NSF R2I2: National Research Office

University Of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

Communities across the United States are increasingly experiencing the severe consequences of shifting weather patterns, increased impacts from droughts, floods, and other extreme weather events, and rising sea levels. These strain vital infrastructure, jeopardize public health, and disrupt economies. There is an urgent national need for response solutions that address some of the most pressing resilience challenges, and these require a central hub to coordinate efforts, bridge scientific understanding, and disseminate actionable strategies for resilience. This NSF grant will provide support for a National Office to coordinate a network of Regional Resilience Innovation Incubator (R2I2) projects addressing regional resilience challenges. The National Office will facilitate collaboration, coordinated data management, and effective knowledge sharing among regional resilience initiatives by creating a unified network of NSF supported R2I2 projects. The office will enhance scientific and technological understanding of R2I2 projects by ensuring insights and innovative practices flow efficiently between regional projects and communities nationwide, thus transforming knowledge into impactful action. This R2I2 National Office will create a National Research Network and Hub to support the Regional Resilience Innovation Incubator (R2I2) teams. The project will launch in two stages, beginning by forming an advisory board and creating shared understanding, analysis, and participatory action planning. Subsequently, a project implementation plan will be established with Key Performance Indicators and iteratively refined through adaptive management and organizational learning approaches. Key activities include co-developing and implementing a FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) knowledge and data sharing strategy that is coupled with a FAIR data repository and establishing a centralized project website and knowledge exchange hub. The National Research Network and Hub will function as a community of practice through quarterly virtual meetings, an annual meeting of regional teams, and regular newsletters to promote knowledge sharing and peer-learning. Anticipated technical results include a robust research network fostering collaboration, a publicly accessible knowledge sharing and training library, enhanced team capacity in convergence research, a pipeline of solutions-driven scientific leaders, and widespread dissemination of R2I2 findings to benefit local, state, and national policymakers, for-profit and non-profit organizations, entrepreneurs, and all U.S. communities. By enabling research translation and equipping regional resilience incubator projects with the necessary knowledge, data, tools, and partnerships to confront resilience challenges, this project will promote scientific progress, serve national and economic security, advance public health, prosperity, and welfare. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.