New forms of collaboration for urban resilience

Important results from the project

The aim of the project was to identify and develop new forms of collaboration for cities on resilience challenges caused by climate change, urbanization and disruptive technologies. Urban resilience is about maintaining the functionality of cities when faced with both sudden and chronic stress. For this, a broader representation of actors and a neutral platform for collaboration is needed. The success lies in the availability of qualified support services facilitated by a neutral part.

Expected long term effects

The project has identified that development takes place in three phases, the “awareness phase”, understanding the local challenges and needs, the “strategy phase” where strategies are formed and the “implementation phase” where initiatives and project are initiated. Collaboration platforms need to be neutral and facilitated with a range of support services that have been identified for each phase. The international perspective shows that when cities work with the resilience perspective, both co-benefits and new commercial offers are created.

Approach and implementation

The project has analyzed the need for collaboration through in-depth interviews, workshops based on process design method and global intelligence. Extensive work has been done on analyzing international developments in urban resilience, focusing on important trends and development of tools and methods for analysis, strategy and implementation. Dedicated talks with representatives from ICLEI, UN organizations UN-HABITAT and UNDRR, mayors and representatives from the 100 Resilient Cities (pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation), have confirmed the project´s conclusions.