January 25, 2017
 
The Resilience Roundup highlights  CIRCA's presence in the news; provides links to recent local, state, and national news articles related to resilience and adaptation; and announces resources, events, and funding opportunities. Learn more about CIRCA at circa.uconn.edu.
 

announcements  
NewLiv
Resources
Resources





Events
Events

sustainableCT1

Sustainable CT: Seeking Your Input!


Wednesday, January 25th, 2:30 - 4:00 p.m., Three Rivers Community College
, Norwich
Friday, January 27th, 9:00 - 10:30 a.m., Seymour Town Hall



Sustainable CT is a partnership of municipal leaders, philanthropic  foundations, the Institute for Sustainable Energy, and other stakeholders.   The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities' Task Force on  Sustainability  developed a vision and recommended program framework.
Three Connecticut-based foundations are providing funding to develop  Sustainable CT:  Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, Common Sense Fund, and  the Hampshire Foundation.  The Institute for Sustainable Energy is leading  and coordinating program development and providing technical support.



NewDir

 
CIRCA's Director of Community Engagement, Rebecca French will participate on panel:
"Financing For Resilience: Innovation At The Intersection Of Risk And Capital", Saturday, February 25th at 10:30.

Event time: 
Friday, February 24, 2017 - 12:00pm to Saturday, February 25, 2017 - 7:00pm

Location: 
Kroon Hall, 195 Prospect Street,  New HavenCT

Event description: 
The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies presents the 7th annual New Directions in Environmental Law Conference.
A great program is planned, including panels on climate geopolitics, the Arctic, and creative solutions in water resource policy. Check out the full conference agenda when you  register! Session descriptions and event details will be available soon.
Visit  ndel.yale.edu for more information. Register early to get access to pre-conference workshops!


 
Feasibility



Join CT DEEP to hear from Helle Gronli, Associate Research Scientist affiliated with the Center for Business and Environment at Yale (CBEY). Ms. Gronli will share the results of a recent study on the "Feasibility of renewable thermal technologies in Connecticut." Divided into two parts, 1) market potential and a 2) barriers and drivers, the study was implemented in partnership between the Connecticut Green Bank, Eversource, United Illuminating and the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. The webinar will focus on the study's finding and recommendations for market opportunities to advance the adoption of renewable thermal technologies as a means to achieve the state's ambitious carbon reduction goal.





FundingAnouncment
Funding
  
MatchingFunds

CIRCA Matching Funds Program

The CIRCA Executive Steering Committee is excited to announce funding under the Matching Funds Program - up to $100,000 is available. CIRCA will consider requests from Connecticut municipalities, institutions, universities, foundations, and other non-governmental organizations for matching funds for projects that address the mission of the Institute. To be funded, a successful Matching Funds Request Form must have a commitment of primary funding within 6 months of the CIRCA award announcement, or have received a waiver from the CIRCA Executive Steering Committee. CIRCA Matching Funds will provide up to 25% of the primary funder's contribution other than municipal or State of Connecticut funds to enhance the likely success of project proposals that advance CIRCA research and implementation priorities. Proposals are required to leverage independent funding awarded through a competitive process. CIRCA matching funds are intended for grant proposals in preparation.
Project proposals should develop knowledge and/or experience that is transferable to multiple locations in Connecticut and have well-defined and measurable goals. Preference will be given to those that involve collaboration with CIRCA to address at least one of the following priority areas:
  • Improve scientific understanding of the changing climate system and its local and regional impacts on coastal and inland floodplain communities;
  • Develop and deploy natural science, engineering, legal, financial, and policy best practices for climate resilience;
  • Undertake or oversee pilot projects designed to improve resilience and sustainability of the natural and built environment along Connecticut's coast and inland waterways;
  • Create a climate-literate public that understands its vulnerabilities to a changing climate and which uses that knowledge to make scientifically informed, environmentally sound decisions;
  • Foster resilient actions and sustainable communities - particularly along the Connecticut coastline and inland waterways - that can adapt to the impacts and hazards of climate change; and
  • Reduce the loss of life and property, natural system and ecological damage, and social disruption from high-impact events.

