The Trust for Governors Island Announces Cohort of Six Teams to Pilot Projects Through Inaugural Climate Solutions Challenge

Governors Island June 4, 2023 @Julienne Schaer

Six NYC-based innovators to pilot water-based climate solutions on Governors Island beginning in summer 2024

Winners include early-stage startups, small businesses, and nonprofits working on living shorelines, greywater treatment, water quality monitoring, and ocean agriculture

The Trust for Governors Island announced today the winners of the inaugural Climate Solutions Challenge, presented through its Living Lab program. Through this initiative, the Trust makes the Island available as a site for local small businesses, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits to test and demonstrate urban climate solutions for cities and their diverse communities.

Dubbed the “Water Abundance Challenge,” this initial call for proposals sought projects that utilize water to help power climate solutions that grow blue and green jobs and create healthier communities. Each of the six New York City-based innovators will receive a site to demonstrate their projects, grant awards of up to $25,000, and access to a common pool of additional funds to support pilot implementation. Their pilot sites will also provide valuable opportunities to engage with the Island’s rapidly growing audience of nearly one million annual visitors through public demonstrations, workshops, training opportunities, and other initiatives.

“Where some people see challenges, New Yorkers see opportunities, and Governors Island’s ‘Climate Solutions Challenge’ is the perfect example of how New Yorkers’ creativity and ingenuity will continue to shape our world,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “By giving these climate solutions a chance to pilot, we will continue to grow New York City’s green economy, address climate change, and begin to create the good-paying, accessible ‘green-collar’ jobs of the future.”

This cohort of pilot projects includes:

• Duro UAS – A South Bronx-based company with the goal of improving how environmental data is collected and shared through advanced, affordable, and easy-to-use water monitoring systems and data services. On Governors Island, they will pilot their Nearshore Sonde, a portable water monitoring device and cloud-based data dashboard.
• Just Ecocities – A nature-based solutions consultancy working to improve water quality, expand habitat, and promote engagement with New York City’s waterways. On Governors Island, they will partner with Biohabitats, an ecological design firm whose mission is to restore the Earth and inspire ecological stewardship, to pilot a Tidal Planter that creates salt marsh while removing pollutants from New York Harbor.
• LÆRO – A small business founded in collaboration with experts across fields of water advocacy, manufacturing, and electromechanical engineering, working to reduce the levels of untreated wastewater that enter New York City’s waterways. On Governors Island, they will pilot Cycleau, their compact greywater treatment system at water refill stations and restrooms.
• Object Territories – A critical design practice based in New York and Hong Kong that works at the intersection of architecture, landscape, and urbanism. Their pilot on Governors Island will test their Intertidal Objects, habitat-friendly coastal protection units designed in collaboration with the Center for Architecture, Science, and Ecology (CASE) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Fort Miller Group and after NATURE.
• RETI Center – A Red Hook-based nonprofit that works to educate, train, and work with local youth, experts, professionals, and community members to transform our coastal city from one that is driven by fossil fuels to one balancing equity, ecology, and economy. On Governors Island, they will pilot their Floating BlueBlocks Gardens, integrated ecological systems that can be installed in any body of water, in collaboration with thread collective.
• Seaweed City – A nonprofit citizen science initiative exploring the benefits of seaweed aquaculture in New York City’s waterways. On Governors Island, they will pilot their urban kelp farming infrastructure. The project is fiscally sponsored by Newtown Creek Alliance.

Of the selected pilots, 100 percent are locally based, 50 percent are women-led, and 33 percent are minority-led. Pilots will be installed on Governors Island over the coming months for periods spanning six to 18 months, with an inaugural public Demo Day to be held in early summer 2024. They will join ongoing piloting projects led by Vycarb, a Brooklyn-based company working to measure and mitigate carbon dioxide in New York Harbor; Circular Economy Manufacturing, a Brooklyn-based company that transforms post-consumer plastics into upcycled products through scalable solar-powered technology; and South Bronx Unite, a Bronx-based community organization that is piloting a street-level air quality monitoring network. For more information on the pilots, visit www.govisland.org/living-lab.

The Climate Solutions Piloting Program is a key component of Pilot:NYC, an initiative announced by Governor Kathy Hochul and Mayor Eric Adams as part of the “New” New York Plan that seeks to make New York City a hub for urban innovation. The Piloting Program includes two components: the themed annual Climate Solutions Challenge and a general rolling call. Through the annual challenge, a selected cohort of companies receives piloting project sites, grant awards, deployment support, and public engagement opportunities. The Trust also offers a year-round general application for self-funded piloting proposals across all disciplines. Non-profit organizations, entrepreneurs, and start-ups are invited to apply to the general rolling call at any time at www.govisland.org/challenge.

The pilots announced today will complement an existing group of businesses and nonprofit organizations that are currently showcasing innovative climate solutions on Governors Island, including Con Edison, GrowNYC, Earth Matter NY, the Bee Conservancy, Billion Oyster Project, and others.

Today’s announcement marks an exciting step forward in Governors Island’s growth as a resource for climate demonstration and innovation. Announced in June 2023, the Living Lab is a new program led by the Trust that provides a platform for partnerships and programs to amplify climate action. In addition to the Climate Solutions Piloting Program, the Living Lab includes a climate field trip program launching this spring and a community convening space for climate on the Island. The Living Lab is made possible with the generous support of Amazon, Con Edison, Deutsche Bank, Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, LISC, and the New York Community Trust.

The New York Climate Exchange, a research and educational institution led by Stony Brook University and a cross-sector consortium of universities, businesses, and nonprofit organizations, was announced as the anchor partner for the Center for Climate Solutions by Mayor Eric Adams and the Trust for Governors Island in April 2023. The Exchange will create a state-of-the-art, $700-million, 400,000 square-foot campus on Governors Island dedicated to researching and developing innovative climate solutions that will be scaled across New York City and the world and that will equip New Yorkers to hold the green jobs of the future. The Exchange will also create thousands of permanent green jobs and generate $1 billion in fiscal impact for New York City.

About the Trust for Governors Island
The Trust for Governors Island is the nonprofit corporation created by the City of New York that is responsible for the redevelopment and operation of 150 acres of Governors Island. The Trust’s mission is to realize the full potential of Governors Island for the inspiration and enjoyment of all New Yorkers, demonstrating a bold vision for public space. For more information, visit www.govisland.org