Resilient Cities Congress

Resilient Cities Congress
Name	Resilient Cities Congress
Status	Active
Genre	Conference
Frequency	Annual
Venue	Various
Location	Various
Country	International
First	2010s
Organizer	ICLEI

Resilient Cities Congress

The Resilient Cities Congress is an international conference series focused on urban resilience, convening municipal leaders, planners, scientists, financiers, and civil society to address climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. The Congress brings together representatives from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, World Bank, European Commission, UN-Habitat, and C40 Cities alongside city delegations from New York City, London, Mumbai, Shanghai, and Cape Town. It serves as a forum where policy instruments linked to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, Paris Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals, Habitat III outcomes, and Green New Deal-inspired initiatives are debated and operationalized.

Overview

The Congress fosters exchange among stakeholders such as ICLEI, The Rockefeller Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Resources Institute, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration to align urban strategies with frameworks like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessments and the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy. Sessions highlight case studies from jurisdictions including Singapore, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, and Barcelona while engaging technical partners such as Arup, AECOM, Siemens, Schneider Electric, and Microsoft. The program emphasizes integration across disciplines represented by delegations from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University College London, ETH Zurich, and Tsinghua University.

History and Development

The Congress emerged amid growing attention to urban resilience in the 2010s, parallel to milestones like Hurricane Sandy, the Typhoon Haiyan response, and policy shifts following the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference. Early iterations featured collaborations with organizations including ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability, 100 Resilient Cities, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, and World Economic Forum. Over successive editions the event expanded from municipal practitioner workshops influenced by initiatives from Mayor of New York City (2014–2017), to multi-stakeholder summits involving actors such as European Investment Bank, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, and private sector partners like Goldman Sachs and HSBC.

Themes and Objectives

Core themes include resilience planning, nature-based solutions, financing for resilience, and community-based adaptation, reflecting targets in Sustainable Development Goal 11, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and Paris Agreement commitments. The Congress advances objectives aligned with actors such as ICLEI, C40 Cities, Global Resilient Cities Network, Resilience Shift, and UNEP to mainstream resilience into urban policy instruments used by cities like Melbourne, Seoul, Istanbul, Jakarta, and São Paulo. Emphasis is placed on linking scientific inputs from IPCC reports, modelling from Lloyd's Register Foundation, and evaluation frameworks used by OECD and UNEP Finance Initiative.

Program and Activities

Programming typically combines plenary sessions, technical workshops, training labs, and site visits featuring partnerships with Municipality of Rotterdam, Port of Rotterdam, Singapore PUB, and Thames Barrier authorities. Activities showcase tools from Resilience Direct, City Resilience Index, Arcadis Flood Modeller, and finance vehicles like green bonds promoted by World Bank and European Investment Bank. Capacity-building modules engage participants from ICLEI, UN-Habitat, C40 Cities, 100 Resilient Cities, and academic partners including ETH Zurich and Columbia University.

Governance and Organizers

The Congress is convened by a coalition led by ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability with support from institutional partners such as UN-Habitat, Global Covenant of Mayors, Rockefeller Foundation, and regional development banks including Asian Development Bank and Inter-American Development Bank. Steering committees have included representatives from City of Rotterdam, City of New York, City of Cape Town, City of Copenhagen, and research institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University College London. Funding and sponsorship streams have involved The Rockefeller Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, European Commission, and private sponsors including Arup and AECOM.

Participants and Partnerships

Typical participants include mayors and urban directors from New York City, Mexico City, Lagos State, Delhi, and Beijing Municipality, along with delegations from NGOs such as World Wildlife Fund, Red Cross, Oxfam, and academic partners like University of Cape Town and Tsinghua University. Strategic partnerships extend to finance institutions World Bank, European Investment Bank, Goldman Sachs, and technical partners including Siemens, Schneider Electric, and Google's urban initiatives. Networks such as C40 Cities, Global Covenant of Mayors, 100 Resilient Cities, and ICLEI play central roles in participant mobilization.

Impact and Outcomes

The Congress has influenced municipal policies, catalyzed finance instruments like municipal green bonds, and accelerated adoption of nature-based solutions in cities including Rotterdam, Singapore, New York City, Cape Town, and Mumbai. Outcomes include knowledge products used by UN-Habitat, pilot projects funded by World Bank and European Investment Bank, and cross-city collaborations within C40 Cities and the Global Covenant of Mayors. Evaluations reference contributions to targets under SDG 11, implementation of Sendai Framework measures, and alignment with Paris Agreement nationally determined contributions, while influencing academic research agendas at institutions such as ETH Zurich and Columbia University.

Category:Urban planning conferences