2019 GREENEST CITY GRANT PROGRAM & APPLICATION GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS

Transcription

1 2019 GREENEST CITY GRANT PROGRAM & APPLICATION GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS APPLICATION DEADLINE IS 4:30 PM NOVEMBER 26, 2018 ALL required materials (digital only) must be received by the City no later than the deadline. 1

2 Contents 1. Greenest City Grant process at a glance Greenest City Grant vision Background The Greenest City Grant Funding amount Greenest City Grant process in detail How to apply Applicant and project eligibility and restrictions Evaluation criteria Outcomes Measurement Table Why Measure Outcomes? Instruction for completing Outcomes Measurement Section Grantee requirements Other civic strategies

3 GREENEST CITY GRANT: PROGRAM & APPLICATION GUIDE FOR APPLICANTS The purpose of this document is to provide an overview to applicants of the Greenest City Grant program and the Greenest City Grant application. 1. Greenest City Grant process at a glance Application available October 22, 2018 Applicant & City of Vancouver Application Workshop* November 1, 2018 Applicant & City of Vancouver Application Deadline November 26, 2018 Applicant Funding recommendations January, 2019 City of Vancouver Final approval February, 2019 (TBD) City of Vancouver *Attendance is not mandatory but strongly encouraged. 2. Greenest City Grant vision The purpose of the Greenest City Grant is to support sustainability projects within the City of Vancouver that will reduce the community s carbon footprint and enhance the health and resilience of our citizens, community and natural environment. 3. Background 3.1 The Greenest City Grant The primary focus of the Greenest City Grant is to address goals and targets outlined in the Greenest City Action Plan. Where possible, applicants are encouraged to address and demonstrate a more blended impact approach and address other civic strategies, such as the Renewable City Action Plan, the Climate Change Adaptation Plan and the Healthy City Strategy, in addition to the Greenest City Action Plan. There will be opportunities in the application to demonstrate how project design may offer multiple co-benefits in recognition of a definition of sustainability that incorporates ecological, social and economic aspects. The Greenest City Grant program will: Support projects or programs that are looking to establish, test, or scale up ideas or actions Successful projects will take a systems approach to create change or make improvements and contributions that will assist the City of Vancouver to meet its Greenest City 2020 targets 3

4 Ideally, projects/programs will include some form of self-sustainment or provide a proof of concept for someone (not the Greenest City Grant) to fund it or carry it on post grant award 4. Funding amount Applicants may apply for, per project, up to 50% of the project s budget to a maximum of $100,000. Project timelines may be one to three years in length. The typical grant is $35,000 to $45,000 in size but opportunities of up to $100,000 will be considered. 5. Greenest City Grant process in detail The grant program will run as a one-step application process through Social Policy at the City of Vancouver. Full applications can be submitted from October 22 through to November 26, 2018 at 4:30pm by to socialpolicygrants@vancouver.ca. Late applications will not be accepted. A two-hour workshop will be hosted by staff on November 1, 2018 for interested applicants to learn about the Greenest City Grant, the Greenest City Action Plan, the Renewable City Action Plan, the Climate Change Adaptation Plan and the Healthy City Strategy. Attendance is not mandatory but is strongly encouraged. The Greenest City Grant process in detail: Activity Timeline Agent Application available October 22, 2018 Sustainability & Social Policy Application Workshop November 1, 2018 Sustainability & Social Policy Application Deadline November 26, 2018 Applicant Application review November 28 December 5, Staff committee individual 2018 Application review - group December 5, 2018 Staff committee Applicant notifications Week before Council meeting Staff committee Final approval February, 2019 (date TBD) Mayor & Council Staff from Social Policy and the Sustainability Group will review applications from November 27 to December 5, 2018 and make funding recommendations to Mayor and Council for their consideration. Please see Section 8 for evaluation criteria. Final funding decisions will be made at the mid-february 2019 council meeting by Mayor 4