Those requesting Matching Funds should consult the CIRCA office via email at   CIRCA_matchingfunds@uconn.edu  with any questions.


Please see our growing  Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page .


The current review will be held on  
January 30, 2017.



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PforP



In partnership with the  Urban Sustainability Directors Network , the Funders' Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities (TFN) is pleased to announce the opening of Round Ten of Partners for Places.

Partners for Places is a successful matching grant program that creates opportunities for cities and counties in the United States and Canada to improve communities by building partnerships between local government, sustainability offices and place-based foundations. National funders invest in local projects to promote a healthy environment, a strong economy, and well-being of all residents. Through these projects, Partners for Places fosters long-term relationships that make our urban areas more prosperous, livable, and vibrant. The grant program provides partnership investments between $25,000 and $75,000 for one year projects, or $50,000 and $150,000 for two year projects, with a 1:1 match required by one or more local foundations.

The application deadline for Round Ten is January 30, 2017 (by 11:59 p.m., any time zone). Please visit the  Partners for Places webpage for more information. Here you can view the  promotional video download, the  Request for Proposal (RFP), access the  Proposal Form and consult the  Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document. You may also want to visit the  Idea Bank which has summaries of all the proposals submitted in prior rounds. TFN hosted a webinar to answer any questions about the grant program on December 7.  A recording of the webinar is available on TFN's website.

Partners for Places general grant program is supported by  Bloomberg PhilanthropiesThe JPB FoundationKendeda FundNew York Community TrustThe Summit Foundation, and The  Surdna Foundation. A selection committee comprised of foundation representatives and urban sustainability directors will make selection decisions on behalf of Partners for Places, and awards will be announced on May 3, 2017. If the RFP and FAQ documents don't answer all your questions, please contact Ashley Quintana at  ashley@fundersnetwork.org or Ann Wallace at  ann@fundersnetwork.org  for more information.


Back to Announcements

NOAA


NOAA is dedicated to investing in the tools and resources communities and businesses need to address the impacts of extreme weather and climate-related hazards, as well as to restore coastal habitat to enhance the resilience of coastal ecosystems and the communities that rely on them. NOAA has developed the Coastal Resilience Grants Program to strengthen our economy and provide sustainable and lasting benefits.
This competition represents the integration of two existing grant programs: the Coastal Ecosystem Resiliency Grants Program administered by NOAA Fisheries, and the Regional Coastal Resilience Grants Program administered by NOAA's National Ocean Service. The competition will fund projects that build resilience, including activities that protect life and property, safeguard people and infrastructure, strengthen the economy, or conserve and restore coastal and marine resources.
The NOAA Coastal Resilience Grants Program will support two categories of activities: strengthening coastal communities and habitat restoration. Applicants can now submit proposals for both categories through the same funding opportunity.
  1. Strengthening Coastal Communities: activities that improve capacity of multiple coastal jurisdictions (states, counties, municipalities, territories, and tribes) to prepare and plan for, absorb impacts of, recover from, and/or adapt to extreme weather events and climate-related hazards.
  2. Habitat Restoration: activities that restore habitat to strengthen the resilience of coastal ecosystems and decrease the vulnerability of coastal communities to extreme weather events and climate-related hazards.
Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, regional organizations, private entities, and local, state, and tribal governments. Typical award amounts will range from $250,000 to $1 million for projects lasting up to three years. Cost-sharing through cash or in-kind contributions is expected. Projects must be located in one or more of the 35 U.S. coastal states or territories.
Additional Information

NOAA 2017 Coastal Resilience Grant Information Session
Join representatives from the National Ocean Service and National Marine Fisheries Service for a short presentation, followed by a question and answer period. No preregistration is required.
When: January 30, 2017 3-4 p.m. Eastern
Telephone Toll-free (domestic): 888-677-1838
Passcode: 6704453
Conference number: PW2601255


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ASAP's Prize for Progress in Adapting to Climate Change

The 2017 Prize for Progress in Adapting to Climate Change is an open competition held by the American Society of Adaptation Professionals (ASAP) to improve professional practice in the field by highlighting innovative and promising practices. ASAP is seeking applications from U.S. communities and organizations that have reduced net losses and decreased vulnerability of natural/human systems to extreme weather events and climate change. Four semifinalists will be announced in the spring, and one finalist will be honored at the National Adaptation Forum in May. The deadline to apply is Jan. 25, 2017. Click here to apply .


