BOSTON - December 19, 2022 – Thirteen projects in the greater Boston region will soon put more than $800,000 to work advancing local climate change resilience, thanks to a new round of "Accelerating Climate Resilience” grant funding announced this week. Municipalities will implement strategies that protect people, places, and communities from the impacts of climate change.

Grants range in size from $20,000 to $100,000 per project and are designed to facilitate long-term, innovative changes leading to greater readiness for climate change. In particular, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) seeks to elevate projects that will advance climate equity, regional coordination, and social cohesion.

This is the fourth round of funding distributed through the program, part of a partnership between The Barr Foundation and MAPC. The following cities/towns were awarded grants for their projects:

• Beverly: “Public Art to Illuminate Clean Energy Futures with Beverly Public School Students” – $20,100
• Cambridge: “Shade is Social Justice” – $100,000
• Chelsea: “White Roof Pilot for Heat Mitigation” – $85,000
• Malden: “Beat the Heat: Cooling the Wicked Hot Outdoors” – $100,000
• Medford: “Staff Capacity for Climate Change Zoning & Policy Capacity Building” – $75,000
• Milton: “Energy Resilience: Winter Valley Microgrid” – $50,000
• Milton and the Neponset River Watershed Association: “Neponset Estuary Climate Resiliency Group” – $44,450
• Natick: “Tiny Forest and Tree Planting” – $57,000
• Norwood: “Green Stormwater Design at Senior Center and Emergency Shelter” – $50,000
• Reading: “Mattera Cabin Community Garden Phase II” – $42,500
• Scituate: “Development of a Resilient Waterfront Park in Scituate Harbor” – $100,000
• Watertown: “Edible Watertown” – $70,600
• Winchester, Arlington, and Stoneham: “Sustainable Landscape Handbook and Trainings” – $40,400

“This fourth round of Accelerating Climate Resiliency grants is our largest cohort yet in terms of the number of communities involved, the total amount of funding awarded, and the overall number of projects,” said MAPC Deputy Executive Director of Planning and Sustainability Katherine Antos. “We are pleased to award a mix of one- and two-year projects that will advance a diverse range of goals – from education, engagement, and adaptation planning to implementation projects in public spaces that will green our communities and reduce harmful urban heat islands, support energy resilience, and manage coastal flood risks.”

Full project descriptions, timelines, and local partners can be found at mapc.org/accelerating-resiliency. Grant recipients will also participate in MAPC’s Resilience Community of Practice, a peer-to-peer learning group that will bring together grantees regularly to discuss challenges and barriers to implementation, and share lessons learned for collective problem-solving.

“Congratulations to this new cohort of Accelerating Climate Resilience grantees. It is very exciting to see the diversity of strategies and approaches being implemented to increase local preparedness and ultimately strengthen our region’s resilience to climate change. The Barr Foundation is proud to support such collective efforts through the ACR program,” said Kalila Barnett, senior program officer, climate resilience at the Barr Foundation.

“The Town of Scituate is thrilled to be a recipient of the MAPC Accelerating Climate Resilience Grant,” said Scituate Town Administrator James Boudreau. “As a coastal town, the threat of flooding from sea level rise is very real here. This funding will go a long way towards helping the Town remove a building and parking lot from the flood hazard zone and develop this new resilient waterfront park.”

Josh Lee, Milton assistant town planner, and Meera Patel, environmental coordinator, spoke on behalf of the microgrid project: “We are very excited to move forward with this project that will advance climate equity, improve energy efficiency in both our municipal buildings and in affordable senior housing, and reaffirm the Town of Milton’s commitment to bold and innovative climate action. Through this microgrid, we will be able to maintain key emergency services and protect our senior residents when faced with climate-driven disruptions to the grid.”

For more information and questions about the Accelerating Climate Resilience program, contact MAPC Senior Environmental Planner Van Du at [email protected].