[NEW] Calm Waters Group Seeking Survey Responses on Stakeholder Management
Calm Waters Group is currently building OurTownHall – a stakeholder management platform for underserved communities. This project will help agencies scale up their reach, accuracy, and efficiency of community engagement and accelerate community participation in planning and infrastructure projects. Responses will help to better understand the challenges faced in conducting stakeholder management. Responses will be anonymous and solely used for the purposes of this project and only shared with the internal project team. Aggregate responses may be shared to support future development of the project. Government survey; Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) survey
[NEW] Ocean Acidification Mini-Grant Opportunity
NOAA's Ocean Acidification Program has announced a FY24 Education mini-grant opportunity to provide assistance for the development of ocean and coast educational tools in underserved and/or Indigenous communities. Letters of intent are due by Friday, September 15, 2023.
[NEW] Request for Proposals on Including Indigenous Ways of Knowing in Decision-Making for Ocean and Coastal Management
The Lenfest Ocean Program released an RFP for projects that elevate Indigenous Peoples in sharing their traditions, culture, knowledge, and wisdom to improve evidence-based decision-making for the management, conservation, and restoration of coastal marine species, habitats, and ecosystems. The RFP is intended to support identification, analysis, and/or communication of Indigenous Knowledge and wisdom (where it is culturally appropriate); and engagement approaches that facilitate the inclusion of this knowledge into ocean and coastal management decisions. The deadline to apply is Monday, October 16, 2023.
[NEW] Report on Nature Based Solutions and Coastal Adaptation Released
The University of Arizona's Center for Climate Adaptation Science and Solutions, in collaboration with the Aspen Global Change Institute, has just published a report titled Understanding the Effectiveness of Coastal Nature-based Solutions: Practitioner-based Learning. This assessment involved interviewing more than 60 coastal adaptation practitioners from the US and Pacific Islands to document their experience in implementing nature-based solutions to protect coastal areas against sea level rise and coastal storms.
[NEW] Free Translation of Climate Science Information and Research Documents Available
Climate Cardinals is an international youth-led nonprofit that has grown to 9,000 volunteers in 40+ countries & translated 750,000 words of climate information into 100+ languages. They are open to any translation requests from organizations producing verifiable and scientifically-valid climate information and research. They are interested in documents shorter than 25 pages. Our past partners include the UNEP, Yale, Italian Government, and UNICEF. The have capacity for translation in ALL languages, but only have the capacity for translation and review in the following languages: English, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Croatian, Bosnian, and Polish. For questions about this project, please reach out to their general email: Info@climatecardinals.org, with an email directed to Hikaru Hayakawa, Partnerships Director, or Andrew Gao, AI Director. Submit documents here.
NOAA OCM Launches Federal Consistency Learning Module
The Office for Coastal Management has released a new learning module in the CZMA 101 series: Federal Consistency Basics. This module provides an introduction to the Coastal Zone Management Act federal consistency provision. It is designed to help the user build a basic understanding of core federal consistency concepts and what happens in the workflow of implementing federal consistency. The new module includes: definitions, examples, and considerations for core concepts, flowcharts for subpart C: Consistency for Federal Agency Activities (subparts D and E coming in the fall), and links to guidance and quick references.
NOAA Launches Self-Guided Risk Communication Training
The new self-guided training, Preparing for Effective Risk Communication, provides the steps to develop a risk communication strategy focused on, and designed to meet the needs of, a specific audience. The training includes information on how to listen more effectively, share information appropriately, and build relationships for improved conversations about hazards. Tips are also provided for those moments when you are put on the spot with a difficult question.
USACE Developing Coastal Engineering Index
The Corps' Engineer Research and Development Center is developing the Coastal Engineering Resilience Index (CERI). CERI computes using a custom GIS toolbox that uses lidar data from the USACE National Coastal Mapping Program to extract parameters that describe the beach and dune system — measurements like the dune’s height and the beach’s slope and width. Using the data from USACE and NOAA models to extract wave and storm surge information, CERI then computes the index along the beach to estimate maximum shoreline recession and beach overtopping for specified storm events. The index has been computed for pilot sites located on the northern Gulf of Mexico and North Carolina’s Outer Banks, as well as the USACE New York District’s area of responsibility in New Jersey and on Long Island. There are plans to compute CERI for most of the remaining U.S. sandy shorelines later this year. Read more here.
NOAA Announces $2.6 Billion in IRA Funding
The U.S. Department of Commerce unveiled a $2.6 billion framework to invest in coastal resilience through President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). As part of the President’s Investing in America Agenda this initiative will support communities and people on the frontlines of climate change, dedicating nearly $400 million specifically for Tribal priorities and benefiting coastal and Great Lakes communities nationwide with an emphasis on environmental justice. Additional investments from the IRA will improve weather and climate data and services, support the Biden-Harris Administration’s America the Beautiful conservation initiative and strengthen NOAA’s fleet of research airplanes and ships that are used to study and collect data about the ocean and atmosphere. Read more here.
Justice40 Accelerator Applications Open for Community-Based Organizations
The Justice40 Accelerator will support community-based and community-led groups/organizations working at the frontlines of environmental crises and advancing community-driven climate solutions. Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) status, fiscally sponsored projects, and cooperatives based in the U.S., including sovereign lands located within the U.S. and its territories, are eligible to apply. The application closes on Monday July 31, 2023. Learn more here.
Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission Releases Waterfront Toolkit
The Bay-Lake Regional Planning Commission has launched the Waterfront Planning Toolkit, a Wisconsin Coastal Management Program funded project designed to provide assistance and resources to communities interested in planning for the unique obstacles and opportunities that come with development on the waterfront. It strives to articulate the value of waterfront plans and help communities shape the long-term resilience and sustainability of their waterfronts by establishing a set of tools and best practices to promote successful planning efforts.
DOI Releases Summer Issue of NEWSWAVE
The Summer 2023 edition of NEWSWAVE demonstrates the many ways the Department of the Interior (DOI) is working to to fulfill their ocean stewardship commitments, through advancing renewable offshore energy, restoring coastal wetlands, investing in nature-based solutions and conducting the science to understand and guide management decisions in the face of climate change. Secretary Haaland’s NEWSWAVE 5 highlights a broad range of examples that show how DOI bring their collective missions together to support our blue portfolio, such as hosting the White House 2023 Conservation Summit at the Main Interior Building, where key actions, including the first ever Ocean Climate Action Plan, were announced.
EPA Announces New Funding for Underserved Communities
EPA announced the availability of $30 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for restoration projects that advance environmental justice in underserved and overburdened communities across the Great Lakes. EPA has published a request for applications for the newly created Great Lakes Environmental Justice Grant Program that will fund implementation of environmental protection and restoration projects that will further the goals of GLRI in communities with environmental justice concerns. Applications are being accepted through Friday August 11, 2023.
FEMA Releases Season 3 of Level Up Audio Project
FEMA Region 9 releases Season 3 of the Level Up Audio Project, a podcast series dedicated to highlighting individuals who are making hazard mitigation planning and action a priority in their work and communities. Each episode features a roughly 20-minute conversation with individuals who share stories, best practices and lessons learned. The goal is to inspire mitigation action and strengthen the community of hazard mitigation and climate adaptation professionals working at the local level.
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