NSF R2I2: advancing green infrastructure for a resilient future

Carnegie Mellon University received a $500,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Office of Integrative Activities under the Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050), awarded September 1, 2025, with completion targeted for August 31, 2027. The NSF R2I2 (Research on Resilience and Infrastructure Improvement) initiative supports the development of a comprehensive green infrastructure (GI) adoption and installation plan for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The project convenes a multidisciplinary stakeholder coalition with expertise in hydrological systems, stormwater engineering, community engagement, land management, and education to address critical climate resilience challenges including stormwater runoff, water quality degradation, urban heat, and carbon sequestration through nature-based solutions such as rain gardens, bioswales, meadows, and woodlands.

The primary deliverables include: (1) prioritization and real-time monitoring protocols for GI installations; (2) a municipal GI implementation guide informed by comprehensive assessment of staff, policy, and management needs; (3) a communications framework enabling municipalities to communicate GI benefits to constituents; and (4) county-wide GI education and outreach strategies. Carnegie Mellon's sub-awardee, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Inc., contributes expertise in environmental education and horticultural practices. The integrated project outputs will support municipal adoption and implementation of scalable green infrastructure solutions across urban and suburban communities within the 1.2 million-person Allegheny County region, establishing a replicable model for resilient urban planning in the Northeast.

Abstract

The cascading societal, economic, and ecological consequences of extreme weather across the northeast highlight the urgent need for resilient urban planning. Nature-based solutions (NBS), including scalable green infrastructure (GI) interventions like meadows, woodlands, rain gardens, and bioswales, offer a promising pathway to mitigate urban heat, manage stormwater, improve water quality, stabilize slopes, and enhance ecosystem services and resilience. Allegheny county, home to pittsburgh, PA, over 1.2 million people, and multiple municipalities is a mixture of urban and suburban communities that can consider different types of GI. For a GI initiative to get traction at scale, the solutions must recognize and address the needs, concerns, priorities, and perceived barriers of communities in which the work will be done. The project will apply real-time methods to improve GI implementation, maintenance, and monitoring practices. This northeast region project will convene a broad group of stakeholders with expertise in hydrological systems, stormwater engineering, community engagement, land management, and education to develop an allegheny county-wide green infrastructure (GI) adoption and installation plan that will address stormwater runoff, water quality, urban heat and carbon sequestration. The goals of the project are to prioritize and monitor GI installations, engage and support municipalities and advance GI education and outreach. These goals are to build toward a longer-term goal of developing a comprehensive county-wide GI implementation and adoption plan that aligns GI solutions, municipal priorities and education strategies. The project will create a thorough assessment of municipal staff policy and management needs to create a municipal GI implementation guide, as well as a communications framework for municipalities to share the value and benefits of GI with their constituents. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are planned for this award.