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The Sustainability Research Initiative (SRI) is collaborating with Boulder County to support a pilot project. The goal is to develop and test a measurement approach that can be applied across different kinds of climate and sustainability-focused Boulder County projects, with ideal applications across natural climate solutions projects.��

Proposals are due on April 17, 2026, with up to $100K available to support one team.

Example Boulder County projects might include stream and riparian restoration, urban tree canopy expansion, biochar, agricultural soil health and green infrastructure.��

Statement of Challenge from the Boulder County Office of Sustainability, Climate Action & Resilience

Boulder County currently allocates 1.1 million dollars from the Sustainability Tax to natural climate solutions. These dollars are broadly spent on work in forestry, grasslands, agriculture, and urban landscapes. More specifically, the natural climate solutions actions include stream and riparian restoration, liability biomass utilization (biochar), agricultural soil health conservation practices, urban tree canopy expansion, and the transformation of impervious surfaces into green infrastructure in urban landscapes. The current programs' impact since 2020 is estimated at less than 5% of Boulder County's total land area.

Current measurements and benefits of these programs are presented qualitatively and largely rely on models rather than monitoring. Annually reporting on program success is included in the annual sustainability report, and examples of reporting metrics include acres impacted, pounds of biochar produced, trees planted, and pounds of food grown. These programmatic metrics do not capture the measurement, monitoring, and verification we would ideally like to achieve. Examples of more exacting metrics could include carbon stored, increases in soil moisture content, reductions in cooling degrees, increases in soil organic matter, and improvements in air quality at a landscape and parcel scale.

In an ideal state, Boulder County’s Natural Climate Solutions team would have a baseline and metrics to measure against it, aligned with national and/or international protocols, demonstrating progress. These quantifiable metrics of progress for natural climate solutions could then possibly be sold or retired as ecosystem credits. These credits could be bought by Boulder County companies to help them achieve their sustainability goals while scaling much-needed capital to expand the reach of natural climate solutions across our landscapes.

Solutions must be scalable and affordable to impact system change. The measuring, monitoring, reporting, and verification systems need to influence state and local policy. Boulder County’s Natural Climate Solutions team is interested in solutions to help us define natural climate solutions metrics, monitor, measure, and verify them, and ultimately scale capital for practices that improve those metrics.

Eligibility

• ������Ƶ researchers who attend the SRI MMRV workshop can serve as lead PIs. Postdocs and graduate students can be included on the team but cannot serve as lead PI. ��
• Researchers can be included on more than one proposal but can only serve as lead PI on one proposal.
• Researchers are encouraged to build proposals with others who attended the SRI “Measuring Sustainability” workshop. They can include collaborators who were not at the workshop.
• The team must be interdisciplinary.

Proposal Requirements

The measurement approach must be used on a Boulder County project. Proposals cannot exceed three pages, using 12-point font and single space, excluding references. Proposals should include a project timeline and a budget that totals $100,000 in direct costs. Additional details are included below.

• Description of the interdisciplinary team and how different disciplines will inform the measurement approach.
• Describe whether your approach can align with established protocols.��
• Describe how the measurement approach can scale and estimate the cost.
• Include a timeline which indicates an accelerated start, applying the measurement approach to a baseline measurement before the Boulder County project applies the management activity.��
• Describe a community-engagement approach and how it will inform your measurement approach.