The National League of Cities’ Sustainability and Resilience initiative supports and celebrates city-led sustainability and resilience efforts through Local Solar Energy Leadership and Leadership in Community Resilience.
NLC supports local solar energy leadership through a partnership with SolSmart. SolSmart is a solar energy designation and technical assistance program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy that helps prepare communities for the solar energy transition at the local level. SolSmart’s technical assistance comes at no cost from a team of national experts that work with communities to identify local priorities and strategies to help make solar energy more affordable and accessible for residents and businesses. Successful communities are awarded the prestigious designation of SolSmart Bronze, Silver, or Gold. This page directs browsers to SolSmart’s website, where they can request a consultation for their community.
Another way the NLC supports resilience framework is through their partnership with the Resilient Cities Network that gets input from a global network of Chief Resilience Officers. The Leadership in Community Resilience (LCR) grant program supports and enhances local capacity among elected leaders and staff, communities, and community-based organizations as they pursue coordinated climate resilience efforts.
The Resilient Cities Network for 2021 includes eight major cities: Alton, Texas; Arlington; Massachusetts; Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Dubuque, Iowa; Flagstaff, Arizona; Portsmouth, New Hampshire; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Spokane, Washington. The NLC offers grants to cities that want to pursue coordinated climate resilience efforts and gives each city $10,000 in direct financial support. The cities also receive technical assistance and advisory services from NLC staff and partners to help them meet community-specific resiliency goals.
This page also includes information about past LCR Grantees so readers can learn about the success of the LCR grant program.
Click here for more information.