Join the Strategic Growth Council's (SGC) Climate Change Research Program to Discuss Research Priorities for $10 million in Funding - May 2019

April 11th, 2019
By Kathleen P Nolan

Dear Colleagues,

The Strategic Growth Council's (SGC) Climate Change Research Program staff will be visiting institutions of higher education throughout the state hosting Research Roundtables and Listening Sessions. Staff want to hear from researchers, non-traditional research partners, and stakeholders about what the program should consider when investing in climate research that engages and benefits communities in California.

These potential partners include:

• Community-based organizations – including civic, community, and advocacy groups

• Federal research agencies and departments

• Local land use agencies, departments, and organizations

• Local health agencies, departments, and organizations

• Non-profit organizations – including conservation, environmental justice and natural resources

• Open space landowners and recreation providers

• Private sector businesses

• Regional agencies – focused on transportation, resources, and infrastructure

• Regional climate collaboratives

• Tribes

The Climate Change Research Program is an opportunity to advance the SGC's vision to support healthy, vibrant, and resilient communities. It is designed to leverage SGC's role as an interagency body to focus on cross-cutting research investments that build community resilience, integrate land use and development considerations, and facilitate the transformation of California communities. The Program will demonstrate how the State's investment can build an innovative, outcome-driven partnership between the State and the research community that will directly support achieving California's climate change goals.

In November, the SGC will release the program's Round 3 Solicitation, describing Council priorities for awarding $10 million in pending budget appropriations. As with past funding rounds, the Council will prioritize projects that feature robust, diverse, and/or unique multi-stakeholder partnerships to ensure research results can inform community and stakeholder action. The SGC will support projects that recognize that strong local engagement and cross-sector partnerships are critical to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Research should include diverse networks, as these serve as a catalyst for understanding and responding to local and multi-sector research needs. The program seeks your input to inform these climate change research priorities.

SGC will host six listening sessions focused on understanding how to better integrate non-traditional research partners and stakeholders into the research funded by the Climate Change Research (CCR) Program.

During these meetings, staff will ask prospective research partners to discuss:

How the program's emphasis on meaningful engagement and science to action supports or could better support the research questions that need to be addressed within their community,
How researchers can launch robust, diverse, and unique multi-stakeholder partnerships with organizations that can transform research into action, and
Tips and past experiences on how your organization has successfully partnered with members of the research community.

SGC will also host of six roundtables focusing on future funding opportunities for the SGC's Climate Change Research program.

The Research Roundtables are geared towards past and potential research proposers, while the Listening Sessions aim to hear from non-traditional partners to inform how the Council can better address community priorities in future rounds of the program. These roundtables will provide researchers an opportunity to learn about the program and its emphasis on meaningful engagement and science to action, to share past experiences, and to discuss what the program should focus on when awarding future funds. These roundtables are structured to encourage participants to ask questions, and to provide input and feedback to the SGC staff before they begin drafting the Round 3 Solicitation.

These roundtables are structured to encourage participants to ask questions, and to provide input and feedback to the SGC staff before they begin drafting the Round 3 Solicitation.

SGC encourages researchers to attend both meetings, as available. If you are interested in attending, please register for one of the Research Roundtables and/ or one of the CCR Listening Sessions by using the link corresponding to the venues listed below. Registration is encouraged as space is limited, but it is not required.

UC Berkeley

Wednesday, May 1st