Building Community Capacity for Climate Resiliency

Through this RFP, HEP will identify and support four to eight proposals that meet one or ideally more of the following objectives:

1. Enable disadvantaged communities in the Hudson – Raritan Estuary to fully participate in planning and decisions about coastal adaptation and other infrastructure projects being advanced by federal, state, and local agencies. Proposals that can describe how community input could be incorporated into the federal, state or local decisions or otherwise demonstrate coordination with the lead project agency are particularly encouraged. Example projects across the estuary and its watersheds could include but are not limited to the United State Army Corps of Engineer’s New York-New Jersey Harbor and Tributaries Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study (HATS), New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s Resilient NJ initiatives for Northeastern NJ and the Raritan River and Bay Communities; New York State’s Climate Smart Communities program; the projects being advanced under the Adapt NYC planning framework including NYCDEP’s Cloudburst initiatives.
2. Advance community-initiated projects that will enhance climate resiliency, including shoreline improvements, stormwater management measures, and natural and nature-based resiliency features. We are especially interested in projects that will help communities gain access to future federal and state infrastructure funding opportunities and demonstrate how to incorporate social vulnerability of communities to make better informed decisions.
3. Address gaps in data and knowledge that will improve community and agency understanding of baseline conditions, the current and future impacts of climate change, community values, and/or the effectiveness of alternative adaptation measures and management strategies. This can include efforts to assess the state of existing knowledge as well as the development, implementation, and evaluation of educational programs. Projects that engage community members to participate in the co-production of required data and knowledge are especially encouraged.
4. Demonstrate the power of collaboration between community, government, independent scientists, and/or utilities. Addressing climate change requires a team effort. Proposals that engage multiple stakeholders or seek to establish successful community involvement in such partnerships are highly desired.

For information about anticipated activities and outputs, see the following link: https://www.hudsonriver.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/HEP-RFP_Building-Community-Capacity-for-Climate-Resiliency.pdf#page=3

Additional Geographic Information:

Estimated Total Program Funding: