Overton garden installation for the Climate and Cultural Resilience project. The project aims, in part, to create awareness about the need for investment in green infrastructure.

In support of Resilient by Nature Project (RxN), Walder Foundation is inviting proposals for initiatives that will support, coordinate and build capacity around a community of practice for scaling green infrastructure in the Chicago region.

Walder Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals at this time. This web page is provided for organizations that have been invited to apply for a grant.

OVERVIEW

We are inviting proposals for two-year projects of up to $350,000 per year. Walder Foundation intends to fund up to four complementary projects for one-time grants that can show measurable progress in a two-year timeframe and include plans for the sustainability of the work.

ABOUT RxN

RxN is pursuing approaches to implement nature-based solutions (NBS) in the Chicago region. Since adopting its motto, “City in a Garden,” nature has been an integral part of Chicago's heritage. The region boasts a wealth of biodiversity supported by diverse landscapes, engaged communities, and an array of existing assets, including forest preserves, parks, and community gardens. Unfortunately, access to nature and green space is not evenly distributed. Today’s Chicago communities reflect decades of institutional racism and urban development approaches that have disrupted the natural environment rather than enhanced it. This has resulted in a range of social and environmental challenges that continue to disproportionately impact low-income residents and people of color. These include urban flooding, poor air quality, urban heat island effect, inequitable food access, and numerous social determinants of health.

Leaders and residents in the Chicago region recognize the urgency to change course and better integrate nature into our neighborhoods. RxN intends to thoughtfully leverage and employ nature to help build a more sustainable, equitable and vibrant city.

WHAT ARE NATURE-BASED SOLUTIONS?

RxN defines nature-based solutions as “employing nature at a meaningful scale for multiple benefits.” They are approaches to community improvement that benefit both people and nature.

Employing nature

Modify, enhance, or restore an ecosystem, or plant-specific vegetation, or change the topographical and hydrological features of a landscape.

Meaningful scale

Scale is defined as relative to the desired benefit and to the challenge that the project seeks to address, from pocket parks and green roofs to landscapes.

Multiple benefits

Deliver economic, social, and environmental outcomes that improve human well-being and biodiversity.

BACKGROUND

In 2022, the Resilient by Nature Project (RxN) began convening Walder Foundation grantees and other stakeholders within the Chicago region's nature-based solutions (NBS) ecosystem. The aim was greater collaboration and alignment within the sector that is working to foster a region that employs nature at a meaningful scale for multiple benefits. Through these gatherings, it became evident that a significant portion of Chicago's NBS advocates are currently focused on the pursuit of green infrastructure (GI).

These practitioners held many common values and concerns about the Chicago region's slow, patchwork, and smaller-scale adoption of green infrastructure. Though this work has gained momentum, barriers to the pursuit of green infrastructure at a meaningful scale have challenged advocates for more than a decade. Stakeholders frequently highlighted a lack of coordination and collaboration between key City and regional agencies as one of the most significant barriers.

We set out to better understand the barriers to inter-agency coordination and collaboration with the intention of applying our learnings to our NBS-focused grantmaking strategy for 2023 and beyond. The most significant portion of this effort was a City of Chicago-focused Collaborative Platform Feasibility Study, led by our consultant Foresight Design, beginning in February 2023. Also informing our analysis is the State of Public Sector Green Infrastructure 2022 report and participation in the Citywide Green Infrastructure Maintenance Working Group.

This effort identified several key drivers that might accelerate a more robust regional vision for GI and shape what future efforts might look like, including:

  • Supportive elected decision-makers, strong senior management champions, and interdepartmental coordination are the most essential levers for scaling GI within the public sector.

  • Regulation and policy (e.g., permitting and development requirements, design standards in codes and ordinances, water quality regulatory requirements such as the NPDES, etc.)

  • Innovative models for interagency collaboration and/or GI funding that can help to guide and structure local efforts (e.g., One Water, Resilience Authorities, Shared Service Agreements, Joint Benefits Authority, etc.)

