Insights

WSB Selected for National Climate Smart Communities Initiative Project in St. Paul, Minnesota 

August 19, 2026

WSB and our project partners have been selected as a recipient of funding through the highly competitive Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI), a national program supporting local climate resilience projects across the United States. The Climate Smart Communities Initiative supports communities through grant funding, technical assistance, training, peer learning opportunities, and access to a national network of adaptation practitioners.

As one of only twenty eight project teams selected nationwide, WSB will partner with the Payne-Phalen Community Council, the City of St. Paul, and Environmental Initiative as a registered adaption practitioner to create a climate resilience project in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood of St. Paul.

The project will focus on addressing extreme heat, air quality concerns, and severe weather through a community-driven resilience planning process. The partnership will combine local knowledge and lived experiences from community members with technical analysis to identify climate resilience strategies and develop a prioritized portfolio of funder-ready projects.

The initiative will create a neighborhood-scale resilience playbook designed to strengthen community preparedness, identify critical resilience investments, and support future implementation funding opportunities. In addition to advancing resilience in Payne-Phalen, the project is intended to serve as a scalable model for other communities facing similar climate challenges. Through this project, WSB and its partner organizations will work to advance local resilience and make a long-lasting impact for the community and beyond.