marine species); and 3) installs a mural and interactive kiosks on the Alutiiq Pride Marine Institute (APMI), a Tribal shellfish hatchery and ocean acidification research center managed by CRRC, to elevate Tribal voices about climate change, sharing a positive message about adaptation underway in the region with the thousands of people who visit Seward, Alaska annually. When the Water Lives, We Live, uses a range of culturally appropriate, innovative engagement methods to build capacity and address immediate adaptation needs of the region’s communities, while empowering residents to share their narrative about climate change adaptation in the region with a broader audience.

Resources

Final Report Recipient Summary When the Water Lives, We Live: Cohort-Based Community Engagement and Planning in Southcentral Alaska

Creation of a Community Resilience Registry: The Case for Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens

Project Director (PD): James Caldwell
PD Organization: Coalition of Community Organizations
Project Location: Houston, TX
Award Amount: $300,000

Overview: Prior research has documented many types of excess risk in environmental justice communities. These communities face the threat of environmental emergency contamination events, both manmade (e.g., chemical spills, dredging) and natural (e.g., hurricanes, floods), that increase the risk of exposure to hazardous substances linked to adverse effects on human health. The importance of these issues is underscored by the realities associated with climate change and the projected increase risks associated natural and anthropogenic hazards. This proposed project will focus specifically within Kashmere Gardens and Fifth Ward located in North Houston. The populations of Fifth Ward and Kashmere Gardens are comprised primarily of African American and non-white Hispanic groups. These neighborhoods are at the forefront of the nexus of exposures from natural hazards and anthropogenic contaminants. Recent events, such as Hurricane Harvey and Winter Storm Uri, have revealed that the those in the community often lack adequate knowledge to prepare for, and respond to, major climate related and hazard events. This is particularly true among the elderly and those lacking consistent access to the internet. This project will engage those that have been the most difficult to reach including the elderly, those lacking consistent internet access, and vulnerable families.This project will identify disaster needs in the targeted community, develop a community disaster communication plan, and establish a community resilience registry of individuals who need rapid dissemination of vital information in the event of a hazard.

Engaging New Orleanians in community-based flood monitoring and campaigns to discuss impacts and resilience

Project Director (PD): Cynthia Sarthou
PD Organization: Gulf Restoration Network (dba "Healthy Gulf")
Project Location: New Orleans, LA
Award Amount: $300,000

Overview: This project targets four neighborhoods in New Orleans at a high risk of flooding and loss from climate change. Predominantly Black and low-income, these neighborhoods sit well below sea level and have suffered continual disinvestment by the agencies and organizations responsible for protecting our communities. As a result, members of these communities feel disengaged from and disinterested in discussing the impact of climate change on their lives and livelihoods. We will be connecting a known effective model for community education and a novel engagement approach, a community-based monitoring mobile application, to engage these communities and re-engage them in a conversation about the impact of climate change on their health and the resilience of their communities. We believe that if we can engage these communities and give them a reliable platform on which they can track and report on their lived experiences, and connect directly with the agencies that make decisions in their communities, they will participate in the act of resilience and stay connected and engaged. We will work with community leaders through the first six months to train and engage the target communities in a series of campaigns designed to solicit their input and experiences. During the last six months of the project, we will work with the City of New Orleans to use the platform and campaigns to solicit community-input and recommendations for flood mitigation projects designed with the data from the first campaigns.

Resources

Final Report Recipient Summary Engaging New Orleanians in community-based flood monitoring and campaigns to discuss impacts and resilience

Community Art Living Shorelines (C.A.L.S.)

Project Director (PD): Kimberly Reyher
PD Organization: Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
Project Location: New Orleans, LA
Award Amount: $134,574

Overview: To engage coastal residents in nature-based climate solutions, CRCL proposes Community Art Living Shorelines (C.A.L.S.). This project will connect the art, food, and festival cultures of south Louisiana to broaden community engagement in coastal restoration and understanding of climate resilience. We will leverage CRCL’s Oyster Shell Recycling Program (OSRP), through which we recycle oyster shells from New Orleans restaurants to build living shorelines. The OSRP diverts shell from landfills to build reefs that reduce shoreline erosion, support local fisheries, and provide critical wetland habitat. C.A.L.S. will foster diverse engagement spaces where coastal residents create art from recycled oyster shells that are then incorporated into living shorelines. We will bring clean recycled shells to outreach events, including festivals, powwows, conferences, children’s museums, and Mardi Gras gatherings. Many, if not all, of these events will be held outside to minimize COVID transmission risks. Attendees will first be surveyed on their perceptions of climate change and community resilience, then CRCL staff will discuss climate change impacts, coastal restoration, and oyster reef living shorelines while inviting attendees to decorate clean oyster shells with environmentally friendly paint and markers. CRCL staff will photograph participants with their art and then bag shell to incorporate into living shorelines at coastal sites, such as Indigenous mounds that are near oyster seed grounds and leases. Shell art portraits will be made public on a digital archive that is linked to information on the reef project. We will survey participants throughout the project to assess learning and attitude changes.

