Environmental Resilience Institute at Indiana University

Check out these environmental and sustainability events happening in Indiana this summer! 👀 ⏰

GreenFest
🕒 Saturday, June 6th, 10am - 2pm
🗺 Riehle Plaza, Lafayette
💰 Free to attend
🔗 https://www.lafayette.in.gov/3738/GreenFest

Healthy Shorelines Workshop
🕒 Thursday, June 18th, 5:30pm - 7pm
🗺 Winona Lake Senior Center, Winona Lake
💰 Free to attend
🔗 https://watershedfoundation.org/event/healthy-shorelines-workshop/

Indianapolis Solar 101
🕒 Monday, June 22nd, 6pm - 7:30pm
🗺 Indianapolis Public Library - Spades Park Branch, Indianapolis
💰 Free to attend
🔗 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/indianapolis-solar-101-tickets-1989826166629

Sustainability Networking in Fort Wayne
🕒 Wednesday, July 15th, 5:30pm - 7pm
🗺 Allen County Public Library - Main Branch, Fort Wayne
💰 Free to attend
🔗 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sustainability-networking-3-ft-wayne-tickets-1987787388589

2026 Indiana Water Summit
🕒 Wednesday, August 19th - Tuesday, August 20th, 8:15am - 5pm
🗺 Bitwell Event Center, Indianapolis
💰 $25 - $190 (early bird pricing until June 30th!)
🔗 https://thewhiteriveralliance.org/programs/indiana-water-summit/

Indiana Land Use Summit: Agrivoltaics and Renewable Energy
🕒 Thursday, August 27th, 9am - 4pm
🗺 Beck Agricultural Center, West Lafayette
💰 $50
🔗 https://ag.purdue.edu/events/department/fnr/2026/08/indiana-land-use-summit-agrivoltaics-and-renewable-energy.html

Last month, ERI was represented by the Indiana Resilience Funding Hub team at the 8th annual IU Rural Conference!

The Rural Conference, hosted in French Lick by the IU Center for Rural Engagement, is a yearly event focused on celebrating and strengthening Indiana's rural communities. ERI staff attended to spread awareness of the Indiana Resilience Funding Hub's free grant writing services for rural governments and community organizations pursuing funding for climate, energy, and resilience projects.

The new cohort of McKinney Climate Fellows are well into their sustainability work this summer 🥳 Let's see what they're up to!

Sandip Sarker is partnered with the Indiana Energy Independence Fund (IEIF), a green bank offering financing options for energy efficiency and clean energy projects.

This summer, Sandip is working on a research project focused on Indiana solar tariffs and utility rate structures and their impact on commercial and nonprofit solar projects. Additionally, he is building a tool for rural electric membership cooperatives (REMC) and electric cooperatives to compare solar tariffs, net metering or export credit options, commercial rates, and other rate structure details that could impact the financial feasibility of solar development. Way to go, Sandip!

Follow us to find out about the cool projects our other fellows are leading this summer!

This year, ERI is partnering with nine local governments to develop tools to plan for and manage urban tree canopies across the state.

Investing in tree canopy is a practical way to bolster a community’s resilience to pollution and extreme weather, including flooding and heat waves, and to restore canopy lost to pests and development over the years.

Participants in this year's two-track Resilience Cohort include:

🌳 Urban Green Infrastructure communities Gary, Huntington, Lafayette, Logansport, and South Bend

🌳 Urban Green Governance communities Dearborn County, Lawrence, Richmond, and Evansville

Each local government will receive technical assistance and training from ERI and host an embedded McKinney Climate Fellow to support the effort. They'll also receive new trees to plant!

Learn more: https://eri.iu.edu/news-and-events/_news/archive/2026/20260528-eri-partnering-with-nine-indiana-communities-to-support-urban-forests.html

In Indiana, more and more farmers are realizing the economic potential of clean energy.🌟💸

According to a recent report from RMI, wind and solar generated more than $900M in the state in 2024. That's equivalent to about 25% of the income generated from corn or soybeans.

