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Check Out Our Recent CEJ Publications Below!
Climate adaptation research priorities and funding: a review of US federal departments’ climate action plans
ABSTRACT
National-level governments are directing and funding climate adaptation research, which is essential to informing effective and equitable adaptation practices. We sought to understand how United States (US) federal agencies prioritize, direct, and fund research related to climate adaptation and climate resilience through analyzing climate action plans created in 2021 by 13 agencies who are members of the US Global Change Research Program. We examine: (1) agencies’ stated climate adaptation research priorities; (2) how agencies address collaboration, outreach, accessibility, and usability of research outcomes; and (3) agencies’ adaptation research funding opportunities. We argue that certain research needs, justice and equity considerations, and interdisciplinary research should be emphasized to a greater degree. While adaptation research capacity and funding opportunities are expanding, they remain inadequate for the scale of research needed.
KEY POLICY INSIGHTS
US federal agencies vary in their integration of research as a core component of their climate adaptation plans, but most prioritize research that is relevant and accessible to stakeholders and decision-makers.
While all agencies addressed environmental justice, some could more substantially incorporate justice considerations into their climate adaptation research.
Adaptation research and strategies should ensure that collaborations are inclusive and sustainable and would benefit from meaningful and respectful collaboration with tribes and Indigenous Peoples, as well as marginalized and under-represented groups.
Multidisciplinary research is key to climate adaptation and should be enhanced through increasing funding support for crosscutting programmes.
CEJ Co-founder, Melinda Laituri, recently published this book:
The Geographies of Covid-19 as part of the Global Perspectives on Health Geography book series (GPHG)
"The consequential geography of the pandemic exposes a landscape of inequality and vulnerable populations. The pandemic illuminates differential access to critical infrastructure for remote learning, availability of health care, and access to basic services. This crisis magnifies fundamental inequalities that require robust data to track the virus in at-risk populations as well as identify innovative solutions for both economic and community health at a local scale." Laituri, M. 2022.
CEJ's Stephanie Malin co-authored a new book about community change in the face of environmental injustice.
Available now at Rutgers University Press http://www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/building-something-better/9781978823686
Rivers Across Borders: Environmental Justice in the Rio Grande Basin
by Mindy Hill, Melinda Laituri, and Stephanie Malin
© 2021
The Palgrave Handbook of Environmental Labour Studies
Editors (view affiliations) Nora Räthzel, Dimitris Stevis, David Uzzell
Stay tuned for webinar series coming in Spring, 2022!
MaPTCC Ethos and Connections Live On
Important Announcement:
U.S. EPA terminated the grant funding our technical assistance center, Mountains and Plains Thriving Communities Collaborative, on February 21, 2025. Despite our best efforts to secure alternate funding and the possibility of future reversals of this action, the pace and scale of this termination has outmatched our capacity to respond. Therefore, at this time, we are forced to end the formal work of MaPTCC.
We want to reassure you that our commitment to rural, tribal, and underserved communities remains strong. Together with our partners at Montana State University, Utah State University, the University of Wyoming, the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy, and the Center for Social Creativity, the Center for Environmental Justice at Colorado State University will continue to offer resources and coalition-building support.
Related Program Updates:
Thriving Communities Grant: As of March 21, the funding for this grant remains intact and MAP EJ Grants Hub, a project of JSI, separate from MaPTCC, continues to operate. For updates, please sign up for MAP EJ Grants Hub listserv and/or monitor their website. Questions may be directed to mapejgrants@jsi.com.
Solar for All: This program continues to operate. For information and updates, please visit the organizations administering Solar for All in your region.
Colorado: Colorado Energy Office
Montana/Wyoming: Bonneville Environmental Foundation
South Dakota and North Dakota: Coalition for Green Capital
Utah: Utah Office of Energy Development
Tribal: Multiple organizations available – please contact the Alliance for Tribal Clean Energy for specific opportunities and support
Ways to receive technical assistance:
National technical assistance providers:
Wyoming:
Colorado:
Tribal-focused technical assistance providers:
Funding Opportunity Databases:
To set up a free profile that will be seen by over 215 philanthropic funders, consider creating a common app by registering on JustFund.us
To connect with funders and field experts, especially for infrastructure projects, consider signing up for the Community Infrastructure Center. They will be hosting "Deal Rooms" for organizations to pitch their ideas to philanthropic funders.
- America’s Federal Funding Opportunities and Resources for Decarbonization
- CO Department of Local Affairs Funding Opportunities
- DOE Infrastructure Program and Funding Announcements
- Environmental Protection Network Funding Database
- Frontline Resource Institute
- HUD Exchange Funding Navigator
- Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization Funding Clearing House
- Tribal Climate Change Funding Guide
- U.S. Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs Current Funding Opportunities
- USDA Rural Development
- WY Grants Connect Hub
Resources:
- Headwaters Economics Socioeconomic Profiles: https://headwaterseconomics.org/tools/
- Colorado EnviroScreen map: https://cdphe.colorado.gov/enviroscreen
- ISC’s “Solutions for Community Resilience”: https://sustain.tfaforms.net/15
- MAP EJ Hub contact info: Meredith_lee@jsi.com and mapejgrants@jsi.com. Website: https://mapejgrants.org/
Water TA resources:
Colorado specific resources:
Water Ready Team Launches first Water Justice Event
THANK YOU to Colorado State University students Benton Roesler, Victoria Silva, and Amber Obermaier for their student leadership launching our first WaterReady project. Last Saturday we were able to distribute 400 Brita Elite Water Filters to residents at a local mobile home community. Thanks to volunteers from Serve 6.8 for organizing the pitcher delivery with us!
Together with community, we are trying to understand if any issues of water access and/or water quality exist so that we can co-construct viable, equitable solutions. Colorado Water Center's Jessica J. Thrasher, and Center for Environmental Justice Co-Founder and Co-Director, Stephanie Malin round out our Colorado State University team and guide our WaterJustice efforts.
This collaborative team is building on the generous efforts of communities across Colorado who advocated to pass HB 23-1257, the Mobile Home Park Water Quality Act. We are putting legislation into action! You can read more about state-wide efforts here: https://lnkd.in/gebWM2PC
Stay up to date with our events
and make sure to follow us on social media!
Join us on our mission. We are collaborators who thrive on connection to others who want to be involved in creating a more just, sustainable world.
Contact us to get involved!
– CEJ Team