RWJF’s Global Ideas for U.S. Solutions: Cities Taking Action to Address Health, Equity, and Climate Change

Deadline: 30 April 2020

With this call for proposals (CFP), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Global Ideas for U.S. Solutions team seeks proposals that put multisector approaches from cities outside of the United States into action in U.S. cities to mitigate the unequal health risks posed by climate change.

Through this funding opportunity, RWJF seeks to promote learning through action in U.S. cities based on successful approaches from cities outside the United States that address the intertwined issues of health, equity, and climate change adaptation, sequestration, or mitigation. Projects should address how cities or city networks (organizations that work with groups of cities) outside the United States are building health equity into sustainable urban futures to address the urgent threat of climate change and how those approaches will be adapted or adopted and implemented in the United States.

Focus areas for this CFP include (but are not limited to) changes in city planning, policies, and programs that address: buildings and energy; land use and urban planning; transportation; waste; food systems and food security; adaptation/resilience (e.g., heat, flooding); and/or air quality, with required engagement from partners representing two or more sectors (i.e., professional disciplines or divisions in city operations or government) within a city. Applicants should embed inclusion and engagement of local community members in their proposed projects, and consideration of financial sustainability after the grant period ends.

Total Awards

Up to $3 million will be available for this funding opportunity. The funding period will be 30 months in duration (2.5 years), and will include a brief planning period, implementation, and dissemination/communication activities, as well as active participation in a learning network. The proposed budget should be appropriate to the scope of work, but no more than $600,000 for the project period. RWJF is interested in supporting a portfolio of projects which, together, represent an array of action areas and a range of budgets that are commensurate with grantees’ expected activities.

Eligibility Criteria

• RWJF is inviting applicants who represent organizations from a wide range of fields and disciplines—both within and outside the health/public health sector. RWJF encourages proposals from both U.S.-based applicants to adopt or adapt a successful approach from outside the United States, and from non-U.S.-based applicants with a successful approach that could work in the United States. They encourage submissions from teams that include both U.S.-based and non-U.S.-based members. They seek to attract diversity of thought, professional background, race, ethnicity, life experience, and cultural perspective in applicant pool. Building a Culture of Health means integrating health into all aspects of society, so they encourage multisector partnerships and collaboration.
• Please note:
  • Applicants may be based almost anywhere in the world; however, RWJF will only fund proposals that demonstrate clear applicability to the United States and propose work in a U.S. city(ies).
  • Awards will be made to organizations, not individuals. Preference will be given to applicants that are either public entities (e.g., city department of health, city planning department), public charities, or nongovernmental organizations. Applicants not representing city government will be required to submit a letter of support from the head of the U.S. city department with whom the applicant will most closely work.
  • Proposals must be based on a successful approach from a non-U.S. city(ies), region, or global city network.
  • Applicants need not have an existing relationship with the non-U.S. city(ies), region, or network in which the approach has been implemented. However, applicants must have an established relationship with the U.S. city(ies) in which the proposed project will take place.
  • The organization implementing the successful approach to address health, equity, and climate change in a U.S. city(ies) must serve as the primary applicant, and will be the prime recipient of funds. The project director should be affiliated with the applicant organization. An individual from a collaborating organization (e.g., community organization, research partner) may serve as the co-project director.

Selection Criteria

All proposals will be screened for eligibility and then reviewed using the following criteria:

• Project adopts or adapts an approach from a city outside the United States with demonstrated impact or success and puts it into action in a U.S. city(ies) to change city planning, policies, or programs that address the threat of climate change and health equity;
• Project supports planning and implementation of action in a U.S. city(ies) that fits into and will support that locale’s ongoing efforts (not a standalone initiative);
• Project creates sustainable progress toward improving health and well-being in communities, especially among excluded or marginalized groups (e.g., including but not limited to people of color; people living in poverty; religious minorities; people with physical or mental disabilities; LGBTQ persons; and women);
• Project incorporates the voice, leadership, and expertise of local community members from excluded or marginalized populations and vulnerable places;
• Project addresses urban sustainability and engages at least two sectors (professional disciplines or government divisions) within a city to address the unequal health risks of climate change;
• Project includes preliminary ideas about communication and dissemination activities for sharing the ideas, insights, and lessons learned from this project;
• Well-developed action plan, with demonstrated support from the U.S. city(ies) in which the project will take place, as well as knowledge, expertise, and capacity of the project director and key staff to successfully conduct the proposed activities;
• Risk mitigation plan addressing how the project will be sustained in the event of leadership changes and/or shifts in city priorities;
• Clear delineations of project team members’ and partners’ roles and responsibilities, including amount of time allocated to carry out project activities; and Appropriateness of budget and project timeline.

Characteristics desired of project directors and key project personnel include:

• Eagerness and readiness to connect with and to learn alongside others globally and within the United States who are working at the intersection of health, equity, and climate change;
• Ability to influence local change and to serve as a changemaker more broadly through participation in city, state, and/or national networks;
• Commitment to equity, community engagement, and inclusion; and
• Open-mindedness and willingness to explore new ideas.

In addition to the criteria listed above, projects will be selected with the intention of funding a diverse set of initiatives based on several considerations, such as source of successful approach from outside the United States (i.e., region of the world); characteristics of the U.S. city(ies) and populations served; incorporation of local, indigenous, or traditional knowledge; types of sectors and participants involved in the project; and the climate and health equity risks addressed. RWJF is interested in supporting a portfolio of projects which, together, represent an array of action areas and a range of budgets that are commensurate with grantees’ expected activities.

For more information, visit https://rwjf.ws/2JfMIMN