City of Moorhead Receives Bush Grant

Concordia professor to serve as project manager.

The Bush Foundation has awarded a $207,000 grant over two years to enable the Moorhead community to develop a community resilience action plan and take initial steps to become better prepared to face the impacts of climate change. Concordia College applied for the Community Innovation Grant and will administer it with the express purpose of bringing community partners together around a common goal.

Dr. Ken Foster, Concordia professor of political science and global studies program director, will serve as project manager for the grant.

“Building community resilience is a tested strategy for enhancing a city’s ability to thrive in a time filled with uncertainty and complex challenges,” Foster said. “The enthusiasm of stakeholders for the resilience project shows that Moorhead is ready to turn general concerns with changes in climate into action steps that will benefit the community for years to come.” 

The Moorhead Community Resilience Task Force will lead this work through a process of collaborative and deliberative community problem-solving.  

Created in 2019, the Task Force is a collaboration of educational, government, business leaders, and nonprofit organizations that have decided to work together to create a more resilient community, one that can adapt and flourish in the face of change, stressors, and shocks. Cities across the country have worked to increase resilience so as to be better equipped to deal with the consequences of climate change and other fast-moving economic, political, and social changes. Their focus ranges from preparing for extreme weather to reducing vulnerability of marginalized social groups.

“Just like we want to see resilience in our family lives, we are working together to plan how our community can adapt and thrive when faced with challenges," said Dan Mahli, the assistant city manager for the City of Moorhead.

This grant gives funds to enable the Moorhead Community Resilience Task Force to develop a set of actionable goals and a plan for using collaboration among stakeholders to pursue the goals. Working groups are focusing on specific areas: infrastructure, ecosystems services, health and wellness, social equity, and economic health. They will be seeking input from all parts of the Moorhead community.