Resources

Final Report Recipient Summary Community Art Living Shorelines (C.A.L.S.)

From Resilience to Restoration: Leveraging Houses of Faith to Move the Gulf South

Project Director (PD): Michael Malcom
PD Organization: The People's Justice Council
Project Location: Birmingham, AL
Award Amount: $300,000

Overview: Archimedes once said, “Give me but a firm spot on which to stand, and I shall move the earth.” Communities of faith are a firm spot from which to move the Gulf South--and the earth. We will work through existing networks and faith-based communities for a new, distinct activity: The creation of From Resilience to Restoration Hubs in each Gulf South state, including a centralized, online database of resources geared toward adaptation and use by individual houses of faith in creating local From Resilience to Restoration plans. The emphasis will be on the most vulnerable communities. Project Director Malcom will act as Restoration Hub Coordinator to facilitate the establishment of hubs in each Gulf South state. Our partners in this effort include both faith-based, interfaith, and secular organizations include: * Education, Economics, Environmental, Climate, and Health Organization (EEECHO) * Texas Impact * Gulf Coast Creation Care (GCCC) * Gulf Coast Center for Law & Policy (GCCLP) * Interfaith Power & Light (IPL) chapters throughout the Southeast Each of these partners, with their relevant geographic resilience activities, restoration knowledge, and networks of contacts, will be key to the establishment of From Resilience to Restoration hubs in each Gulf South state.

Resources

Final Report Recipient Summary From Resilience to Restoration: Leveraging Houses of Faith to Move the Gulf South

Reclaiming the Narrative: Cultivating Black Innovation in Green Spaces

Project Director (PD): Oji Alexander
PD Organization: Home by Hand, Inc
Project Location: New Orleans, LA
Award Amount: $300,000

Overview: This project aims to engage youth and elders in three to five predominantly Black neighborhoods in New Orleans in a design process to create their own small-scale installation that responds to an environmental challenge prevalent in their area. We will focus on neighborhoods that have historically experienced frequent flooding, rising temperatures due to the heat island effect, and increased rates of displacement. By using a racial justice lens, the practice of intergenerational storytelling, and design thinking frameworks; our project provides an opportunity for Black communities to redefine and reframe how climate resilient community development looks and operates. Our project is founded on the principles of asset-based community engagement, which highlights the inherent value, strengths and potentials of community members to build their own capacity to address environmental hazards. This approach acknowledges that the people most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are the most equipped to devise solutions that are sustainable, accessible and culturally relevant. This project can serve as a model for future programming that incentivizes intergenerational relationship building through the process of research and innovation. The cultural history of natural resource management, adaptation and resilience in Black communities across the Gulf South positions these groups to design and implement adaptive strategies that promote climate resilient, and socially fortified communities.

Resources

Final Report Recipient Summary Reclaiming the Narrative: Cultivating Black Innovation in Green Spaces

Engaging Community Leaders in Tampa Bay through Storytelling and Personal Experiences of Climate Change

Project Director (PD): Amanda Moore
PD Organization: National Wildlife Federation
Project Location: Tampa, FL
Award Amount: $299,020

Overview: Tampa Bay is one of the areas in our nation most vulnerable to climate change. Referred to as an area with high risk and low readiness, the region has large populations, including communities with high social vulnerability, and extensive development in flood-prone areas. Currently, the region is in various planning stages for increasing climate resilience. In order to foster broad support for planning efforts and implementation, it’s critical to grow awareness about the challenges faced and solutions at hand. Building from our experience across the Gulf Coast engaging with communities highly vulnerable to climate impacts, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) will engage with community leaders in Tampa Bay to discern how storytelling and experiential learning resonates and grows awareness about climate risk and solutions. We will capture stories from community leaders across the Gulf to relay personal experiences with climate impacts, lessons learned, and solutions employed. The climate change impacts discussed will center on shared risks across Gulf communities. These stories will be compiled, along with Tampa Bay-specific information about climate risks, and presented in a short film to leaders with a facilitated discussion. Next, NWF will bring community leaders on follow-up boat tours to local restoration hotspots to see climate challenges and solutions firsthand. These events will use surveys to gauge changes in perspectives and understanding of risk. NWF deeply values equity, justice, and inclusion and will ensure those principles are at the forefront of our project, highlighting climate impacts and solutions in communities of color and low-income communities.

Resources

Final Report Recipient Summary Engaging Community Leaders in Tampa Bay through Storytelling and Personal Experiences of Climate Change

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Funding Opportunity: Innovative Community Engagement Methods

Awarded 2021

Resources

Awarded Projects

My Academies

Funding Opportunity: Innovative Community Engagement Methods

Awarded 2021

Resources

Awarded Projects