This guide offers city officials and resilience practitioners a comprehensive framework for selecting communities for resilience-building initiatives, emphasizing the importance of equity, inclusivity, transparency, and stakeholder buy-in. It advocates for a robust, data-driven approach and recognizes the complex interplay of factors that influence a community’s resilience. By integrating socio-economic and environmental data, the guide helps prioritize areas most in need, drawing on the experiences of four cities—Greater Manchester, Melaka, Boston, and Houston—participating in the Resilience for Communities (R4C) program.
The R4C program is part of the Urban Climate Resilience Program (UCRP), which operates across nine countries, including Australia, Colombia, Ecuador, Italy, Malaysia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This global initiative is a collaboration between the Z Zurich Foundation, Zurich Insurance National Business Units, and the following charitable organizations: Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities), C40, IFRC, ICLEI, and Plan International.
This resource empowers cities to make data-driven, equitable decisions that enhance the resilience of all community members, particularly those facing the most vulnerabilities.
The guide encourages a holistic approach to community selection, addressing both immediate shocks and long-term stresses. Strategic community selection for resilience-building programs is crucial for both local governments and organizations aiming to enhance the capacity of urban and rural areas to withstand and adapt to shocks and stressors, which are not limited to climate-related events. Community selection is a nuanced process that requires an understanding of the demographic, socio-economic, and environmental factors that contribute to a community’s vulnerability and resilience.
Through this guide, R-Cities aims to provide cities with the necessary tools and insights to navigate the complex task of prioritizing communities for urban resilience investments effectively, ensuring programs are successful, communication is clear, and equity is central to every decision.