Envision Resilience Makes National Design Studio Awards to Eight University Teams Exploring Climate Adaptation through Architecture, Planning and Design and Community Partnerships
University of Virginia students in the 2025 Envision Resilience Challenge on site in Harpswell, Maine (September 2025).
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025
CONTACT:
Kate Deans
communications@envisionresilience.org
BOSTON – Envision Resilience has awarded funding to eight universities to support design studios that will explore adaptive solutions to climate change in rural, urban and mid-size communities, the organization announced today.
Universities that will receive the inaugural Envision Resilience National Design Studio Grant are Mississippi State University, University of Arizona, University of Houston, University of Massachusetts Amherst, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Washington, Wentworth Institute of Technology and Yale University.
Under the leadership of seasoned design faculty, studios will explore a multitude of design strategies across rivers, forests, wetlands, coastlines and urban landscapes. In partnership with community organizations, municipal partners, environmental groups and local knowledge systems, studio approaches include pathways to restore eelgrass and wetland habitats on Samish Island in Skagit County, Washington, reimagine carbon futures of historic oil and gas sites along the Gulf Coast, Texas, and explore water resilience along the Colorado River Watershed in Arizona. This is the first time Envision Resilience, which runs programming in communities throughout the Northeast, has expanded nationally.
"Across the country, cities and towns are preparing for a warmer world," said Wendy Schmidt, founder of Envision Resilience. "The Envision Resilience National Design Studio Grant will not only support and expand these efforts, but it will also weave together a wider community that is building a more resilient and hopeful future, coast to coast."
The National Design Studio Grant was created to expand Envision Resilience’s mission of advancing the collective practices of planning, architecture and landscape architecture and fostering the next generation of design leaders through student and community partnerships.
“We were overwhelmed by the response to our call for grant proposals,” said Claire Martin, executive director of Envision Resilience. “Applicants from 13 states submitted proposals tackling wide-ranging and important climate challenges in geographies new to our program, all with a thoughtful and creative rigor that has already inspired us to think beyond our region. We are confident in both the student learning outcomes and the community impact of the selected award recipients.”
The National Design Studio Grant builds on the Envision Resilience Challenge, the signature program of Envision Resilience now entering its sixth year, that convenes multidisciplinary student teams of architects and landscape architects, urban and regional planners, environmental scientists, and artists to reimagine and propose creative and adaptive solutions to the current and future impacts of climate change in communities throughout the Northeast. Since its founding in 2020, the Envision Resilience Challenge has engaged more than 520 graduate and undergraduate students and 20 universities.
“I appreciate the extensive and critical work that Envision Resilience has been supporting in the Northeast with coastal communities, and it’s great to see its reach expanding.” said Brendan Shea, assistant professor of practice at the University of Arizona. “With the policies of the Colorado River Compact set to be renegotiated (or expire) in 2026, this course seeks to develop innovative, multiscalar design strategies for climate-adaptive resilience and to re-establish communities' social engagements with and spatial connections to the Colorado River. We’ll adopt a variety of design, research, and computational methods to address the risks of extreme heat, prolonged drought, and uncertainties about future livability in this area. We look forward to the way in which our unique location and approach will make a meaningful, if geographically different, contribution.”
“In Spring 2026, we’ll collaborate with Joppee/Joppa, one of the historic Freedmen’s Towns along the Trinity River in Texas,” said Joowon Im, associate professor of Landscape Architecture and coordinator of Sustainable Urban Design at the University of Texas, Arlington. “The community continues to face environmental and industrial hazards that threaten residents’ health and safety due to its location within floodplains and proximity to industrial land uses. Students will work closely with community members to co-develop a sustainable development framework tailored to local needs, using evidence-based design and robust community engagement throughout all planning and design phases. The grant will support and enhance all these activities and the delivery of the resilient, community-driven solutions honoring the community’s historic legacy and future.”
To learn more about Envision Resilience and the National Design Studio Grant, please visit envisionresilience.org.
About Envision Resilience
Envision Resilience works to advance innovative planning and design in the face of climate change through student and community partnerships. By connecting current and future professionals working across disciplines, the organization creates opportunities for communities to reimagine climate challenges and inspire resilient solutions. Envision Resilience, originally developed by Remain, is part of the philanthropic organizations and initiatives created and funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to work toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all. To learn more, visit envisionresilience.org.
