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Geos Institute helps communities build resilience in the face of climate change

Fifteen states step forward to be part of Climate Ready America

From the April 2022 Cornerstone Network Email

On April 15, we closed the call for states and state level organizations to submit proposals to develop a pilot Climate Innovation Center in their state. You’ll recall from earlier messages that state level Climate Innovation Centers are the building blocks of our Climate Ready America program. We are starting with five pilots and our five-year goal is to have Climate Innovation Centers in all fifty states and at least three territories.

Each of these five pilot projects will develop their own pathways to provide climate planning services to their communities. In some states, those services will be provided by state government, while in other states it will be academic institutions, civic organizations, or federal agencies that host their Climate Innovation Center.

When the final bell rang at the proposal deadline, we had 15 proposals from many different types of organizations or state governments in New Hampshire, New Jersey, Kansas, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Florida, West Virginia, Virginia, Georgia, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Alaska. Another handful of states are interested but weren’t quite ready to put a proposal forward.

What struck me as I read the proposals was that incredible people have their shoulder to the wheel in all corners of our nation – and they are persevering with few resources against mighty odds to get climate help to communities in their states. In our conversations with interested groups and state governments, we have been deeply touched by how many people expressed their gratitude that someone is working to support their efforts and help them expand their reach.

I’m not sure how we will choose just five from among these visionary efforts for the pilot project, but I am heartened knowing that this is just the start. Securing funding for the pilot projects is our next order of business.

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