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 CIRCANews

CIRCA in the News
  
 
January 3, 2017 - Independent Study Backs Land Trust in Medlyn Farm Dispute, New Haven Independent

BRANFORD -The Branford Land Trust (BLT) today set the record straight when it comes to salt water flooding at the historic Medlyn Farm in Stony Creek.
Pete Raymond, president of the BLT, says it is time for members and friends of the Branford Land Trust to understand that the land trust's removal of a cracked earthen berm near Jarvis Creek in 2012, did not prompt salt water flooding at the Medlyn farm. The land trust removed the berm after the state's environmental agency and the federal Army Corps of Engineers approved the action.




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Charlestown

January 4, 2017- Study: Flooding at Medlyn's Farm in Branford Not Caused By Berm Removal, New Haven Register

BRANFORD - After a wave of controversy washed over the community concerning the removal of an earthen berm at Jarvis Creek, the Branford Land Trust has released a study that rebuts a local farm owner's claims the action created saltwater flooding on his property.
One year ago, Jay Medlyn, owner of Medlyn's Farm on Leetes Island Road,  filed a complaint in Superior Court in New Haven against the Branford Land Trust, claiming the removal of a cracked earthen berm caused excessive flooding on his property. The berm was part of a tidal gate system servicing Jarvis Creek.
The long-destroyed tidal gate, which has let saltwater erode marshland between Long Island Sound and Route 146, has worsened Medlyn's flooding issue, he said.

 



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News
Local & State News Clips
 
Movement 

January 6, 2017 - Movement to complete state's trails gaining momentum

Though Gov. Dannel Malloy's overall ratings aren't exactly stratospheric, one group thinks he's doing a fine job: the advocates for multi-use trails.
For more than two decades, most of the new trails built in the state were almost entirely the work of local volunteers who had to overcome indifference, if not obstruction, on the part of the State Department of Transportation. In the past five years, Malloy and his transportation commissioner, James Redeker, have turned that narrative on its head. The state is now including non-motorized trails in its planning efforts and making major investments in them. As a result, more are getting built.




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Rail

January 9, 2017- Rail reroute topic of public session

CHARLESTOWN, RI - Residents [had] their chance to sound off on a controversial Federal Rail Administration proposal to reroute the railroad tracks at a public meeting Tuesday, 1/17/17 at 7 p.m. at the Charlestown Elementary School cafeteria.
Part of the 30-year, $130 billion proposal is known as the "Old Saybrook-Kenyon Bypass," which would reroute sections of the tracks that run through the Burdickville Road area, Amos Green Farm, Columbia Heights, Shannock and Kenyon. The new route would also bisect the Francis C. Cartner Memorial Preserve, owned by The Nature Conservancy.
The project is intended to cut travel time between New York and Boston by 45 minutes by allowing train speeds of up to 220 miles per hour.

 

Norwalk----------------------------------------------------

January 17, 2017- Norwalk Land Trust Welcomes Dr. Adam Whelchel, Norwalk Patch
 
NORWALK -  Dr. Whelchel's 25-year career in leadership positions has catalyzed partnerships with strategic direction for government agencies, private firms, academic institutions and non-profits in the U.S., China, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and Africa. He has been called on to assist diverse groups in team building, strategic planning and community resilience.



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National News Clips


unveilsCleveland

January 6, 2017- Cleveland's Surprising Climate Buffers, City Lab

Think of places that will be affected by global warming, and coastal cities threatened by rising sea levels and powerful hurricanes ( MiamiNew Orleans) may first pop to mind. Great Lakes cities, on the other hand, are often projected to be climate change "winners." Experts predict that within 50 years,  people will move inland and north seeking less extreme weather.
But the Great Lakes will still be affected by climate change, just differently. In Cleveland, for instance, temperatures are rising three times faster than the national average-they ticked up 2.4 degrees Fahrenheit from 1956 to 2012, scientists have found. Researchers believe that paved surfaces and a shrinking tree canopy in the former "Forest City" are contributing to the increase.


