Adapting Together

Project Builder

Project Builder is a program designed to help you develop your grant proposal ideas.

Thank you for your interest in Project Builder! Applications were due July 1, 2026 and have now closed. Please sign up for our newsletter to learn about the next application window!

Project Builder offers a mix of mentorship, strategy-building, and creative problem-solving to help you shape a strong grant proposal. Whether you’re starting with a clear vision or just an idea, the program connects you with potential collaborators and supports you in identifying funding opportunities—including through our Climate Impact Grants.

While Project Builder doesn't fund projects directly, it fills the gaps in knowledge and connection that often hold great ideas back. Across the watershed, we’ve heard communities say:

We want to make a difference, but we have no idea where to start.
We have no idea who to collaborate with.
We have never applied for a grant before. How can we create a compelling project with a chance at funding?

Project Builder is here to remove those barriers. The best climate solutions begin with strong ideas and even stronger teams. That’s why this program is open to a wide range of applicants—conservation commission members, artists, town planners, local volunteers, and more.

We’ll help you clarify your goals, build key relationships, and lay the groundwork for a fundable, actionable project.

Quick Links

How Project Builder Works

Eligibility

Roles & Responsibilities

Timeline

Climate Impact Grants

FAQs

Email Annie Cox a Question (Anne.Cox@unh.edu)

How Project Builder Works

PREP's Adapting Together is made up of two programs that support Piscataqua Region Watershed communities as they adapt to extreme and recurring weather: Project Builder and Climate Impact Grants.

Project Builder is a grant proposal incubator for climate resilience projects. It helps communities in the Piscataqua Region Watershed turn ideas into strong, fundable projects that address extreme heat and/or flooding.

Climate Impact Grants are the second program within Adapting Together, offering up to $25,000 for community-led projects under the same theme and eligibility as Project Builder. While Project Builder helps participants shape and strengthen their ideas, Climate Impact Grants (and other funding opportunities identified through the program) help participants bring those ideas to life.

Four people in a room interacting for the Adapting Together Workshop

Participants from the Adapting Together workshop in 2024 discussing priority climate projects that were used to inform the Project Builder and Climate Impact Grants.

✔ Project Builder ideas must:

Address or consider flooding and/or extreme heat in the Piscataqua Region Watershed. This includes tidal, riverine, or stormwater (i.e., rainwater that has hit the ground) related flooding, as well as urban heat impacts or rising temperatures affecting people or ecosystems.
Include a strong community engagement component. Projects must actively involve or benefit local communities—raising awareness, building capacity, or encouraging participation.
Promote well-being of people and the environment.
Focus on public benefits and/or improvements to public spaces.

✘ Project Builder Ideas Cannot:

Focus solely on private property improvements.
Be monitoring-only efforts.
Primarily request equipment or supplies.
Propose large-scale infrastructure projects, such as dam removals or culvert replacements.

Once a project is selected, the Project Builder Support Team will help bring in a facilitator to work with you on building a team that might include content experts, community members, and/or local municipal staff—depending on what the project needs.

Like a coach or mentor, the Project Builder Facilitator guides your team from brainstorming through project scope building and/or grant writing over 4-6 months. Your Facilitator will help support the launch of your ideas, and they will equip you with the resources and relationships you need to apply for funding and build ongoing resilience in your community.

After the 4-6 month time period, your project might be suited for Adapting Together's Climate Impact Grants (which will fund projects up to $25k) as well other local, state, or national grant funding programs or your community's Capital Improvement Plan (CIP).

Eligibility

Applicants must be one of the following:
- A fiscal agent, which is either a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization or a government, institution, or coalition which can serve as a fiscal agent.
- An adult individual (18 years+) partnering with a fiscal agent.
  - The project team can include youth but there must be at least one adult involved.
Project proposals must take place within the Piscataqua Region Watershed. Some eligible communities are entirely within the watershed, while others are only partially included. A project may occur anywhere in the Piscataqua Region Watershed municipality if benefits or activities also occur within the watershed boundary.
Projects must address the current year's climate theme and adhere to theme criteria (above). In 2026, this theme is flooding and/or extreme heat in the Piscataqua Region Watershed.

