Pulitzer Center-Supported Project on Climate Change in Rust Belt Wins Great Lakes Leadership Award

The Institute for Nonprofit News won the Great Lakes Leadership Award for its Pulitzer Center-supported project, "From Rust to Resilience."

A collaboration of eight newsrooms came together to answer one question: What does climate change mean for Rust Belt cities? 

While climate change is often portrayed as a coastal issue of hurricanes, sea level rise, and wildfires, it also affects the Great Lakes region—through degraded water quality, shoreline erosion, and more. 

"It's really important to bring a solutions focus, a solutions lens to the story because it can be very discouraging to not feel like you can do anything about it," said Ensia Editor-in-Chief Mary Hoff in a video about the project. "It's another thing to understand what is going on, and then to feel empowered to be part of the solution, which I think is a huge part of what journalism does."

This year, INN was one of three news organizations to win the award, which is presented by the Great Lakes Protection Fund. 

For a full list of this year's winners and finalists, please click here.