There are multiple reasons farmers are embracing clean energy projects, among them:

🌟 They provide predictable revenue that supports long-term financial resilience
🌟 They create new revenue streams for their host counties, supporting rural communities.
🌟 They can work alongside agriculture to provide additional income diversity

As more energy infrastructure is built, counties that are intentional about land use and that embrace leading practices will be best positioned to capture these benefits.

Read the full article by RMI here: https://rmi.org/tracking-the-growth-of-wind-and-solar-in-rural-america

Check out this incredible opportunity from the McKinney Family Foundation to honor Bob McKinney and strengthen rural communities in Indiana!

The recently announced Robert H. McKinney Legacy Prize will award $250,000 to a project focused on solving real challenges in rural communities related to sustainability, agriculture, health, local industry, and civic involvement.

Applications are due July 31, 2026 and welcomed from informal partnerships, community groups, and grassroots efforts.

Learn more: https://mckinneyfamilyfoundation.org/legacyprize

ERI just welcomed a new cohort of McKinney Climate Fellows, IU students who are leading sustainability and resilience projects across Indiana this summer. 💫 🌱

Meet a few of our fellows 👇

Get ready for Beat the Heat round 2! 👊🔥

We are thrilled to announce that the The City of Frankfort, Indiana and the Town of Nashville have been selected for a new round of Beat the Heat, a program supported by ERI, the IU Healthy Cities Lab, and the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs to help Indiana communities build capacity and resilience against heat emergencies.

Led by IU Assistant Professor Dana Habeeb, Beat the Heat guides local governments through the process of planning for and reducing risks from extreme heat waves. Supported by two McKinney Climate Fellows this summer, the effort includes tailored heat-mapping data, planning support, and guidance in designing evidence-based heat resilience strategies.

"Extreme heat affects every Hoosier community, but each community experiences it differently," Habeeb said. "Through tools and training developed at IU, Beat the Heat empowers local governments to better understand their unique vulnerabilities and develop plans of action. We're excited to begin work this summer with our two newest Beat the Heat communities."

Read more about Beat the Heat here: https://eri.iu.edu/programs/beat-the-heat/index.html

Did you know that some Indiana communities offer opportunities for residents to install or purchase solar energy to save on energy costs? ☀️💸

Check out the programs below to see if you qualify:

Bloomington: The Bloomington Green Home Improvement Program offers a minimum 25% rebate on green projects and up to 40% for low-income households. Applications for 2026 are now being accepted. https://bloomington.in.gov/sustainability/bghip

Evansville: The newly established Southwest Indiana Solar Co-op offers guidance and group-buy opportunities to lower solar installation costs. https://solarunitedneighbors.org/co-ops/indiana/southwest-indiana-2026-solar-co-op/

Columbus: The 2026 Columbus Area Local Co-op is currently open, offering a 20% rebate for small businesses, nonprofits, and residents who want to go solar. https://www.columbus.gov/Government/Mayors-Office/Sustainable-Columbus/Go-Solar-Columbus

Carroll White REMC: Members of the Carroll White REMC have the option to participate in one of the few "community solar" programs in the state. That means they can subscribe to solar energy generated by a shared array directly without having to install anything on their property. https://www.cwremc.coop/programs/energy-efficiency/co-op-solar/

Soak up the sun, Indiana! 😎

Janet McCabe, ERI senior policy advisor and a former EPA deputy administrator, recently published an article on The Conversation about changes designed to limit EPA's authority under the Clean Air Act.

If upheld by the US Supreme Court, these new legal interpretations would allow EPA officials to ignore science, data and the adverse effects their decisions will have on public health and the environment. They could also make it difficult to update rules to respond to new information about health risks.

"If the administration's strategy works, the American public may be living, and dying, with the consequences of these industry-friendly regulations for years to come," McCabe writes.

Read the article: https://theconversation.com/when-you-dont-have-the-facts-argue-the-law-how-trumps-epa-is-limiting-its-own-ability-to-protect-public-health-far-into-the-future-282351