5 and Council. Payment of the first portion of approved grants usually follows within about two weeks. There is no appeal process available for this grant stream. 6. How to apply Application forms are available on the City s website at Vancouver.ca at Social Policy Contact Information address: socialpolicygrants@vancouver.ca Sustainability Group Contact Information address: Greenest.CityGrant@vancouver.ca 7. Applicant and project eligibility and restrictions The organization must be a registered non-profit society (BC Societies Act, community service co-op or social enterprise) wholly owned by a non-profit, and in good standing with the Registrar of Companies or be a registered charity with the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA). The organization must have an independent, active governing body composed of volunteers. The by-laws must have provisions that no Board director can be remunerated for being a director; staff members cannot be voting members of the Board or Executive. Individuals and for-profit organizations are not eligible for Greenest City Grant funding. Youth-led or youth centric projects are strongly encouraged. The organization must extend its services to the general public, and shall not exclude anyone by reason of religion, ethnicity, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, language, disability or income; except in instances where it can be proven that exclusion of some group is required for effective targeting of another group to occur. The organization must have the demonstrated functional capacity and sufficient resources to deliver the services and programs to which the City is being asked to contribute. The City funded service must primarily serve Vancouver residents in Vancouver. 5

6 Organizations from outside of Vancouver may apply but projects must take place in Vancouver. Eligible projects include proposals that address project-based work, programming, advocacy, research (e.g. gap analysis or needs assessment), stakeholder interest, technology testing, business case development or other activities needed to solidify the feasibility of the opportunity. Funding must be used primarily for staff salary and benefit expenses (maximum of 15% of grant for overhead, administrative or other costs). Funds will not be awarded for land acquisition or large-scale capital costs or exclusive university-led research. Projects must begin upon grant being awarded. Costs must be reasonable and on par with other similar programs. 8. Evaluation criteria Staff will review and assess applications through scoring and discussion, and make funding recommendations, e.g. grant amount and limitations, to Mayor and Council collectively. Recommendations will be made based on the following criteria: Impact: How well does the proposal identify a need, propose a solution and clearly state the hypothesis in terms of levers of change and potential to measurably advance one or more of the Greenest City Action Plan or other related city strategy goals, e.g. social impact? Realistic Plan: Does the proposal offer a realistic plan for achieving its goals and objectives? How clear is the proposed methodology? Do the costs/ timeframe reflect reasonable parameters? Community Engagement: Does the project involve those affected by the proposed work and increase the skills and assets of Vancouver residents, where possible? Community Benefit: Is the project inclusive and have the capacity to benefit all City of Vancouver residents? Community Partnerships: Does the project show evidence of collaboration with others in the same field? 6

7 Budget: Can the project realistically be accomplished with the proposed budget? Have additional funding sources been secured or approached? Is the project sustainable once the Greenest City Grant funding ends? Learning & Knowledge Transfer: Is there a plan and willingness to share findings and lessons with community organizations and members? Innovation: Presents a plan to look at a problem or issue in a new way. Does the proposal clearly state what phase the Innovation is currently in, and how the proposed work will move the innovation from idea development to scaling? 9. Outcomes Measurement Table 9.1 Why Measure Outcomes? To more clearly describe what the funded program is doing to address GCAP issues and what CHANGE is occurring that contributes to achieving GCAP and related strategy targets as a result of the funded programs; To build capacity amongst funded agencies for program monitoring and evaluation; To help community groups use outcome planning and measurement to improve programs; To provide the City with the information needed to be more accountable to Vancouver residents. 9.2 Instruction for completing Outcomes Measurement Section Table 1 Outcomes Measurement Framework for 2019 (your plan for 2019) Table 1. Outcomes Measurement Framework (for example) Name of Organization and Program Inputs Actions Outputs Short Term Outcomes Intermediate Outcomes Long Term Outcome Inputs: In this column include resources dedicated to the program. Include all the items in your budget. Examples include: Staff and staff time 7

8 Volunteers and volunteer times Equipment and supplies Room rental Donations-in-kind such as space, staff time, etc. Actions: Please provide no more than 6 to 7 actions. What activities will your organization undertake with your inputs? What will you do to make your project/program work? Examples of common actions include: promotion/public relations mentoring partnership building peer support group formation educating training awareness raising Examples of actions include: Facilitate a workshop in schools & community centres Train youth to become mentors Coordinate seniors peer counsellors Outputs: Outputs are the first and most immediate results of your project/program. They directly relate to your actions. For each action you should have a set of outputs. Outputs are usually expressed as a number and include things like the number of anticipated participants, number of workshops, length of workshop, type of workshop, number of meals provided, number of brochures distributed, or participants served etc. In the Outputs section please indicate the numbers that you plan to achieve for 2019 (see example below). Example of outputs: 8

