Partners for Places is a successful matching grant program that improves U.S. and Canadian communities by requiring local government and local foundation partnerships, and by pairing national and local philanthropic funding sources. National funders invest in local projects developed through these partnerships to promote a healthy environment, a strong economy, and well-being for all residents. Through these investments, Partners for Places fosters long term relationships that make our urban areas more prosperous, livable, and vibrant.
Partners for Places administers three grant programs: Sustainable Climate Actiongrants, Green Stormwater Infrastructure(GSI) grants, and a MiniGrants program.
In addition to valuing social equity, Partners for Places has six sustainability priorities:
- The Big Picture: Networks like TFN, USDN and the Exchange collaborate to identify and develop high-impact solutions that advance urban sustainability practices
- High Impact Practices: Partners for Places supports GHG Reduction, Climate Resilience, Equity, and Green Stromwater Infrastructure.
- GHG high-impact practices are classed into 4 topics:
- Transportation
- Energy supply
- Building energy use
- Consumption/waste reduction
- Climate resiliency priorities are as follows:
- advance local climate-related initiatives through peer learning and deeper collaboration
- integrate climate resilience into existing plans and processes
- help stakeholders and partners support local climate resilience progress
- Embedding equity into all project work means that there is a recognition of the need to:
- deconstruct dysfunctional policies because social and racial inequities are avoidable, unjust,and preventable
- shift decisions-making methods for more diverse and inclusive plans, projects, policies, and programs
- remove barriers that keep members of historically marginalized communities from influencing
- Green infrastructure includes soil-water-plant systems that intercept stormwater by:
- infiltrating a portion of it into the ground;
- evaporating a portion of it into the air; and
- in some cases, release a portion of it slowly back into the sewer s
Successful proposals are for projects that local government sustainability leaders and local, place-based funder(s) consider important to advancing sustainability goals in their communities. The project must either, 1) advance a key aspect of one of the plans listed below, 2) support creation of a sustainability or climate action plan that meets our minimum requirements, or 3) address an area identified for performance improvement or implementation for Certified STAR Communities.
- A community-focused sustainability, climate action, or comprehensive plan provision that specifically addresses sustainability
- Any multi-issue plan endorsed by the mayor or city manager that explicitly states and pursues the goal of integrating and/or balancing economic development, environmental quality, and equity.
A sustainability director may include a USDN core or associate member, a member of a USDN-affiliated regional network, or any person who leads a multi-department and community-wide urban sustainability initiative from within a city (municipality) or a county government in the United States or Canada. A local, place-based foundation may include a community foundation or a private or corporate foundation that focuses on a greater metropolitan area.