Partners for Climate Action ran two
cohort cycles, providing support for Climate Smart Communities Task Force Coordinators.
Stay tuned for future cycles of the Local Champions program. In the meantime, please check out Partner for Climate Action’s other programs, such as the Building Decarbonization Grant.
Congratulations to Cycle 2 of Local Champions on completing the program!
How does the Local Champions program help?
Watch the video below and hear what our pilot cohort members have to say.
NY State has some of the most progressive climate programs and legislation in the country, which is a great achievement...However, success depends on our cities, towns, and villages pursuing the training and organization needed to put this legislation to work.
NY State’s Climate Smart Communities program (CSC) brings together local residents and municipal leaders to take real action. The first goal of the Climate Smart Communities program is bronze certification—achieving and documenting steps in reducing carbon and enhancing resiliency.
Our Local Champions program jumpstarts municipalities that are new to CSC.
About the Local Champions Program
Partners for Climate Action supports a community of practice here in the Hudson Valley. Our Local Champions program brings together a 10 person cohort ready to take the first steps in NY State’s Climate Smart Communities program (CSC). Each “local champion” in our cohort is a volunteer representing their municipalities by stepping up to be the coordinator of their municipality’s CSC Task Force.
The goal of the Local Champions program is to give you the foundation you’ll need to go the distance with meaningful climate work. In our Cycle 2 cohort, eight will complete the program by delivering a roadmap to CSC bronze certification with help from Cornell Cooperative Extension. We’ve given two of our cohort members the goal of filing for bronze certification in January 2023, with help from Capital District Regional Planning Commission. We’ll get them there by showering them with inspiring guest speakers, expert technical assistance, peer to peer learning, and some fun too—like dinners and field trips.
Red Hook volunteers work with Bard College students on a recycling project.
Photo courtesy Laurie Husted, Red Hook, NY
Who should apply
Your municipality is at a beginning stage with CSC
The Local Champions program is designed for municipalities that have signaled interest in the CSC program but who need a helping hand getting started and keeping up momentum. The program is not meant for municipalities that have already achieved bronze certification. For cycle 2, we have eight cohort members who need support mapping out how they’ll get there, and we have two cohort members whose goal is to file for bronze in January 2023 with support.
Your municipality is within our territory
Our focus is NY’s Hudson Valley—specifically, cities, towns, and villages within Dutchess, Columbia, Greene and Ulster Counties.You’re willing to commit
It’s going to take hard work. We’re asking our cohort members to commit to 10 hours a week. Partners for Climate Action is committed to supporting equity in climate change work. If money is a barrier to the participation of selected applicants in this program, they can request an $8000 fellowship.You have municipal buy-in
Applications should demonstrate close working relationships between the local government and CSC Task Force Coordinator. Local governments that have not yet passed the CSC Resolution are strongly encouraged to do so before applying (model resolution downloadable here).
At the end of the Local Champions program in the spring 2023, eight municipalities should be either ready to file for bronze certification or have their plan to get there, and two should be receiving notification of bronze certification.
Dig into the details of the Local Champions program, with our schedule of programming and guest speakers.
Why Partners for Climate Action offers this program
Partners for Climate Action is an initiative of the Local Economies Project of the New World Foundation. Our mission is to foster social and ecological reconnection and repair in the Hudson Valley. We provide financial and strategic support to those working to build a more resilient future in the Hudson Valley.
We have seen the huge potential of the Climate Smart Communities program, which is a jointly funded initiative of seven NY State agencies (and has overlap with NYSERDA’s Clean Energy Communities program). CSC provides a framework for municipalities to reduce their carbon footprint, strengthen their resilience to climate change, and engage with their residents.
CSC lays out the actions necessary, but we noticed a need to develop the local human capacity and build the will to get climate actions done.
During much of 2020, we met with municipalities and groups—such as the Hudson Valley Regional Council, Environmental Advocates, Cornell Cooperative Extensions, Capital District Regional Planning Commission, the Ulster County Climate Smart Committee—to gather feedback about how a foundation could support CSC. We drew from firsthand experience, as some of our teammates are on the CSC Task Forces for their own municipalities. In 2021, we launched a pilot.
After the success of the pilot, we redesigned Local Champions to have even more of a positive impact on our land, communities and future.
The City of Beacon worked with BQ Energy Development to install a solar field on a decommissioned landfill that powers nearly all of the city's electric needs.
Photo by BQ Energy Development
Stay in touch
Join our email list to find out which applicants will make up our cohort & other updates.