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The Resilient Cities Network consists of member cities and Chief Resilience Officers from the 100 Resilient Cities program, sharing a common lens for holistic urban resilience and with thousands of projects in implementation.
100 Resilient Cities (100RC) was pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation in 2013, as part of its Global Centennial Initiative. In over five years of deep engagement with city leaders, communities, and the private sector, this dynamic network enabled transformational change in cities through support of resilience plans and early implementation of projects.
100RC was built on a substantial investment from The Rockefeller Foundation which enabled cities to hire a Chief Resilience Officer, develop a resilience strategy, access pro-bono services from private sector and NGO partners, and share and receive ideas, innovation and knowledge through the global network of Chief Resilience Officers (CROs).
From the experience of creating resilience strategies in dozens of cities, we learned that using a resilience lens strategically to plan a portfolio of actions creates higher-impact projects that can deliver benefits to multiple sectors, in particular to vulnerable communities.
We also discovered a critical challenge: cities do not have enough support to articulate and develop their most innovative ideas, or to turn these ideas into bankable projects. This gap in the market prevents cities from delivering on their most urgent objectives, and prevents funders from identifying pipelines of transformational projects.
With continued support from The Rockefeller Foundation and other funding partners, the Resilient Cities Network (R-Cities) aims to support cities and their CROs in future-proofing their communities and critical infrastructure. In this new stage of our work, we are guided by four principles.
Resilient Cities Network is:
1.0 City-led
Cities, represented by their CROs, participate in the governance of the network.
2.0 Impact-focused
We prioritize resilient projects that aim to improve the lives of city dwellers.
3.0 Regionally driven
Activities are designed with more flexibility to cater to member cities’ needs.
4.0 Partnership-based
Cities’ resilience activities aim to become self-sustainable in the near future.
The Resilient Cities Network continues to drive urban resilience action with an expanded partner base. Between 2020 and 2022 we will welcome up to ten new member cities working to protect vulnerable communities from climate change and other urban challenges.
