Green Umbrella’s Climate Research Incubator Connects Regional Scientists to Communities

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Contributors: Nobi Kennedy, Dr. Kristy Hopfensperger, Anna Parnigoni

The severity of issues caused by the climate crisis requires collaborative and often complex solutions. Research also typically happens across institutions in silos, causing gaps in knowledge and creating challenges related to cross-disciplinary initiatives. This is particularly true across the climate space, where research is happening at a rapid speed to address our rapidly changing environment. To address this issue locally, Green Umbrella partnered with Northern Kentucky University to launch the Climate Research Incubator in 2024, the first cross-disciplinary climate research initiative in our region. 

The Climate Research Incubator is a forum where academics and climate scientists can expand their work through equitable collaboration with community partners. The Incubator builds on the intersection of research and community to reimagine the role of research systems in collective action by connecting local and grassroots expertise to research and scholarly knowledge. The inaugural 2024 Incubator cohort included 12 researchers across 5 institutions, including the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Community partners included Groundwork Ohio River Valley, The Center for Closing the Health Gap, Avondale Community Council, the City of Covington, and more. 

Green Umbrella and NKU plan to offer Incubator programming annually to a select group of researchers and community partners. Continue reading to learn more about this program, our 2024 Cohort model, and how to get involved. 

The Incubator Program Plan

The Climate Research Incubator’s mission is straightforward yet ambitious: to bring together community partners, scholars, and local governments to co-create research projects, incubate those projects, and enhance climate resilience within our region. 

The primary objectives of the program include:

  1. Provide training necessary in science communication and public engagement 
  2. Foster opportunities for relationship-building among participants 
  3. Support actionable seed projects developed through the Incubator 

Cohorts meet multiple times between fall and summer. Trainings for participants are broken down into four main categories: a Fall Scholar Training Workshop Series, A Winter Symposium, Spring Ideas Cafe Sessions, and Summer Collaboration Workshops. 

Led by NKU Professor Kristy Hopfensperger, the Incubator trainings and workshops ask researchers to consider how their research and science can advance specific priorities related to climate justice. Together, participants explore how their research can better address climate concerns and how their research process can center underserved communities and avoid extractive and transactional relationship dynamics with those communities. This collaborative approach aims to ensure solutions are rooted in practical needs and deliver tangible benefits to communities. 

Our Impact: Success Stories from the 2024 Climate Research Incubator

The inaugural research cohort made significant strides through their work with the Incubator. The program engaged 12 scholars, 6 local governments, and 26 community partners throughout its duration. Major seed ideas emerged and project teams have continued moving this work forward since wrapping Incubator programming. Projects are at various stages of development and include: 

  • Food Systems: Food system modeling to mitigate supply chain disruptions due to climate change and educate on local and cultural foodways. 
  • Greenspace: Greenspace and flooding adaptations; food gardens in urban revitalization
  • Waste Reduction: Data collection and analysis on litter; building community incentives to manage waste and recycling 
  • Health & Community: Race-based trauma and the impact of climate change on mental health outcomes; solutions on greenspace access and neighborhood activation

Where Science Meets Community

A key factor of the Climate Research Incubator is connecting communities to research specialists and governments. The Incubator Symposium, which is held annually after scholar trainings in science communication and public engagement, brings cohort participants – scholars, community partners, and local governments – together to learn about community needs and interests. This type of cooperation is critical – when communities engage with researchers and local governments, they have the opportunity to study or solve problems with a specialist or policy-maker collaborating on the process. Researchers and government representatives can become champions of community ideas, and provide insight from a scientific or policy perspective. The Symposium creates this forum for collaboration and fosters these types of connections. 

Additional community benefits include accessing data and technical expertise, building relationships with scientific and technical experts, and informing/participating in scientific research. Researchers can incorporate local and traditional knowledge, improve research questions and understanding of research findings, design more equitable engagement and project management approaches, and support the participation of underrepresented groups in science and other disciplines. 

Moving Forward

Although the 2023-24 Incubator workshop activities have concluded, the momentum continues! Current 2023-2024 project teams maintain regular meetings, progressing toward their intended goals and advancing their seed projects. 

Recruitment for the 2024-25 scholar cohort has also begun (apply now – the deadline is Sept. 4!), with an annual meeting planned for early 2025. Readers are invited to share this opportunity with their networks, get involved in upcoming events, and be part of the solution. For more information and to stay updated, visit our webpage. 

If you are a scholar, community partner, or government representative and would like to be involved in the 2024-2025 Climate Research Incubator, contact Kristy Hopfensperger at hopfenspek1@nku.edu. 