Have eligibility questions? Visit our Frequently Asked Questions or contact Annie Cox: anne.cox@unh.edu

A map of the Piscataqua Region Watershed, featuring 42 towns in New Hampshire, ranging east from Portsmouth and Hampton, west to Deerfield and Candia, and North to Wakefield. The map also features 10 Maine towns from Acton north and inland), Berwick, to Kittery along the coast. The map is also color cordinated by subwatershed, including the Piscataqua River, Salmon Falls River, Lamprey River watersheds, among others.

Projects must be located within the watershed portion of at least one of the following Piscataqua Region Watershed communities: Acton, ME; Barrington, NH; Berwick, ME; Brentwood, NH; Brookfield, NH; Candia, NH; Chester, NH; Danville, NH; Deerfield, NH; Dover, NH; Durham, NH; East Kingston, NH; Eliot, ME; Epping, NH; Exeter, NH; Farmington, NH; Fremont, NH; Greenland, NH; Hampton, NH; Hampton Falls, NH; Kensington, NH; Kingston, NH; Kittery, ME; Lebanon, ME; Lee, NH; Madbury, NH; Middleton, NH; Milton, NH; New Castle, NH; New Durham, NH; Newfields, NH; Newington, NH; Newmarket, NH; North Berwick, ME; North Hampton, NH; Northwood, NH; Nottingham, NH; Portsmouth, NH; Raymond, NH; Rochester, NH; Rollinsford, NH; Rye, NH; Sandown, NH; Sanford, ME; Seabrook, NH; Somersworth, NH; South Berwick, ME; Strafford, NH; Stratham, NH; Wakefield, NH; Wells, ME; York, ME

Roles & Responsibilities

Three women stand together, from left to right: Lindsey Williams, PhD, of New Hampshire Sea Grant; Annie Cox, of PREP (Project Builder Program Manager); Abigail Lyon, of PREP

A group photo of the Support Team. From left to right: Lindsey Williams, Annie Cox, and Abigail Lyon.

Meet Your Project Builder Support Team

Annie Cox of PREP leads the Support Team as the Manager of the Project Builder program.

Annie can be contacted at Anne.Cox@unh.edu or (603) 862-0219

From left to right, the Support Team also includes:

Lindsey Williams, PhD, of New Hampshire Sea Grant
Annie Cox, of PREP (Project Builder Program Manager)
Abigail Lyon, of PREP

We support everyone on your Project Builder team, including your facilitators (more on this below). We help you exchange ideas and learn from each other, discuss thematic issues, attend professional development trainings, and increase your professional networks.

In your team, we might:

Serve as Project Facilitator (or recruit a Project Facilitator for project teams)
Support recruitment of project team members as needed
Support Project Facilitator and/or project team members as needed
Support the project teams collectively as a cohort, based on the needs of project team members

All accepted Project Builder ideas join a cohort for 2026. As a result, they will have an opportunity to collaborate and learn from each others' projects.

Your Project Builder Team

This would be you and/or your fiscal partner. Your team's role would be to:

Work with your Project Facilitator to recruit project team members
Support agenda development for the kickoff meeting
Take notes for project meetings
Working synchronously (3-6 meetings) and asynchronously with your Project Facilitator:
- Develop your project idea with a budget, scope, timeline, narrative, and other grant application components, including identifying and defining project goals, objectives, outcomes, and outputs
- Identify potential funding sources
- Create a final product (e.g., grant application)

Your Project Builder Facilitator

Recruited by the Project Builder Support Team, your Project Facilitator would be your primary project guide for four to six months.

