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Accelerating Climate Resilience Grant Program

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MAPC >> Resources >> Environment >> Accelerating Climate Resilience Grant Program

Happening Now

Now Open! Submit Your Proposal for FY27 Accelerating Climate Resilience Grants

Beginning now through May 29 at 5 pm, MAPC is accepting proposals for 12-month projects for up to $50,000, with preference for regional collaborations.

In addition to the 101 cities and towns in the MAPC region, eligible lead applicants also include entities and/or organizations that work in and serve the people of the MAPC region. The organizations are defined as local 501(c)(3) community-based organizations, tribes, and Indigenous communities. Community-based organizations without 501(c)(3) status are encouraged to partner with their municipality to submit an application.

Online Application Form

Please complete and submit your Proposal by May 29, 2026 at 5 pm. Note: If you are unable to access or complete the online application, please contact Van Du ([email protected]) for a fillable PDF version of the application form.

Invitation for Proposal

MAPC is hosting two opportunities to provide potential applicants with more information prior to submitting your proposal. Note: These are optional opportunities and attending one or both is not required to submit a proposal.

April 27, 2026 \| 12:00 pm, Zoom	April 30, 2026 \| 12: 00 pm, Zoom
Informational Webinar (Open to all) Register for the Informational Webinar	Grant Writing Workshop (Open to non-municipal applicants) Register for the Workshop

Questions?
Please contact: Van Du, [email protected]

Accelerating Climate Resilience (ACR) 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.

Accelerating Climate Resilience (ACR) Speaker Series
The Accelerating Climate Resilience (ACR) Speaker Series is open to the public and a space where experts and practitioners from across the country come together to discuss innovative ways to advance resilience strategies that protect people, places, and communities from the impacts of climate change.

Go to the ACR Speaker Series Webpage

Accelerating Climate Resilience Speaker Series cover slide. A light blue background over an ariel view of a city/town. On the blue background is text that says, "Let's Talk About It: The Role of Communication in Climate Work. Kristin Timm, PhD., University of Alaska Fairbanks. Sammi Munson, PhD, Gonzaga University.

Meet the Team

Van Du, Director of Environmental Planning, portrait image

Van Du
Assistant Director, Environmental Planning
[email protected]

Francelis Morillo Suarez, Clean Energy & Climate Planner II, portrait image

Francelis Morillo Suarez
Clean Energy and Climate
Planner II
[email protected]

Kat Kobylt, Senior Environmental Planner, portrait image

Kat Kobylt
Senior Environmental
Planner
[email protected]

Program Priorities

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Nature-based solutions for climate resilience, such as green infrastructure, climate-smart parks, urban forestry, floodplain protection, and restoration of natural systems.

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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.

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Innovative financing or infrastructure investment program models.

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Municipal climate resilience policy; including regulations, zoning, permitting, and inspectional services.

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Projects that combine climate adaptation with climate mitigation.

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Capacity building through municipal staffing or climate coalitions/convenings, such as stormwater partnerships, regional climate networks, or watershed-based climate resilience initiatives.

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Innovative public outreach, engagement, and education efforts; including artistic, cultural, or creative projects that advance climate change knowledge or action.

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Local food systems or community agriculture resilience measures.

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District-scale climate resilience pilots that are scalable and replicable.

Resources

ACR Case Studies

General Resources

ACR Funded Projects

Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26)

Black Economic Council of Massachusetts: BECMA Rooftop Garden

Project Type: Capital
Partners: n/a
Grant Amount: $75,000

Boston Public Housing Corporation: Archdale Park and Playground

Project Type: Capital
Partners: Trust for Public Land, Archdale Residents Design Committee
Grant Amount: $100,000

Chelsea: Stitching Against the Heat: A Yarn for Change

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design, Capital, Capacity Building
Partners: Housing and Community Development Department, Chelsea Senior Center, Mystic River Watershed Association, GreenRoots
Grant Amount: $75,000

Housing Corporation of Arlington: Resilience for All: Creating Climate Resilient Spaces for Arlington’s Affordable Housing

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design, Capital, Capacity Building
Partners: Town of Arlington, Resonant Energy
Grant Amount: $80,000

Just a Start: Neighborhood Fabrics: Youth, Art & Climate Resilience in the Port (Cambridge)

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Community Art Center
Grant Amount: $25,000

Marblehead: Resilient by Design: Cooling Marblehead’s Housing for the Future

Project Type: Capital
Partners: Sustainable Marblehead, Marblehead Housing Authority, Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor
Grant Amount: $80,000

