Noteworthy, Volume 5, Issue 5

Noteworthy. (2014). Solutions 5(5): 8-10.

Idea Lab Noteworthy Alliance for Resilient Campuses Presidents of colleges and universities from California to Maine, including community colleges, four-year colleges, and multi-campus research institutions, are joining together to endorse a new initiative to focus on climate adaptation and resilience on campuses.

The initiative, called the Alliance for Resilient Campuses (ARC), was developed by the non-profit organization, Second Nature, which leads efforts on college campuses to create a healthy, just, and sustainable society by transforming higher education.

Its flagship program, the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), has gained 684 signatory colleges and universities. While ACUPCC focuses on greenhouse gas mitigation and carbon neutrality, ARC will focus on climate adaptation and resilience.

“We recognize that there is an increasing likelihood of damaging climate impacts to many of our colleges,” said Anne Waple, Executive Director (acting) for Second Nature. “ARC will provide a platform for developing flexible and state-of-the-art guidance and support for assessment, learning, implementation, and evaluation with respect to adaptation and resilience, and will do so in full partnership with communities. As a nation, we have a lot of work to do to adapt to ongoing climate changes, and as higher education invests in its own resilience, it can also play a critical role in helping all of society prepare for, and even thrive in, the coming decades. This is the driving idea behind ARC.” ARC is working with other groups to incorporate the latest science into climate preparedness planning for campuses and communities, and will

Jeremy Wilburn / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Alliance for Resilient Campuses unites institutions of higher education with a focus on climate adaptation and campus resiliency.

also work with the ongoing National Climate Assessment network to help fill gaps in knowledge, including how to effectively gauge our continued progress towards resilience.

In addition, ARC is partnering with the Resilient Communities for America (RC4A), a national initiative that is mobilizing local elected officials from cities, counties, and towns. ARC and RC4A will work together to encourage strong partnership between communities and campuses, and to share tools, information resources, and successes to support and highlight improved resilience. (See http://secondnature.org/ programs/resilience/alliance).

The R!SE Initiative A new global report by The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) teamed with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and others, provides compelling evidence of the growing impact of disasters on business, including escalating direct losses,

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supply chain interruptions and wider effects on performance and reputation.

The 2013 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction warns that direct disaster losses alone are at least 50 percent higher than currently reported, affecting business performance and undermining longer-term competitiveness and sustainability.

The report is issued by the R!SE Initiative, a new global collaboration involving public and private sector actors who are prepared to take leadership on disaster risk reduction. It consists of an alliance between UNISDR, PwC, the Economist Intelligence Unit, Florida International University, Principles for Responsible Investment, AECOM, and Willis, as well as other companies and institutions.

Despite increasing business awareness of disaster risk and investments in risk management, losses continue to rise. Moreover, the indirect impacts of disasters can ripple through economies and societies as a whole. At the same time, business depends on the capacity of the public sector to provide

Idea Lab Noteworthy the resilient infrastructure and urban systems which underpin competitive and sustainable economies.

The overall objective of the R!SE Initiative is to make all investments risk-sensitive, while building the resilience of local communities, and the global economy as a whole. It includes eight Activity Streams that address business strategies, risk metrics, disaster risk management, industry standards and investment principles, business education, city-level resilience, and the role of insurance. By bringing together six connected communities—business, investors, insurers, the public sector, education professionals and civil society—R!SE aims to convene stakeholders who have the ability and resources to influence the future direction of disaster risk management. (See www.theriseinitiative.org).

United Nations Global Resilience Project The United Nations Environment Programme launched a new initiative in June 2012 called Principles for Sustainable Insurance (PSI), in collaboration with leading insurers from around the world. One of PSI’s flagship activities is the Global Resilience Project, aimed at protecting communities from natural disasters. The first phase of the project assessed the effectiveness of a range of disaster risk reduction measures across the three most devastating types of natural hazard: cyclone, earthquake, and flood.

The findings show that widespread environmental degradation, climate change, and loss of natural ecosystems are exacerbating disaster risk, and that building resilience is integral to sustainable development. According to Butch Bacani, the PSI Programme

Leader, “Hard-won development gains can be undermined by a single disaster, and efforts to build a sustainable economy derailed.”