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Accelerating Coordination and Capacity Building for Scaling Green Infrastructure in Chicago

To catalyze the implementation of nature-based solutions, Walder Foundation is inviting organizations to submit proposals for initiatives that will help coordinate and build capacity to scale the implementation of green infrastructure in the Chicago region. For this opportunity, we are interested in initiatives that build on the findings of the Collaborative Platform Feasibility Study and continue to strengthen a community of practice around GI and NBS in Chicago and promote the high-level standards for GI recently set out by the Green Infrastructure Leadership Exchange:

  • Centers community

  • Designed for multiple benefits

  • Emphasizes vegetative practices where feasible

  • Maintained for the long-term

  • Regularly inspected for performance

  • Evaluated for impact

Proposed initiatives should address, but are not limited to, one or more of the following barriers to scaling green infrastructure in Chicago and, in doing so, build on existing projects, tools, networks and other assets:

  • Leadership: a need to develop strong organizational and individual leaders within communities, NGOs, and public agencies that can champion a shared vision for GI across the region

  • Coordination: effective coordination, collaboration, and communication across agencies, with practitioners, and for NPO alignment.

  • Standardization: alignment on shared goals, evaluation metrics, and technical standards for design, construction, and maintenance across agencies and with NPOs.

We are open to creative ideas for how this might be achieved. Examples of initiatives we might support include:

  • Supporting new and emerging NBS leadership emphasizing collaboration and coordination for GI.

  • Developing a shared vision for GI that includes innovative and sustainable approaches for development, implementation, and long-term maintenance.

  • Developing shared, standardized guidance or metrics for local GI design, implementation, maintenance, and evaluation.

  • Building equitable partnerships, networks and coordinated efforts needed to meaningfully advance GI implementation.

All initiatives, regardless of their specific approach, should include elements of the following:

  • Enhance and leverage existing efforts

  • Develop or build upon collaborative initiatives

  • Prioritize equity and resilience

  • Acknowledge and address the history of disinvestment in EJ communities

  • Include funded roles for environmental justice and community-based organizations

We encourage organizations to carefully consider the most effective approach and work together to ensure minimal duplication of efforts and a coordinated response. To assist in this process, the Foundation has contracted a third-party facilitator to host an in-person workshop for invited organizations to collaborate in developing proposals.

RFP Planning Workshop

To assist in the proposal process, Walder Foundation has contracted a third-party facilitator to host an in-person RFP Planning Workshop to develop collaborative proposal concepts.

The workshop will be scheduled before December 15, 2023, and hosted by social impact consulting firm Vega Partners. Invitees will receive information about the workshop.

Vega Partners contact:

Suzanne Griffith

suzanne@vega-partners.com or 312.625.6155

FUNDING GUIDELINES

  • Requests can be up to $350,000 per year for two years.

  • Multi-institution partnerships and collaborations are encouraged, but grants will be made to a single lead organization. Directing a portion of the budget to a variety of partners via re-grant, subcontract, etc., is encouraged. All decisions regarding sub-grants will be made by awardee institutions and not by the Walder Foundation.

  • Institutions may only submit one application as the lead applicant; however, they may be a partner in more than one application.

  • An invitation to this funding opportunity is not required for an organization or entity to be included as a partner and/or to receive sub-grants from the lead applicant.

  • Applications must be submitted by a single lead organization located in the Chicago region.

  • Sub-grantees do not need to be based in Chicago. We are open to partnerships with national organizations and networks with relevant expertise and capacity related to NBS and GI.

What we will not fund through this opportunity:

  • Projects led by organizations that are not public charities (though projects may partner with these organizations as appropriate).

  • Basic scientific research.

  • Lobbying, such as influencing specific legislation, voter registration drives, or voter education.

  • Sponsorship of one-off events.

  • K-12 education/outreach programs.

  • General operating or unrestricted funding.

  • On-the-ground projects focused on building GI installations.

  • Projects focusing primarily on incorporating types of green infrastructure such as permeable paving, rain barrels, or other types of intervention that do not include nature-based elements

TIMELINE

Application due: FEBRUARY 8, 2024, 5 p.m. CT

Grantee notification: APRIL 2024

CONTACT INFORMATION

For questions related to the content of your application, contact Casey Sebetto, Program Officer, Environmental Sustainability: csebetto@walderfoundation.org.

For questions about using our grants management system, contact grants@walderfoundation.org.