MassEnergize, Inc.: PlugIN for Resilience: Community-Led Electrification for Climate Resilience

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Town of Acton, Town of Ashland, City of Framingham, Town of Natick, Town of Sudbury, Town of Wayland, Energize Acton, Energize Ashland, EcoNatick, Sustainable Sudbury, Energize Wayland, Energize Framingham
Grant Amount: $50,000

Neighborhood of Affordable Housing, Inc. and Maverick Landing Community Services: Eastie’s Clean Air Partnerships

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Mothers Out Front (East Boston), Air Inc., JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc., UMass Boston Mauricio Gaston Institute, City of Boston Office of Participatory Budgeting, Northeastern University
Grant Amount: $125,000

Revere: Building Adaptive Capacity in Beachmont: Flood Monitoring and Community Resilience at Belle Isle Marsh

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design, Capacity Building
Partners: Mystic River Watershed Association, Climate Advisory Group
Grant Amount: $40,000

TownGreen, Inc.: Cape Ann MARCH and the Neighborhood Resiliency Project

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: City of Gloucester, Town of Rockport, Town of Essex, Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea, UMass Amherst Gloucester Marine Station, City of Gloucester Emergency Management Department, the American Red Cross Northeast MA Chapter
Grant Amount: $75,000

WalkMassachusetts: Climate-Safe Walk Audit Initiative: Enhancing Pedestrian Resilience In A Rapidly Warming World

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design, Capacity Building
Partners: Melrose, Stoneham, and Wakefield Health and Human Services Departments, Salem Transportation Department, Danvers Accessibility Commission
Grant Amount: $75,000

Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24)

Acton: Greening the Red House: A Living Example of Community and Climate Resilience

Project Type: Capital
Partners: Acton Water District
Grant Amount: $49,171

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

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), Conservation 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

Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23)

Beverly: Public Art to Illuminate Clean Energy Futures with Beverly Public School Students

Project Type: Capacity Building, Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Beverly Public Schools
Grant Amount: $20,100

Cambridge: Shade is Social Justice

Project Type: Capital
Partners: Cambridge Arts, Harvard Office of Sustainability, MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, and more
Grant Amount: $100,000

Chelsea: White Roof Pilot for Heat Mitigation

Project Type: Capital, Capacity Building
Partners: GreenRoots, Chelsea Boys and Girls Club
Grant Amount: $85,000

Malden: Beat the Heat: Cooling the Wicked Hot Outdoors

Project Type: Capital, Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Mystic River Watershed Association
Grant Amount: $100,000

Medford: Staff Capacity for Climate Change Zoning & Policy Capacity Building

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: n/a
Grant Amount: $75,000

Milton: Energy Resilience: Winter Valley Microgrid

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Milton Residences for the Elderly
Grant Amount: $50,000

Milton and the Neponset River Watershed Association: Neponset Estuary Climate Resiliency Group

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Neponset River Watershed Association, Boston Harbor Now, and other local community organizations in Boston and Quincy
Grant Amount: $45,450

Natick: Tiny Forest and Tree Planting

Project Type: Capital
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

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Neponset River Watershed Association
Grant Amount: $50,000

Reading: Mattera Cabin Community Garden Phase II

Project Type: Capital
Partners: Community Garden Collective
Grant Amount: $42,500

Scituate: Development of a Resilient Waterfront Park in Scituate Harbor

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Scituate Harbor Redevelopment Commission
Grant Amount: $100,000

Watertown: Edible Watertown

Project Type: Capital, Capacity Building
Partners: Watertown Community Gardens, Watertown School Gardens
Grant Amount: $70,600

Winchester, Arlington, and Stoneham: Sustainable Landscape Handbook and Trainings

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: n/a
Grant Amount: $40,400

Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) - second round

Arlington: Remembrance of Climate Futures

Project Type: Capital, Technical Assistance/Design, Capacity Building
Partners: Arlington Commission for Arts & Culture, Arlington Public Schools Green Team, artist Tom Starr
Grant Amount: $17,350

Beverly/Salem: Community Outreach Campaign for Building Retrofits

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Cities of Beverly and Salem
Grant Amount: $50,000

Boston Food Forest Coalition

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Boston Department of Neighborhood Development, Boston Food Forest Coalition
Grant Amount: $50,000

Brookline: Tech Buddies Program

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Brookline Housing Authority; Brookline Center for Community Mental Health; Brookline Council on Aging
Grant Amount: $28,000

