The Hudson River Foundation Joins Building a Climate Ready New Jersey

New York, N.Y. (April 16, 2026)  — The Hudson River Foundation is joining a consortium of academic and nonprofit partners to implement Building a Climate Ready NJ, a statewide initiative led by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and supported by a $72 million award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The initiative builds on the state’s Coastal Resilience Collaborative established after Superstorm Sandy by bringing together a network of 15 academic institutions and nongovernmental organizations to support resilience projects across 16 coastal counties over the next five years. These projects aim to help communities address flooding, habitat loss, water quality, and extreme heat through planning, technical assistance, and project implementation.

As part of this work, the Foundation—through the NY-NJ Harbor & Estuary Program—is contributing to the initiative’s Education, Climate Awareness, Training, and Engagement (EduCATE) component. Coordinated by Rutgers University, EduCATE focuses on building long-term regional capacity through education, workforce development, training, and community engagement. The Foundation’s contributions will also be advanced in part through our Lower Passaic River Urban Waters Partnership.

From green infrastructure and habitat restoration to public access and community-driven planning, the projects supported under Building a Climate Ready NJ will help create a pipeline of resilience efforts across coastal New Jersey—while also strengthening the partnerships, workforce, and knowledge needed to sustain this work for decades to come.

Learn more about our role and the work happening under the initiative here.