The Phase 1 report identified a number of beneficial solutions; for example, coastal ecosystems such as mangroves and sand dunes can act like protective sea walls to reduce risk from cyclones, while providing benefits for wildlife habitat and aquaculture. In terms of cost, conserving and restoring existing ecosystems is much more effective than creating new ones.

For all hazards, the report recommended an integrated, portfolio approach that includes educating the community and stakeholders, conducting risk mapping, and developing robust evacuation procedures. The project report, Building disaster-resilient communities and economies, can be downloaded at: www.unepfi.org/psi/ category/publications The next phase of the project will develop a global disaster map to identify individual communities most in need of risk reduction efforts.

The project will then seek to engage communities, governments, and other stakeholders in investing in disaster resilience, and in implementing the measures most effective for protecting lives and property.

National Research Council Report on Disaster Resilience Preparing communities to cope with potential disasters is a tricky challenge, particularly when no one can predict with any confidence either the likelihood or the impacts of disasters.

To address that challenge, an expert scientific committee has suggested a number of measures—including a ‘National Resilience Scorecard’—to help communities anticipate and prepare for potential disasters.

This National Research Council committee, chaired by Susan Cutter of the University of South Carolina, was formed by the National Academies in response to a request from nine U.S. federal agencies (see http://nas-sites. org/resilience/).

Henning Leweke / CC BY-SA 2.0

Phase 1 of the UN Global Resilience Project identified solutions for utilizing existing ecosystems in reducing risk of natural disasters, such as employing sand dunes to protect from cyclones. www.thesolutionsjournal.org | September-October 2014 | Solutions | 9

Idea Lab Noteworthy The resulting report, published in 2012, defines resilience as “the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from, or more successfully adapt to actual or potential adverse events,” and views a community as a system composed of environmental, infrastructure, social, economic, and institutional elements working in concert.

The report suggests that flexible risk management strategies are needed, involving multiple stakeholders, and a mix of structural improvements and policy tools. To justify investments in resilience, communities will need assurance that there will be measurable benefits, including improved prosperity and quality of life, even in the absence of a disaster. This underscores the need for resilience indicators to assess issues such as infrastructure performance, building integrity, and social and business capacity for disaster recovery.

The report recommends the creation of a National Resilience Scorecard, although it points out that there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ strategy for enhancing resilience across the diversity of U.S. communities. Finally, the report outlines a vision of a resilient nation in 2030, with a culture of resilience supported at both Federal and local levels, availability of disaster-related information and insurance protection, proactive investment and contingency planning, and acceptance by communities of their responsibility to prepare for, and respond to disasters.

Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities Challenge The Rockefeller Foundation has established a bold new project aimed at improving the resilience of cities around the world. They define

Richard Nyberg, USAID Asia / CC BY-NC 2.0

The Rockefeller Foundation is supporting several projects focused on resilience, including its 100 Resilient Cities Challenge and the recent launch of the Global Resilience Partnership in Asia and Africa alongside USAID.

resilience as, “the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience.”

In 2013, the Foundation launched the 100 Resilient Cities Challenge, inviting cities to apply for awards and technical assistance valued at about $1 million over three years. Out of nearly 400 applications, 32 cities were selected for the first round of awards. The selected cities span every continent, and range from familiar mega-cities such as New York, Rio de Janeiro and Rome to lesser-known places such as Mandalay (Myanmar), Ashkelon (Israel), and Dakar (Senegal).

The 100 Resilient Cities project offers each city financial and logistical guidance for appointing a Chief Resilience Officer, access to expertise and service providers who can help to develop their resilience strategies,

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and membership in a global network of cities who can learn from, and help each other.

No matter what their size and location, it appears that resilient cities share certain core capabilities—constant learning, rebounding rapidly from shocks, limiting the impacts of failure, adapting flexibly to change, and maintaining spare capacity. True resilience is not just about responding to disasters, but also dealing with stresses such as unemployment, urban violence, and food or water shortages.

One of the most important lessons emerging from this program is that resilient cities are able to turn tragedy into opportunity, rebuilding to become stronger than before. This includes awareness of the environmental and social factors that enable a city to remain healthy, vibrant, and diverse.

For more information: http:// www.100resilientcities.org/