Chelsea/Revere/Winthrop: Social Vulnerability Assessment

Project Type: Capacity Building, Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: City of Chelsea, City of Revere, Town of Winthrop, GreenRoots, Mystic River Watershed Association
Grant Amount: $50,000

Marlborough: Tree Planting Initiative

Project Type: Capital
Partners: Boys and Girls Club of Metro West
Grant Amount: $44,500

Medford: Resilience Hubs

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Medford Housing Authority, Climate CREW, Medford Health Matters, Wayside Youth & Family Services, Safe Medford, Medford Food Security Task Force, Regional
Grant Amount: $29,330

Revere/Saugus/Lynn/Everett/Malden: Regional Resiliency Working Group

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
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

Salem: Mack Park Farm and Food Forest

Project Type: Capital
Partners: Salem Pantry
Grant Amount: $45,019

Stoughton: Community Pollinator Gardens

Project Type: Capital
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

Stow: Climate Resilience Coalition

Project Type: Capacity Building
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

Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) - first round

Beverly Strategic Tree Planting Initiative

Project Type: Capital
Partners: Karen and Thomas Blair-Urban Horticultural Consultants
Grant Amount: $75,000

Cambridge: Charles River Floating Wetland Phase II Expansion

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Charles River Conservancy, MIT Sea Grant, Cambridge Public Schools, Cambridge Dept. of Public Works
Grant Amount: $52,250

Canton Resilience @ Home

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Canton Housing Authority, Neponset River Watershed Association, MA Audubon, Canton Public Schools
Grant Amount: $42,817

Chelsea Energy Resilience: Neighborhood Grid

Project Type: Capital
Partners: Greenroots, Inc., The Neighborhood Developers
Grant Amount: $142,500

Framingham: Lake Waushakum Resiliency Design

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Framingham Parks & Recreation Commission, Town of Ashland, Coburnville-Tripoli Neighborhood Association, Waushakum Pond Association, Downtown Framingham, Inc
Grant Amount: $52,500

Malden River Works for Waterfront Equity and Resilience

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Mystic River Watershed Association, MIT (Urban Studies and Center for Environmental Health), and the Malden Riverworks Steering Committee
Grant Amount: $52,500

Growing Food and Social Resilience in Natick

Project Type: Capital, Capacity Building
Partners: Natick Housing Authority, Natick Service Council, Natick Community Organic Farm, Keefe Tech High School
Grant Amount: $141,793

Somerville: Solutions to Build a Heat Healthy Community

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Somerville Health and Human Services, Council on Aging, Shape Up Somerville
Grant Amount: $52,250

Wenham: Development Regulations for Climate Resilience

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: n/a
Grant Amount: $49,875

Winchester Sustainability Director: Rapid Implementation of Winchester's Climate Action Plan

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Winchester Climate Action Advisory Committee
Grant Amount: $52,500

Woburn Senior Center Community Garden

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: n/a
Grant Amount: $29,376

Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20)

Strengthening Social and Climate Resilience in East Boston

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Boston Public Health Commission & The Harborkeepers
Grant Amount: $44,995

Tree Box Installations for Stormwater Management in Braintree

Project Type: Capital
Partners: Braintree Department of Public Works
Grant Amount: $38,755

Sustainable Landscaping in Concord

Project Type: Capital, Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Concord Sustainability Division
Grant Amount: $26,000

Snug Harbor Resilience Master Plan in Duxbury

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Duxbury Planning Department
Grant Amount: $24,800

Youth Stewardship of Northern Strand Green Infrastructure Sites in Everett

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Ipswich Utilities Department & Ipswich River Watershed Assocation
Grant Amount: $19,550

Community Gardens at Public Housing in Medford

Project Type: Capital
Partners: Medford Planning Department, Mass In Motion, and Affordable Housing
Grant Amount: $31,105

Burke-Memorial Elementary School Rain Garden in Medway

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Town of Medway
Grant Amount: $50,000

Equity and Climate Resiliency in Needham

Project Type: Capacity Building
Partners: Needham Public Health Division and Green Needham
Grant Amount: $26,089

Long Beach Living Shoreline Project in Rockport

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Rockport Department of Public Works
Grant Amount: $32,500

Peggoty Beach Managed Retreat Feasibility Study in Scituate

Project Type: Technical Assistance/Design
Partners: Scituate Department of Planning and Development
Grant Amount: $35,000