Letter from Michael Berkowitz

As I write this letter, in the lead-up to the 2017 Urban Resilience Summit, it is truly extraordinary to consider the incredible group of people who have taken part in our movement over the last four years. When we started this organization in 2013, we had no cities, no staff, no CROs, and no Platform Partners. Together we now stand, not that many years later, on the leading edge of a movement that I believe can touch billions of lives.

Over the past four years we’ve grown a tremendous network of cities and partners. We, together, have published approximately 30 Resilience Strategies and funded and trained almost 80 Chief Resilience Officers. But that’s just a small part of the community that’s been involved. We’ve engaged 1,300 community groups in the creation of city Resilience Strategies; worked with over 100 Platform Partners that have pledged more than $230M to our cities; and helped our members raise over $535M for resilience projects.

Cities have realized the value of this work, deciding to institutionalize and expand their resilience offices. To match their passion, we’ve greatly expanded how we can support them. We’ve opened offices on four continents, we’ve created dozens of new tools, and we’ve brought hundreds of subject-matter experts into our orbit. When we first began, the importance of cities to the 21st century was gaining recognition, but urban resilience, and the urgent need to develop it, was not at the forefront of conversations about our global future. Today it is.

Our cities and partners are moving from planning for urban resilience to building it. We are partnering with cities on inspiring work on the ground in their communities — work that is having an impact now, and work that will help shape cities into the future. This work is the focus of this report. As we welcome nearly 500 urban resilience practitioners from around the world to our Global Summit in New York City, we want to make a clear statement on our collective impact, and the world-wide implications of this movement we’re building.

So enjoy it. Relish the work you’ve done and the things you’ve accomplished. And then go redouble your efforts.

Best,
Michael Berkowitz
President, 100 Resilient Cities