News

Smart Growth America (SGA) is excited to announce a second round of climate and land use technical assistance (TA) opportunities for community-based organizations across the U.S. This new round builds on our successful partnerships from 2023, offering expanded support for communities advocating for equitable and climate-resilient land use, housing, and infrastructure policies. A couple of our existing partners include Incubate Neighbood Center (Fort Pierce, Florida) and Freedom Org (Edgecombe County, North Carolina), who came together in Washington, DC with the broader cohort to celebrate nine months of working collaboratively.

Climate change disproportionately impacts those who have been marginalized by racist land use, housing, and lending policies. SGA’s climate and land use TA work seeks to both drive policy change to better support communities already burdened by climate impacts, as well as guide future development decisions to be more equitable and climate-informed.

Applications for the year-long TA program will officially launch soon, but interested communities may sign up today to receive the latest news updates on the program.

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What we offer

SGA’s TA program provides free guidance to help communities address the growing impacts of climate change—such as flooding, extreme heat, drought, and wildfires—through improved housing, zoning, transportation, and green infrastructure strategies. TA may also include advocacy support for complete streets and sustainable infrastructure repair. SGA’s staff team is available to provide research, creative communications resources such as videos, and advocacy resources such as scripts and strategies for testifying at hearings. TA may also offer both longer term and shorter term support to communities, depending on partners’ availability and capacity to engage.

Through past climate and land use TA partnerships and other SGA climate projects, communities in Florida and Georgia have engaged community members and local decision makers in video projects to share their experiences with the dangers of flooding and extreme heat while advocating for safer and more accessible infrastructure.

Who can apply

We are seeking partnerships with community-based organizations (including 501c3s), faith-based organizations, Tribal Nations, and groups of residents or businesses seeking to advocate for just climate and land use development. Organizations may be fully focused on addressing the impacts of climate change, or climate could be a new priority which would benefit from capacity and external support.

Key details

• TA timeline: Partnerships will run from January 2025 through December 2025, with a focus on collaborative efforts to drive sustainable policy change and infrastructure investment.
• Capacity building resources: SGA will deliver resources such as videos, policy analyses, and educational materials to equip communities to advocate for policy change.
• Meetings: Monthly virtual meetings, occasional material reviews, one in-person partner convening including fully funded travel and potential for funded participation in a larger conference such as Smart Growth America’s Equity Summit.
• Compensation: Partner organizations will receive compensation for their time and any associated travel expenses.

Potential topics

SGA welcomes the opportunity to brainstorm about what support would be most impactful for community partners. Potential types of projects include:

• Short videos (extreme heat & health equity, flooding) highlighting storytelling and lived experiences of climate change impacts
• Educational material about climate and environmental justice
• Educational material on the interactions between the streetscape and natural environments as relates to climate change (climate cost of parking, pollution and the pavement, Complete Streets)
• Mapping and data visualizations illustrating the connection between land use and climate change impacts
• Analysis and recommendations for inclusionary zoning and climate-informed zoning, including strategies to develop more affordable housing and support small businesses in locations less prone to climate impacts
• Research and analysis on affordable housing preservation and anti-displacement strategies in the face of climate gentrification

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the opportunity further, please contact Katharine Burgess via email at kburgess@smartgrowthamerica.org.