Blackwater

January 7, 2017- At Blackwater Refuge, Rising Sea Levels Drown Habitat, CT Post

CAMBRIDGE, Md. (AP) - The view from the observation deck over a meadow of brown marsh grasses would make a nice postcard. Eagles roost on tall pines, muskrats burrow in mounds of mud and straw, and black ducks splash in a pond.
But on a cold and drizzly day,  Matt Whitbeck surveys the landscape with concern.
Beyond the marsh is what the  Fish and Wildlife Service biologist calls "Lake Blackwater."
"It's this beautiful body of open water," he says. "When you really start to think about why this is here, it's disturbing."
The area was once an uninterrupted prairie of aquatic grasses. But waters have risen more than a foot over the past century, drowning the native plants and converting nearly eight square miles of marsh into open water.


Alaskan

January 10, 2017- Alaskan Village, Citing Climate Change, Seeks Disaster Relief In Order To Relocate, NPR

The tiny village of Newtok near Alaska's western coast has been sliding into the Ninglick River for years. As temperatures increase - faster there than in the rest of the U.S. - the frozen permafrost underneath Newtok is thawing. About 70 feet of land a year erode away, putting the village's colorful buildings, some on stilts, ever closer to the water's edge.
Now, in an unprecedented test case, Newtok wants the federal government to declare these mounting impacts of climate change an official disaster. Villagers say it's their last shot at unlocking the tens of millions of dollars needed to relocate the entire community.


Suffolk

January 15, 2017- Could treated sewage be a tool against sea-level rise?, CT Post

SUFFOLK, Va. (AP) - As a tool against sea-level rise, the idea seems a little counter-intuitive: Add water to the ground.
But the laws of physics support it: Pump millions of gallons into a sandy aquifer deep below the Earth's surface, and its porous layers will expand like a sponge. The ground above it will rise, fortifying at least some of the land against the ocean's reach.
For decades, geologists have known that extracting large amounts of water can cause the ground to sink over time, sometimes by dozens of feet in places like California. Pumping it back in has slowed this subsidence and even slightly boosted ground levels in other places, experts say.

Continue... 
Judges

January 20, 2017- It's Judges, Not Trump Who Will Decide Obama's Environmental Legacy, The Verge

Donald Trump, our new president,  has vowed to dismantle many of the environmental policies  passed under President Barack Obama. But for the next four years, when it comes to climate policy, the place to watch isn't the White House - it's the courtroom.
For the past eight years, Obama has positioned himself as a global leader in the fight against climate change. At home, he's passed regulations to lower emissions of greenhouse gases from cars and plants, he's boosted renewable energy, and  set new records for protecting public land . On the international level, Obama has spearheaded global climate deals like the Paris accord,  signing bilateral agreements  with top polluters like China to reduce CO2 emissions.
 
NOAAunv

January 23, 2017 - NOAA unveils tool for coastal planning, E&E News

New sea-level scenarios released last week by federal scientists could help coastal communities better plan and adapt to the economic and infrastructure risks they face from climate change.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, in one of its final acts under the Obama administration, unveiled the localized data in a  report last week. The report updates the upper-end sea-level rise projections with the potential for rapid ice melt in Greenland and Antarctica, using different emissions scenarios and timelines through 2100.
The new scenarios also provide additional local information that integrates the updated sea-level rise scenarios with regional factors, including changes in land elevation and ocean circulation.



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The Resilience Roundup highlights CIRCA's  presence in the news, provides links to recent local/state/national news articles related to resilience and adaptation, and announces upcoming events and seminars.
 
The Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation's  (CIRCA) mission is to increase the resilience and sustainability of vulnerable communities along Connecticut's coast and inland waterways to the growing impacts of climate change and extreme weather on the natural, built, and human environment. The institute is located at the University of Connecticut's Avery Point campus and includes faculty from across the university. CIRCA is a partnership between UConn and the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP). 


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