With its location in Northeast Florida, Jacksonville University’s community feels the effects of climate change every day.
Whether you are studying under the oak trees in Arlington, walking along the Northbank Riverwalk near the JU College of Law Downtown or feeling the ocean breeze near our Palm Coast location, you are keenly aware of storm surges, warmer temperatures and polluted waters.
As a community of legal experts with a wide range of knowledge, we have an opportunity, if not a duty, to help protect and improve the environment of Jacksonville and, if we can, the well-being of people beyond our city, in the world in which we live.
To combat the emergent threats to people and the natural world, the Jacksonville University College of Law, in partnership with the College of Arts and Sciences, Marine Science Research Institute and the Public Policy Institute, is proud to announce the launch of an education and innovation initiative, the Jacksonville University Climate Innovation Challenge.
As an essential part of this community, we felt compelled to be part of such an important project.
As I’ve said before, a thriving city needs a thriving law school. In order to do that for Jacksonville, we want not only to provide the city with the highest-quality lawyers, but make our city a better place for everyone to live, work and learn.
Our objective through the Climate Innovation Challenge is to empower our campus and local communities to develop innovative new approaches to the climate crisis by raising awareness, changing behavior, promoting research, stimulating corporate actions or launching community-based solutions.
During this “Shark Tank”-style grant competition, we invite you, your friends and family, fellow lawyers, clients or anyone in the Northeast Florida community with an idea to help solve climate change or raise awareness to apply for the opportunity to compete for and win seed money funding.
As an extension of JU’s ongoing efforts to purposefully engage its academic expertise, research and public service, the CIC will be an interdisciplinary event. We invite interested participants, including public, charter, and private schools, civic groups, artist groups, authors, playwrights, poets, screenwriters and scientists/engineers, inventors and entrepreneurs.
Team members can include students, faculty, inventors, entrepreneurs, public service leaders, artists, scientists or concerned citizens.
This is not an exhaustive list; however, submissions are accepted from Duval, Clay, St. Johns, Nassau, Flagler, Baker and Putnam counties only, as we hope to engage and mobilize our immediate community.
Through this competition, seed funding will be provided, ranging from $1,500 to $10,000, to incubate ideas that will make meaningful social, economic and/or environmental change — whatever that might mean to you.
We welcome unique and innovative ideas such as developing an invention, conducting a scientific study, marketing a public service announcement or performing and creative art campaigns to raise awareness and inspire action, proposing legislative and regulatory approaches to address environmental issues and community service projects.
Submissions are now open for the Climate Innovation Challenge. We hope you will consider submitting your proposals, as our community needs your inventiveness and expertise now more than ever. Feel free to encourage others in our city to join the effort.
All applications must be submitted by email to [email protected]. The subject line of the email should be: JUCIC2023_ApplicantName_ProjectTitle.
Applications must be received by 5 p.m. Sept. 15. If your project is chosen for the competition, you will be notified no later than Sept. 22.