Solution Provide a free guidebook plus facilitated cohort and “Quick Start” support to help under-resourced local leaders identify climate vulnerabilities and emissions sources, prioritize strategies, and produce actionable climate resilience plans aligned to local needs. Key challenge Small and mid-sized communities often lack the budget and bandwidth to take climate action, even when relevant strategies exist across local planning documents. Context Geos Institute created Climate Ready Communities in response to the needs of small and mid-sized communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. Building on more than 15 years of community work through its ClimateWise initiative, the program is structured around a free “Practical Guide to Building Climate Resilience” and a step-by-step roadmap to help local leaders understand vulnerabilities and emissions, develop strategies, and translate them into an actionable plan reflecting local needs, values, and realities. Since 2019, the guide has been downloaded over 2,000 times, and partnerships formed in 2023 and 2025 expanded delivery models and the inclusion of both adaptation and mitigation. Solution in practice Climate Ready Communities is delivered through a guidebook-centered planning process and (in its current form) a cohort model led by an expert facilitator, where multiple communities work through the planning steps together and learn from peers. For communities that are under-resourced but positioned to move quickly, the “Quick Start Process” provides facilitated support (including a Navigator) to identify and prioritize resilience actions already approved in existing plans, surface strategies embedded in local documents, clarify remaining gaps, and define actionable next steps to build momentum toward resilience goals. Impact / outcome Guide downloaded 2,000+ times since 2019; cohort and Quick Start support for under-resourced communities. Next steps Adapt and translate the guidebook-and-cohort model for insurability outcomes by aligning planning outputs to insurance-relevant risk information (e.g., standardized hazard exposure and mitigation action tracking), and recruit additional delivery partners (e.g., regional collaboratives, universities, and facilitator networks) to scale cohorts and Quick Start support for under-resourced communities while maintaining a consistent, step-by-step process that leads to implementable actions. Organizations involved Authoring: Geos Institute Implementation partners Civil Society Organizations; Data Providers