About Our 2024-2025 Climate Fellow 

Dr. Kristy Hopfensperger helped design and lead the inaugural Incubator cohort and will continue to serve as Green Umbrella’s climate fellow for the 2024-2025 program. Dr. Hopfensperger is an environmental scientist, researcher, and professor. She is the Director of the Environmental Science Program at Northern Kentucky University; her research topics include the efficiency of green infrastructure, invasive species and their ecosystems, and ecosystem restoration and mitigation. Her work is truly collaborative – she is often involved in projects with community partners including the Green Umbrella and Groundwork Ohio River Valley’s Climate Safe Neighborhoods program and others with RISE, ReNewport, Databloom, and more.

Meet a Greenspace: New Hiking Event Series with the Greenspace Alliance

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Our lives can pull us from the places and experiences that ground and restore us.  Too often, we uncouple ourselves from the many forms of nature and mindlessly meander through our days: hopping from one meeting to another, rushing through the motions of life, jobs, hobbies, just to check another task off the to-do list.  

For those of us working either directly or indirectly in environmental conservation fields, this feeling can be amplified and lead to an internal abyss full of restlessness and disconnectedness. 

Sound familiar? Add our Meet a Greenspace Hike Series to your calendar!

This hiking series will take place once a month and explore both protected and unprotected greenspaces across the region. There is no agenda or plan of action other to reconnect to nature, ourselves, and each other.  

Each month, we will explore a different area, ranging from our greenspace gems to urban strolls.  They will last for one hour and are open to anyone and everyone interested.  

We hope that these hikes will provide time and space to reconnect with nature. Hikes will be posted on our Events Calendar with links to the month’s location (please look at the locations’ website for accessibility information). If you have any questions, contact Green Umbrella’s Greenspace Alliance Manager Claire Carlson at claire@greenumbrella.org. We’ll see you on the trails!

Why Local Governments Love Green Umbrella

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Local governments across the region are benefiting from working with Green Umbrella to help them boost their capacity, secure funding, build community engagement, and implement key projects to make their communities more resilient, equitable, and thriving. 

With the abundance of ways to take action on sustainability, making decisions that create meaningful changes can be overwhelming and confusing. Green Umbrella is here to help local governments navigate what can feel like a maze of opportunities and take decisive action.

Here are just a few examples of this important work:

Kickstarting Sustainability Planning in City of Fairfield

In 2022, City of Fairfield began development of their first comprehensive, local, climate action plan. Green Umbrella helped the City translate their goals and resource needs into their contractor procurement process. Their forthcoming plan will address five topics: air quality and climate change; community health and safety; energy conservation and efficiency; going green; and water quality.

Engaging Residents in City of Norwood

Working closely with Norwood community leaders, the Climate Safe Neighborhoods Partnership (led by Green Umbrella and Groundwork Ohio River Valley) created a Climate Advisory Group to equitably engage underserved communities. The Group, composed of Norwood residents, works closely with city government staff and elected officials to ensure that community voice is translated to decision making opportunities. This type of equitable engagement can directly support the informing, design, and implementation of adaptation and mitigation projects, policies, and plans led by local governments.

As a partner in this work, Green Umbrella secured planning and design resources to help create the street tree plan and supported the strategy development for the local government’s solar investment. The new solar panels are expected to generate 29% of the electricity used at the Colerain Community Center, resulting in an estimated savings of $104,000 over the life of the panels. 

Acceleration in Colerain Township

Green Umbrella supported Colerain Township in the design and launch of a cross-sector community group called Team Up to Green Up – Colerain. Since launching, the group has worked collaboratively to create a community-wide waste pick-up program, engage with the Township’s street tree plan, and rally support for solar in Colerain. 

As a partner in this work, Green Umbrella secured planning and design resources to help create the street tree plan and supported the strategy development for the local government’s solar investment. The new solar panels are expected to generate 29% of the electricity used at the Colerain Community Center, resulting in an estimated savings of $104,000 over the life of the panels. 

Planning for the Future in Cincinnati

Green Umbrella has supported the City of Cincinnati on developing and implementing the Green Cincinnati Plan for nearly a decade, including sitting on the Plan’s steering committee, helping 20 schools start their green schoolyard journey, drawing down energy use in Cincinnati’s commercial buildings, updating the city’s urban agriculture zoning codes, and more.

These stories and many others are the tip of the iceberg of what’s possible when working with Green Umbrella. Just like we’ve done for Fairfield, Norwood, Colerain, and Cincinnati, we have experts that can help your community take whatever action is right for you – whether it’s the first or next step in your resilience journey.

Join us on Friday November 3, 2023 
Local Governments Member Benefits Webinar
You’ll have an opportunity to ask your most pressing questions and to hear what other local governments are doing to create more resilient, equitable, and thriving communities.