A Climate-resilient Region

• MAPC was awarded a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) under the MS4 Stormwater Technical Assistance program to develop an online, map-based tool to assist municipalities with identifying sites for green infrastructure by evaluating both hydrologic/water quality factors and equity considerations. 

• MAPC hosted a two-part Codes for Climate Webinar Series on the new Stretch Energy Code and the Specialized Code for municipal planning and inspectional services staff, boards and committees, and those interested and involved in building and energy codes. 

• MAPC concluded its third round of the COVID-Safe Cooling (CSC) Strategies Grant Program. MAPC designed and implemented financial and technical assistance to municipalities and community-based organizations most impacted by COVID-19 who are also disproportionally most affected by extreme heat events, supporting 19 community-based organization projects in Boston, Brockton, Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, Lawrence, and Revere. This project was funded by the Barr Foundation.

• MAPC awarded approximately $835,000 to 13 projects for the FY2023 round of the Accelerating Climate Resilience Municipal Grants Program. The grants fund one-year municipal projects to advance strategies to protect people, places, and communities from the impacts of climate change. Municipalities could receive up to $50,000 for technical assistance and design, capital projects, or capacity building. MAPC received 36 proposals totaling in $1,032,166 in funding requests.   

• MAPC’s project “Equitable Green Infrastructure” was featured in a state-wide workshop. MAPC was selected by the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions for this honor. 

• MAPC launched a five-part series, Rooted in Nature: Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Resilience. 

• MAPC was awarded a Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Action Grant from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs on behalf of the Metro Mayors Climate Taskforce. This is the first time that a Regional Planning Agency (RPA) has ever been directly awarded a Regional MVP Action Grant. 

• MAPC was awarded $250,000 from the Barr Foundation to develop a “Climate Resilience Playbook” resources guide to support communities with best practices for building social and environmental resilience to climate change impacts. 

• As part of MAPC's Equity in Clean Energy Webinar Series (launched in December 2022), three webinars were hosted in 2023 (February, April, September). They focused on building resilience hubs, equitable community engagement, and equitable access to clean energy technologies.  

• MAPC worked in partnership with seven cities and towns in the Greater Boston region on creating local Climate Action Plans (CAP) or Net Zero Action Plans: Framingham, Malden, Reading, Marblehead, Peabody, Lincoln, and NSORS (North Suffolk Office of Resilience and Sustainability Zero Carbon Action Plan which is Revere, Chelsea, and Winthrop).  

  1. Climate Action Plans for Framingham, Malden, and Reading are still under development.

Did You Know?
In 2000, MAPC and Tufts University launched a three-year study on the effects of climate change on the Greater Boston region.