The Regional Resilience Innovation Incubator (R2I2) program, led by the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Geosciences and Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, aims to address region-specific climate challenges by bridging fundamental climate science research with practical, scalable solutions. This program will support community-engaged, interdisciplinary teams to co-design and demonstrate real-world applications of climate resilience strategies. R2I2 operates in two phases, with the current solicitation focusing on Phase-1, which emphasizes project concept creation and refinement. Proposals are expected to identify pressing regional climate challenges, outline potential solutions, and establish robust partnerships across academia, industry, government, and local communities. The targeted regions align with the ten climate areas defined in the Fifth National Climate Assessment, including Northeast, Southeast, U.S. Caribbean, Midwest, Great Plains, Northwest, Southwest, Alaska, and Hawaii & U.S. Pacific Islands.

The program’s core objective is to foster regional resilience through innovative and practical climate solutions, emphasizing community engagement, interdisciplinary collaboration, and capacity building. Successful projects will translate Earth system science into actionable strategies, address environmental justice concerns, and incorporate nature-based, technological, and policy solutions. Projects should aim for measurable outcomes within a 3–5-year timeline and include detailed plans for assessing success using SMART metrics. Workforce development and broadening participation, particularly involving historically underrepresented groups in STEM, are essential program priorities. In addition to the regional incubators, a National Office (RNO) will be established to support coordination, communication, and knowledge-sharing across R2I2 projects.

NSF anticipates funding up to 16 Phase-1 pilot projects and one RNO award, with an estimated total funding amount of $10 million for FY 2025. Phase-1 projects are eligible for funding of up to $500,000 over two years, while the RNO can receive up to $1 million per year for the same period. Phase-1 teams are expected to refine their proposed regional climate challenge and solutions, develop implementation roadmaps, and establish collaborative structures to ensure effective execution in Phase-2. Only Phase-1 awardees will be eligible to submit proposals for Phase-2, which NSF plans to release in FY 2026, subject to funding availability.

Eligibility for R2I2 proposals extends to a wide range of organizations, including institutions of higher education (both two-year and four-year), non-profit research organizations, for-profit entities with strong research capabilities, state and local governments, tribal nations, and NSF-sponsored Federally Funded Research and Development Centers. Proposals must demonstrate strong partnerships among diverse stakeholders and ensure active engagement of affected communities. Individual participation is limited to one proposal as lead Principal Investigator (PI) and one additional proposal as Co-PI.

Letters of Intent are mandatory and must be submitted via Research.gov by January 10, 2025, with full proposals due by January 16, 2025. The proposal evaluation will consider NSF’s standard merit review criteria of Intellectual Merit and Broader Impacts, alongside solicitation-specific priorities such as innovation, scalability, community engagement, and potential societal impact. Proposals must include clear objectives, community needs assessments, Earth system research integration, partnership structures, coordination plans, defined deliverables, and broader impact activities, including workforce development and diversity initiatives.

The RNO will play a critical role in facilitating collaboration across R2I2 projects by organizing regular meetings, creating a centralized data repository adhering to FAIR data principles, disseminating knowledge broadly, and providing workforce development support. The RNO will also act as a hub for communication, training, and strategic planning but will not have governance authority over individual R2I2 projects. By the end of Phase-1, projects are expected to have well-defined pathways for Phase-2 implementation, including sustainability plans for long-term operations.