Throughout the nation, communities highly vulnerable to climate impacts have an opportunity to strengthen their adaptation and resilience efforts through the Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI).
CSCI offers funding and technical assistance to support community-based climate resilience projects. Through its current grant cycle, the program will award 16 to 20 grants, with individual awards ranging from $75,000 to $115,000, depending on the scope of work.
In 2024, the City of Fremont, Nebraska, was selected as a CSCI awardee, demonstrating how program funds can be used in real life. Families living in mobile and manufactured homes on the southwest side of the city face growing risks from a changing climate. Increasingly intense storms and ice jams in the Platte River have led to flash flooding that threatens both lives and livelihoods.
With a $114,978 grant, the City of Fremont and the Fremont Area United Way are partnering with experts from Headwaters Economics to build on existing hazard mitigation plans and identify practical, community-centered solutions. The project will focus on evaluating options to reduce flood risk, including infrastructure improvements, and advancing feasible strategies to protect some of the city’s most vulnerable residents.
Grants are intended to provide funding to assist communities in planning for hazards such as managing flood and wildfire risk, restoring floodplains, and developing and implementing climate change adaptation plans. Funded activities can be early in the process, such as setting priorities and building shared strategy, or more advanced, such as moving a specific project toward implementation.
In addition to grant funding, the Climate Smart Communities Initiative provides technical assistance to help communities scope projects, evaluate options, and ensure plans are both practical and competitive.
The program prioritizes funding for communities that include historically disinvested populations facing increased risk from climate-related impacts. Eligible projects must be based in the United States and submitted by a team that includes three partners: an adaptation practitioner, a community-based organization, and a local or regional government entity.
The team-based structure is intentional. By bringing technical expertise, local government leadership, and community voices together, the program ensures that resilience planning is both technically sound and grounded in local needs.
Applications for the Climate Smart Communities Initiative are open through March 12, 2026. Communities interested in applying should begin identifying priority needs, gathering local data, and engaging partners as soon as possible. Download our grant spotlight (found under 'Grant information') to learn more.