9 8 workshops delivered in schools to an average of 20 students per school; 5 youth trained as mentors; 15 peer counsellors provide support to 45 seniors. Short Term Outcomes: These are short statements that capture the change that occurs as a result of your actions and their outputs. For each action, there should be one outcome. In this section your statements should reflect the following questions. How is your program directly affecting the people who participate in your program? What type of change in knowledge, skills, attitudes, values, or behaviour would you like to see in your community members? Short Term Outcome statements usually begin with the people or situation that is changing as a result of the action. Example Outcomes: Workshop participants have increased awareness and knowledge about how to become more involved in their communities; Youth have the knowledge and skills to mentor other youth; Seniors in crisis feel that they have a peer who they can trust. Intermediate Outcomes: Intermediate Outcomes are more than one step removed from Actions, are fewer in number (usually two to four), and are the change that occurs as a result of your program. Intermediate Outcomes often take more time to see but should be achievable within the life of your program. Each Intermediate Outcome flows naturally from several of the Short Term Outcomes, so there will be fewer Intermediate Outcomes than Short Term Outcomes (usually 3 4). Intermediate Outcomes relate to the individuals who directly participate in actions, but they can also go beyond those individuals to include: the families, friends, or community contacts of those individuals. Examples of intermediate outcomes are: Youth use their new skills and knowledge to enhance their community engagement; 9

10 Youth mentors work effectively with other youth in the community to enhance their feelings of belonging and connectedness; Seniors in crisis develop support networks in the community. Long Term Outcomes: The Long Term Outcome is the goal or vision that your program is aiming for. This goal or vision describes the bigger picture and longer term changes. It underlines why the program is important to the broader community. Aim for one statement that describes this preferred future. Because of the broad nature of Long Term Outcomes you will not be asked to report on achieving them. Example of Long Term Outcomes: The neighbourhood is healthier, more self-reliant and more purposeful. Table 2 - Completing the Monitoring Plan for 2019 Grant WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS OR AIMS? (Short Term Outcomes) HOW WILL YOU KNOW WHEN YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL? (Metrics and/or Indicators) HOW WILL YOU MEASURE AND MONITOR? (Source/methods and frequency/who will do it) Short Term Outcomes: The Short Term Outcomes should be copied and pasted exactly from the Short Term Outcomes column in Table 1. Metrics and/or Indicators: How will we know if we are successful? How do we know that change has occurred? Indicators point to whether you have been successful in reaching your short-term outcomes. Tips: Indicators can be quantitative or qualitative. 10

11 Each Indicator should provide information that helps the program improve. Each Indicator must be cost-effective to collect. There should be about one to two indicators for each Short Term Outcome Examples of Short Term Indicators include: % of volunteers who describe themselves as being more confident in their ability to provide the service (quantitative); examples of how the training has changed the way volunteers provide services (qualitative); % of youth who can describe how they can become involved in their communities (quantitative). Source/ methods & frequency/ who will do it?: The Source is from who or where you will get the information for the Indicators. Examples of the Source, for your information, include: Workshop facilitator Peer support group participants Meeting minutes The Methods / Frequency are how you will be collecting the data for your indicators and, if necessary, how often you will collect the data. You can collect data through quantitative or qualitative methods. Tips: Examples of quantitative methods include the collection of data through surveys, emission and fuel consumption data, document reviews, and participant records. Examples of qualitative methods include the collection of data through interviews, focus groups, and observation. Collect data that will have meaning to your organization. Gathering data can be incorporated into the activities that you already do. For each Indicator, identify who will do it (be in charge of collecting the information). Examples of who this might include are: Workshop Facilitator, Program Manager, and Executive Director. If you have more than one person in a position that you have identified, be more specific in who you are identifying. 11

