Geothermal Technologies Office

EERE Teams with the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security on the Civic Innovation Challenge 2022

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy has teamed with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on NSF’s Civic Innovation Challenge 2022 (CIVIC), a national “research and action” competition driven by community priorities.

The Civic Innovation Challenge supports partnerships between communities and universities that address mobility and resilience priorities. CIVIC is designed to find ready-to-implement, community-based solutions to local challenges and execute them in ways that are sustainable, scalable, and transferable to other communities—from large to small and from rural to urban—across the United States.

The Civic Innovation Challenge 2022 will focus on two tracks, shaped by input from cities and communities across the country:

• Living in a changing climate: pre-disaster action around adaptation, resilience, and mitigation
• Resource and service equity: bridging the gap between essential resources and services and community needs.

Teams will compete for awards of up to $1 million to support ready-to-implement, research-based pilots with the potential for scalable, sustainable, and transferable impact on community-identified priorities. Learn more about CIVIC and the projects supported in the first round of the challenge. Register for a webinar on Feb. 25 from 1:30-3 p.m. ET for more information.