Climate Smart Communities Initiative Grant Application (2026) |
Application Instructions
Grant applications must be submitted by 8:00pm ET on Thursday, March 12, 2026.
Check out the CSCI glossary for help with phrases, terms, and definitions.
The CSCI grant application should be completed by a climate adaptation practitioner in the role of “lead applicant” in collaboration with one or more representatives from a community-based organization and from a local or regional government entity. All three of these partner types must be assembled to be eligible for a CSCI grant (learn more about typical roles on the CSCI funding page).
To be eligible for a CSCI grant, the adaptation practitioner's firm or organization must have applied and been accepted into the Registry of Adaptation Practitioners.
As the lead applicant, the adaptation practitioner will be the recipient of the award should the application be selected for a grant (though typically some funds are passed through to the local government and/or community-based organizations). The lead applicant will also be responsible for grant administration and reporting responsibilities throughout the grant period. If a different member of the project team is preferred as the lead applicant, please reach out to info@climatesmartcommunity.org before submitting your application.
Application questions are designed to elicit information that will enable reviewers to evaluate answers based on CSCI’s selection criteria, and to determine at which stage proposed projects are in the Steps to Resilience Framework (take time to become familiar with the Steps to Resilience in detail here or a brief summary here). Applications will be assessed based on whether a project is at the “Get Started” phase (climate resilience needs and goals are being discussed in the community for the very first time) or other later steps such as the “Take Action” phase (where climate change vulnerabilities are well understood and have been used to create a climate resilience plan from which particular aspects are now being put into action).
Note: Application responses cannot be saved as a draft. (See the PDF preview of the application). It is strongly recommended to answer the questions in a word processor or document editor software (e.g., Word or Google Doc) and copy and paste your final responses into this application. If, during inputting your responses into the application, responses are lost because of an incomplete application, it is recoverable. Please send an email to info@climatesmartcommunity.org and a team member will retrieve the responses and send them in a PDF format which can be used to start a new application.
If you have questions about the application process or the grants program, first visit www.climatesmartcommunity.org/funding. If you still require assistance, please email info@climatesmartcommunity.org.
Check out the CSCI glossary for help with phrases, terms, and definitions.
The CSCI grant application should be completed by a climate adaptation practitioner in the role of “lead applicant” in collaboration with one or more representatives from a community-based organization and from a local or regional government entity. All three of these partner types must be assembled to be eligible for a CSCI grant (learn more about typical roles on the CSCI funding page).
To be eligible for a CSCI grant, the adaptation practitioner's firm or organization must have applied and been accepted into the Registry of Adaptation Practitioners.
As the lead applicant, the adaptation practitioner will be the recipient of the award should the application be selected for a grant (though typically some funds are passed through to the local government and/or community-based organizations). The lead applicant will also be responsible for grant administration and reporting responsibilities throughout the grant period. If a different member of the project team is preferred as the lead applicant, please reach out to info@climatesmartcommunity.org before submitting your application.
Application questions are designed to elicit information that will enable reviewers to evaluate answers based on CSCI’s selection criteria, and to determine at which stage proposed projects are in the Steps to Resilience Framework (take time to become familiar with the Steps to Resilience in detail here or a brief summary here). Applications will be assessed based on whether a project is at the “Get Started” phase (climate resilience needs and goals are being discussed in the community for the very first time) or other later steps such as the “Take Action” phase (where climate change vulnerabilities are well understood and have been used to create a climate resilience plan from which particular aspects are now being put into action).
Note: Application responses cannot be saved as a draft. (See the PDF preview of the application). It is strongly recommended to answer the questions in a word processor or document editor software (e.g., Word or Google Doc) and copy and paste your final responses into this application. If, during inputting your responses into the application, responses are lost because of an incomplete application, it is recoverable. Please send an email to info@climatesmartcommunity.org and a team member will retrieve the responses and send them in a PDF format which can be used to start a new application.
If you have questions about the application process or the grants program, first visit www.climatesmartcommunity.org/funding. If you still require assistance, please email info@climatesmartcommunity.org.