12 10. Grantee requirements Once awarded, grantees will work with staff to outline project milestones and a reporting schedule. At the end of the project all grantees will be required to complete a final report template. Project summaries will be added to the Vancouver.ca website. 11. Greenest City Grant themes and metrics For reference the following Greenest City Grant themes and metrics are provided. This list is not exhaustive but is meant to provide applicants a quick summary of potential metrics and indicators that relate to the Greenest City Action Plan. For more information please attend the November 2018 workshop or learn more at Vancouver.ca/greenestcity. Theme Goals Metrics and indicators Eliminate dependence on fossil fuels. The Greenhouse gas emissions, City of Vancouver s 2020 target is to reduce renewable energy use, community-based greenhouse gas emissions adaptation initiatives by 33% of 2007 levels and by 80% of 2007 levels by We also plan to derive 100% of the energy used in Vancouver from renewable sources and have a comprehensive adaptation plan underway. Climate and renewables Green buildings Green transportation Zero waste Access to nature Lead the world in green building design and construction. We plan to reduce energy and emissions in existing buildings by 20% of 2007 levels by All buildings constructed from 2020 onward will be carbon neutral in operation. Make walking, cycling and public transit preferred transportation options. The City has surpassed its original 2020 mode share of over 50% of trips made by foot, bike and public transit, and distance driven per resident. Create zero waste. Our target is reducing solid waste going to the landfill and incinerator by 50% of 2008 levels by Vancouver residents enjoy incomparable access to green spaces, including the world s most spectacular urban forest. By 2020 the City aims for all Vancouver residents to live within a 5-minute walk of a park, greenway or other green space, to plant 150,000 new trees, to restore or enhance 25 hectares of natural areas between 2010 and 2020, and to Number of assessments done, energy and emission reductions Enabling active or low carbon transportation, training, renewable technology Increasing composting, re-use, repair, recycling, circular economy Number of trees planted, number of invasive species removed, habitat created or protected, access to nature 12

13 Clean water Local food Clean air Green economy Lighter footprint increase canopy cover to 22% by Vancouver will have the best drinking water of any city in the world. The City s 2020 targets include meeting or beating the strongest of BC, Canadian or appropriate international drinking water quality standards and guidelines and reducing per capita water consumption from 33% from 2006 levels. Vancouver will become a global leader in urban food systems. Out 2020 target is to increase city-wide and neighbourhood food assets by a minimum of 50% over 2010 levels. Breathe the cleanest air of any major city in the world. The 2020 target for this goal is to always meet or beat the most stringent air quality guidelines from Metro Vancouver, BC, Canada and the World Health Organization. Secure Vancouver s international reputation as a mecca of green enterprise. By 2020 we will double the number of green jobs over 2010 levels and double the number of companies that are actively engaged in greening their operations over 2011 levels. Achieve a one-planet ecological footprint. To help meet our 2020 target of reducing Vancouver s ecological footprint by 33% over 2006 levels we are expanding our understanding and use of the sharing economy, supporting lighter footprint living and sustainable consumption and exploring how partnerships and connections to programs and infrastructure can reduce the ecological footprint of food consumption. Reduce per capita water consumption, installation of water saving kits, BC/CCME water quality guidelines, storm water management Increasing or enhancing urban food assets, access to local food, teaching about food, workshops Enabling electric vehicles and other clean air action Supporting social enterprises, greening businesses and green jobs Promoting low impact food and purchasing and lifestyle choices Other metrics: # of case studies/examples included # of resources and tools identified/provided # of policies modified by city name # of regulatory changes by city or state # of local community outreach efforts # of cities interested in taking the innovation to the next level # of network members % growth over time 13

14 # of members participating / using # of core participants, # of observing participants # of webinars, dissemination events / efforts Tailored metric, specific to project design Possible outcomes: Model/tool created from which to grow the practice List of next steps, with associated costs / partners identified Outcomes of deep exploration, by project participant (i.e., what will each one do with the work?) Types of data gathered, and data purpose List of on-boarded partners by name/sector/department/activity Observing cities in the wings, ready to adopt an innovation according to their local planning process timeline Type of collective action taken City policy or practice modified as a result Amount by partner name/sector Service type (facility, staff time, etc.) and estimated amount 12. Other civic strategies The primary focus of this grant is to address goals and targets outlined in the Greenest City Action Plan. Where possible, applicants are encouraged to address and demonstrate other civic strategies, such as the Renewable City Action Plan, the Climate Change Adaptation Plan and the Healthy City Strategy in order to offer projects with multiple co-benefits and in recognition of a definition of sustainability that incorporates ecological, social and economic aspects. For more information on these strategies please visit the links below. Renewable City Action Plan - Climate Change Adaptation Planhttp://vancouver.ca/green-vancouver/climate-change-adaptationstrategy.aspx Healthy City Strategy 14