Your Project Builder Facilitator would:

Support project applicant to recruit project team members
Set project kickoff meeting and support agenda development
Working synchronously (3-6 meetings) and asynchronously, facilitate project team to:
- Support your work in developing your project idea with a budget, scope, timeline, narrative, and other grant application components, including identifying and defining project goals, objectives, outcomes, and outputs

Four women sit at a table around a laptop, engaged in a virtual meeting. A painting of a shoreline is in the background

Work with you to identify potential funding sources
Provide up to two rounds of edits of materials (e.g., grant application)
Keep Project Builder Manager Annie Cox apprised of process

Timeline

Climate Impact Grants

Climate Impact Grants are the second program within Adapting Together, offering up to $25,000 for community-led projects under the same theme and eligibility as Project Builder.

While Project Builder helps participants shape and strengthen their ideas, Climate Impact Grants provide funding to bring those ideas to life.

Learn more about Climate Impact Grants

A recently planted green plant in a public area.

Image by Scott Ripley

Frequently Asked Questions

Don't see your question below? Please contact Annie Cox! 📧 Anne.Cox@unh.edu ☎️ (603) 862-0219

Great question! Community engagement means involving people in the planning, development, or implementation of your project. It can take many forms, but at its core, it's about building relationships, sharing knowledge, and creating opportunities for people to participate in or benefit from the work. Therefore, we would like your proposed idea to support the inclusion of residents and representatives of the community directly affected by flooding or extreme heat.

For example, community engagement could include (and is not limited to):

Hosting a public workshop or event
Partnering with local groups, schools, or volunteers
Gathering input from residents to shape project decisions
Creating art, signage, or tools that raise awareness and invite action
Leading a hands-on activity like a planting day, walk audit, or community science effort

It’s not just outreach. It’s about collaboration, inclusion, and creating a project that reflects the needs and ideas of the community it serves.

If you have questions about what counts, please contact Annie Cox before you apply for Project Builder! Her contact is Anne.Cox@unh.edu.

Additionally, your Project Builder Support Team and Project Facilitator will provide guidance on how get the most out engagement relevant to your idea.

Some additional inspiration and guidance on community engagement:

Spectrum of Community Engagement: movementstrategy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/The-Spectrum-of-Community-Engagement-to-Ownership.pdf
Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing: https://www.ran.org/jemez_principles/

One of the objectives of the Project Builder program is that it will help prepare you to apply for Adapting Together's Climate Impact Grants, which will fund projects up to $25k. Large infrastructure projects cost a lot of money, can be complicated in process, and take years to complete.

For example, installing large-scale stormwater infrastructure, like an underground stormwater detention system to manage flooding in a neighborhood support the impacts of flooding, but these projects often require engineering studies, heavy construction, and coordination across multiple agencies, making them costly (i.e., millions of dollars) and time-intensive (i.e., several years).

This project is supported by the Great Bay 2030 Partnership, funded by The New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Partners from the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership, NH Sea Grant, UNH Extension, and NH Coastal Adaptation Workgroup members will provide direct assistance. Each of these partners is dedicated to protecting our shared waters in different ways, including outreach, education, research, monitoring, environmental advocacy, management, land conservation, and sustainable recreation. As a result, we bring a wide range of knowledge, resources, contacts, and collaboration to the table.

You can learn more about each organization at the links below:

Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (also known as PREP)
New Hampshire Sea Grant (also know as NH Sea Grant)
UNH Extension
New Hampshire Coastal Adaptation Workgroup (or NH CAW)

Also, learn more about Great Bay 2030.

Funding for PREP's Adapting Together

Adapting Together's Project Builder and Climate Impact Grants are funded by the NH Charitable Foundation’s Great Bay 2030 initiative. Partners from the Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership (PREP), New Hampshire Sea Grant, and New Hampshire Coastal Adaptation Workgroup lead or support both programs and provide direct assistance.

This program has also been funded in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under Assistance Agreement 4T00A01778 to the recipient. The contents of this webpage do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the U.S. EPA endorse trade names or recommend the use of any products, services or enterprises mentioned in this document.