This agreement provides funding under the inflation reduction act (IRA) to groundwork USA, INC

Specifically, the project will; utilize their developed community-centered, data informed framework to help residents in the three great lake cities- cincinnati, OH, milwaukee, WI, and indianapolis, in,- understand why their neighborhoods look the way they do, demystify the local governance systems, self-organize around hyper-local environmental justice and climate adaptation priorities, and engage directly with municipal leadership to embed their priorities in planning and budgetary processes. Through their proposed climate safe great lakes project, groundwork USA seeks to implement this framework to facilitate meaningful resident engagement in local decision-making bodies and to spur regional collaboration for community-led climate resilience. Activities:the activities include utilizing data, storytelling, and organizing training to build the capacity of residents across five neighborhoods to drive meaningful change, launch a paid youth environmental council (YEC) and resident-led climate action group (CAG) in each city to strengthen community participation in public processes, and create new partnerships across diverse stakeholders. Subrecipient:gworv was founded in 2019 to advance community-led environmental transformation in the ohio river valley. Gworv launched its CSN program in cincinnati in 2021 and has since been engaged in climate adaptation planning. In the first iteration of this program, gworv engaged residents in several disadvantaged neighborhoods in the green cincinnati planning process. Residents successfully advocated for the plan to include a $700,000 earmark for equity-centered green infrastructure investments and are currently sitting on the selection committee to award the funding. Through this project, gworv will expand to new neighborhoods in cincinnati and support the other trusts in the great lakes to scale the program. Gwmke was founded in 2007 to convene a collective of grassroots community gardeners and lead the revitalization of vacant properties in underresourced neighborhoods. Gwmke first launched its climate adaptation work by partnering with the new school in 2022 to model and measure the impact of stormwater flooding across milwaukee. This study highlighted the inequitable impacts of climate change on the metcalfe park neighborhood. Gwmke has since launched a partnership with metcalfe park community bridges, a local resident coalition, to engage residents in a planning process to ensure brownfield reuse efforts meet climate, health, and economic priorities. Additionally, gwmke has a working relationship with the milwaukee metropolitan sewerage district, collaborating on the installation of green infrastructure projects. Lastly, gwindy, founded in 2015, has been working over the past several years to engage young people in the transformation of a former historic firehouse into a community center. Gwindy has an existing working relationship with the city of indianapolis and indy parks and recreation, through which they have connected residents from underserved neighborhoods to public planning processes, including the thriving indianapolis plan. Across these projects, access to cooling green spaces and climate resilience emerged as key priorities. Gwindy is not yet part of the CSN partnership but will join the program as a member of climate safe great lakes. Outcomes:the anticipated deliverables include 1) each neighborhood will develop a climate data dashboard that visualizes social, health, and environmental justice concerns alongside environmental factors such as tree canopy, impervious pavement, and green spaces, and a public-facing storymap, 2)each neighborhood will develop a community climate adaptation plan that outlines both short and long-term green infrastructure priorities. 3) each city will identify at least one planning or policy intervention that, when implemen