A city is only as resilient as its most vulnerable communities. By meaningfully incorporating community voices throughout neighborhood and city-level planning processes, we can ensure that solutions are grounded in the lived experiences of residents and respond to their immediate and long-term priorities.
The 9th session of Cities on the Frontline of 2024, “Resilience for Communities, with Communities” explored the crucial nature of community-driven resilience in addressing the complex climate challenges facing cities today.
By examining critical gaps in community engagement, the discussion highlighted the role of private, public, and grassroots actors in advancing equity-focused solutions that amplify the voices of those closest to climate risks. Building on this, the session also dived into how our understanding of community resilience directly shapes efforts to adapt to increasing climate risks. By highlighting the role of equitable resilience in addressing historical injustices, the panelists emphasized the importance of uplifting under-resourced communities through meaningful engagement and co-design of solutions.
This session forms part of a 3-part special edition of Cities on the Frontline titled The Urban Resilience Series. It is a collaboration between the Resilient Cities Network and Zurich North America, aimed at bringing together experts from the private, public, and non-profit sectors to discuss key challenges to urban resilience and explore how strategic collaboration can help accelerate action.
David Nash
Head of Adapting to Climate Change, Z Zurich Foundation
Nuha Eltinay
Senior Expert for Urban Resilience and Climate Adaptation, ICLEI
Dr. Heang Leung Rubin
Principal and Founder, CHIC Community Engagement Consulting
