The Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD) announces the call for Climate Economy Resilient Communities participants for 2026. Through the program, VCRD supports three to five communities each year working on local climate action solutions that help increase climate resilience, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, lower energy use, and/or strengthen the local climate economy.
Since launching in 2017, CERC has partnered with communities looking for help with engaging residents through facilitated events as well as providing technical assistance and project planning. For example, the City of Barre invited residents and businesses to share post-flood experiences and think together about future response and recovery. The Sharon Energy Committee, another CERC recipient, brought the town of Sharon together to discuss community needs for becoming more resilient and connected.
Services are adaptable based on the community’s needs and can include support with community engagement processes, strategic planning, technical assistance, and/or project implementation. Community leaders submit a simple online application (https://forms.gle/zr8hZRmnHg6mUKnq5) and the deadline is January 20, 2026.
“With three years of devastating flooding, Vermont rural communities are recognizing the need for conversations about a viable future that reduces additional impact of weather disturbances, sets up communication and support systems, and strengthens social connections within their communities,” said Laura Cavin Bailey, Climate Economy Program Director. “The Resilient Communities program provides adaptable assistance to support progress on community-defined climate projects.”
Resilient Community projects should address the needs of low-income household community members, increase climate resiliency, and/or engage partners willing to assist with implementation. Priority will be given to communities that show a mix of strong collaboration and equitable engagement across diverse stakeholders; increase human, built infrastructure, and natural systems resilience; reduce greenhouse gas emissions; strengthen the local climate economy; and can be models for other communities across Vermont.
“We were very fortunate to work with VCRD in our town. They gave us the tools we needed to gather a significant portion of our community to discuss issues that are important to us in our town” stated Ryan Haac, the co-chair of the Sharon Connects process. “The feedback from my neighbors was that they felt included, heard, and supported by the professional meeting facilitation and leadership provided by VCRD. Three task groups have been formed and are diligently working toward goals that were deemed important in our community.”
Projects must have a place based community as the entity to apply. This can be an individual town/village/municipality or group of towns/villages/municipalities. Eligible entities include town or volunteer committee or group, such as an Energy Committee, Planning Committee, or community serving non-profit/volunteer groups.
Since 2017, the Climate Economy Resilient Communities program has helped advance climate economy efforts in Johnson, Arlington, Barre, Chittenden, Dorset, Lamoille County, Marshfield/Plainfield, Middlebury, Plainfield, Pownal, Randolph, Rochester, Sharon, Swanton, and the White River Valley.
For more details and the application visit https://www.vtrural.org/climate-economy/resilient-communities/. For questions contact Laura Cavin Bailey, Climate Economy Program Director, at [email protected] or (802) 234-1646.