Non DNR Grants and Other Opportunities

Funding Announcements by Deadline Date:
National Science Foundation- Environmental Sustainability Grants- proposals due October 20, 2017—The National Science Foundation’s Environmental Sustainability program promotes sustainable engineered systems that support human well-being while also being compatible with sustaining environmental systems. Read more about this funding opportunity here.

Department of Commerce FY 2017 Economic Development Assistance Programs- No submission deadline —The Economic Development Administration (EDA) solicits applications from applicants in rural and urban areas to provide investments that support construction, non-construction, technical assistance, and revolving loan fund projects under EDA’s Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance programs. Grants and cooperative agreements made under these programs are designed to leverage existing regional assets and support the implementation of economic development strategies that advance new ideas and creative approaches to advance economic prosperity in distressed communities. To learn more about this funding opportunity, read here.

Events and Trainings by Date:
National Recreation and Park Association Annual Conference – September 26-28 – New Orleans – The National Recreation and Park Association Annual Conference is the premier annual meeting of the park and recreation community. This national conference is an opportunity to network with thousands of your peers, learn from some of the top thought leaders in the field, and get insight into innovative practices and programs from other agencies. Learn more and register here.

Growing Sustainable Communities Conference – October 3 – 4, 2017 – Dubuque, Iowa—The Growing Sustainable Communities Conference is the premier interactive educational opportunity on the topic of sustainability for civic leaders in government, business and community organizations. The 10th annual conference will be two days of education, inspiration and collaboration on topics of interest related to creating great towns and cities that stand the test of time. Conference information can be found here.

2017 EcoDistricts Summit – October 10-11 – Atlanta, GA – EcoDistricts is the world’s only conference dedicated to neighborhood- and district-scale sustainability. Urban leaders worldwide will explore the role of district-scale innovation to address some of most critical issues facing city makers today. Click here to register and find more information.

The 2017 National Brownfields Training Conference –  December 5 – 7, 2017 – Pittsburgh, PA –  Cosponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), the National Brownfields Training Conference will take place, with pre-conference workshops on December 4th, in Pittsburgh, PA at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Offered every two years, the conference is the largest gathering of stakeholders focused on cleaning up and reusing formerly utilized commercial and industrial properties. Attendees can participate in training events, observe success stories during mobile workshops, listen to experts about meeting brownfields challenges, and network with thousands of other stakeholders. For more information, click here and to register for the event click here.

Announcing Call for Presentation Ideas for 17th Annual New Partners for Smart Growth Conference – February 1 – 3, 2018—San Francisco, Ca—The 2018 Partners for Smart Growth Conference will feature eight focused thematic tracks that will provide participants an opportunity for a more dynamic, hands-on learning experience. Each track will focus on a set of topics strongly connected to timely community issues or challenges, with smart growth as the thread woven between and throughout each track. As the sessions are developed, a strong focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion will be applied. The Call for Presentation Ideas that will be open from June 1 through June 30. Learn more here.

Resources:
Green Infrastructure in Parks: A Guide to Collaboration, Funding, and Community Engagement – EPA’s new guide, Green Infrastructure in Parks: A Guide to Collaboration, Funding, and Community Engagement, summarizes the benefits of green infrastructure (GI), including economic, educational, and health benefits. It explains how GI can be less expensive and difficult to maintain than gray infrastructure, and it lists additional resources, including technical guides, and a checklist for imagining what GI features work best a potential site. Click here to download the guide.

US Water Alliance Releases New National Paper on Equitable Water Management – Water challenges are often considered in the context of failing infrastructure or environmental pollution. An Equitable Water Future offers a robust analysis of the often-overlooked human dimension of water management, with a focus on how water can expand opportunity for our nation’s most vulnerable people. The report demonstrates how water challenges affect affordability, environmental and social justice, economic development, health, safety, and more. Click here to read the report.

Youth and Urban Waters Work: Groundwork’s Approach to Fostering Environmental Careers among Disadvantaged Youth – Youth have been central to Groundwork’s urban waters reclamation efforts. This report details the ways Groundwork youth have engaged with urban waters and reiterates why diversity is essential to future environmental and urban waters work. The report identifies potential environmental/urban waters-related occupations for youth, and provides steps to fill systematic gaps that will allow minority youth to fill green positions. Download a copy of the report here.

Urban Revitalization & Impact Investing White Paper – The purpose of this white paper is to document the potential of a collaboration between impact investors and development finance agencies (DFAs) to fill the capital gaps facing cities and neighborhoods that work to support urban revitalization. Through myriad financing tools such as bonds, tax increment finance, tax credits and revolving loan funds, foundations can use impact investing to drive innovative, transformative development in communities. Click here to read the report.