MUNICIPAL VULNERABILITY PREPAREDNESS

Weston & Sampson is a Certified Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Provider

The MVP program provides financial support for cities and towns in Massachusetts to help plan for resiliency and implement key climate change adaptation actions. The MVP program offers two grants in a phased approach. The first phase, the Planning Grant, provides technical assistance to communities to complete an assessment and resiliency plan using the Community Resilience Building Framework. Weston & Sampson is a MVP certified providers and has guided over 40 communities through this process. Weston & Sampson is also adept at developing grants for the second phase, the Action Grant. Action Grants are an ideal opportunity to incorporate climate resilience priorities and improvements into aging infrastructure.

Weston & Sampson Provides Consulting Services for Both MVP Planning and Action Grants

Climate impacts present a risk to both the physical and operational aspects of a municipality, as well as the larger economic and social prosperity of the region. We have a carefully assembled team with the required technical knowledge and in-depth knowledge of the MVP program to deliver targeted vulnerability assessments, infrastructure upgrades, regulatory and bylaw updates, and more. See a sample of our projects below. The qualifications and capabilities that distinguish us include:

  • Successful experience working with local governments to secure grant funding
  • Technical knowledge of how to develop nature-based solutions
  • Development of climate change, hazard mitigation, and long-range planning initiatives that lead to implementation
  • Diverse tools for public engagement, both online and in-person
  • GIS analysis and data visualization to synthesize and convey complex information
  • Multi-disciplinary engineering and design professionals ready to work on your project to:
    • develop more resilient transportation networks,
    • update bylaws and regulations,
    • create redundant drinking water supplies,
    • design stormwater and green infrastructure solutions, and
    • install renewable backup energy.

To learn how Weston & Sampson can provide you with MVP services, contact your Project Manager or email info@westonandsampson.com

News & Highlights


A child walking on a trail surrounded by trees. Dorchester County Greenbelt Master Plan - By Kim Morganello, Lucas Hernandez and Rachel Cotter, RLA. Dorchester County, South Carolina, is home to diverse ecosystems, including swamps, blackwater rivers, bottomland hardwood forests, longleaf pine savannahs and tidal marshes. Residents and visitors can partake in outdoor recreational activities across the county’s vast park system, trails, waterways and forests. The county, however, has undergone significant growth and development in recent years, and has embraced the challenge of managing rapid urban growth while also trying to mitigate environmental damage and degradation.
Photo showing flodding street. Equity-Driven Climate Action: Connecticut’s Path to a Resilient, Net-Zero Future - Figure 1: The impacts of climate change, like this severe inland flooding from extreme precipitation, are impacting communities across the country (Weston & Sampson).

The Team at Weston & Sampson were a great partner in assisting the Town of Tewksbury in the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program to engage the public in climate change planning and updating our five year Hazard Mitigation Plan. They did a fantastic job guiding the Town in our one day Community Stakeholder Engagement Workshop and assimilating the findings into a comprehensive, goal-oriented report. The Weston & Sampson team in particular made our community outreach transition to a remote format during the COVID19 pandemic seamless and helped us not only finish the deliverables ahead of schedule, but assisted the Town in applying to the next grant application setting us up for success in the future.

- Anna McGinty, Tewksbury Town Planner