The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) announces the awardees for the fourth competitive round of the Climate Catalyst Innovation Fund. The funding supports projects that make a meaningful, community-scale impact. VCRD received more than $224,000 in requests and was able to fund 24 projects totaling $85,000 to support local climate solutions in Vermont.

In collaboration with generous funders including Vermont Low Income Trust for Electricity (VLITE), the Vermont Community Foundation, the Sunflower Fund, EastRise Credit Union, Ruth H. Brown Foundation, and Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, VCRD is supporting local innovators in developing solutions that move Vermont closer to its climate and energy goals. Projects are practical and creative efforts that expand community resilience, reduce energy use, and create new approaches to challenging problems. Projects funded this year include solar generators, a farmer resilience network, youth climate projects, and many more. This year, the Climate Catalyst Innovation Fund grew to $85,000 following three successful prior rounds. An interactive map is available showcasing recipients, location and project descriptions. Project outcomes and photos from the previous rounds are available on the VCRD website: https://www.vtrural.org/climate-economy/climate-catalysts-innovation-fund/.

“To date, this fund has awarded 92 local innovators with over $285,000 in support of community-led climate and energy projects,” said Laura Cavin Bailey, the Climate Economy Program Manager of VCRD. “This provides exciting opportunities to launch ideas into action at the community level.”

The Climate Catalyst Innovation Fund award amounts range from $500 – $4,000, are selected by a panel of partners, and are based on demonstrating a mix of innovation, equity,  resilience, replicability, collaboration, leverage, and meeting climate and energy goals. VCRD anticipates opening a new round of applications in the fall of 2025.

2025 Project Recipients & Projects:

  • ACORN (Addison County Relocalization Network) to support a farmer-led network for climate resilience.
  • Addison County Economic Development Corporation to support the expertise and community organizing to advance several Thermal Energy Network projects in Middlebury.
  • Architend, LLC. to develop three high performance home prototypes to be constructed utilizing a locally manufactured straw panel wall system.
    Bennington Community Café to connect, learn and grow food for the Bennington Community Café.
  • Blake Memorial Library Association to build a solar powered shed available to community members after hours and during power outages.
  • Bridgewater Area Community Foundation to add solar electricity generation and storage to the Bridgewater Community Center and Childcare Center.
  • Center for an Agricultural Economy to move existing community garden beds from CAE-owned, flood-prone, public greenspace, to higher ground at the Hazen Union High School.
  • City of Barre to collect and map citizen-led neighborhood flood knowledge and resident education to make small scale flood mitigation improvements to their own properties.
  • City of Newport Police Department to purchase a Trikke police e-scooter.
  • Community Resilience Organizations (CROs) to adapt existing CROs tools like the Community Resilience Assessment into curriculum to better support community-led resilience efforts, and deepen their work toward creating a decentralized resilience network.
  • Elderly Services, Inc. to make a model composting site at their adult day center.
  • Bennington Community Market to increase the supply of local produce from area farmers to be sold at a downtown market that accepts SNAP.
  • Healthy Roots Collaborative/Feeding Champlain Valley to purchase an EcoFlow DELTA Pro Portable Power Station to expand access to fresh local food.
  • Kingdom Trail Association to support the transition to battery-powered trail maintenance and building equipment.
  • Northeast Kingdom Organizing (NEKO) to work in partnership with Community Resilience Organizations to create a toolkit and framework for a disaster resilience hub network culminating in a WCC-funded summit, for people to build skills around disaster recovery to prepare for a precarious climate future.
  • Out in the Open to purchase solar generators for use on their new 3.1 acre property in West Brattleboro.
  • Rich Earth Institute to develop and implement a site planning tool for establishing urine collection depots across Vermont, and streamlining Rich Earth’s ability to foster and support this work.
  • Salvation Farms Inc to expand year-round gleaning services to the communities of the Lamoille Valley and Northeast Kingdom.
  • Town of Kirby Knotweed Action Committee to continue the community led efforts to control the highly invasive plant, Japanese Knotweed along town roads and on private land contiguous with town roads.
  • Town of Plainfield Energy Team to promote weatherization in community households, and help to pay down the cost of professional energy audits for each building.
  • Town of Sandgate to support the effort to retrofit the Sandgate town hall to function as a temporary emergency shelter during a local disaster.
  • Vermont Center for Independent Living to support a three-week training series for Vermonters with disabilities and provide home preparedness kits for 16 households.
  • Vermont Energy Education Program to support youth teams as they plan and implement climate action projects.
  • Vermont Garden Network to support the 6-month long Food, Housing & Land Access program: Gardening Education at Affordable Housing Sites.

To learn more visit https://www.vtrural.org/climate-economy/climate-catalysts-innovation-fund/ or contact Laura Cavin Bailey at [email protected] or (802) 234-1646.