Introducing "Exploring Urban Resilience"

Welcome to our first blog! We are the volunteers and staff of the Center for Resilient Cities, a non-profit based in Wisconsin. Each week, we’ll write on resilience ideas, programs and projects from around the U.S. and the world.

But despite our experience as resilience practitioners, we know we don’t have all the answers. We hope to strengthen our knowledge base, as well as the knowledge base of the resilience community, through lively and informed discussion on this blog. Before we get too far, though, let’s introduce ourselves a bit more.

Recognizing that social and environmental change is inevitable and transformative, the Center for Resilient Cities works with communities to meet and prepare for those challenges through applied resilience planning. 

The Resilience Research Center in Madison will open this spring.

Such planning requires proactive projects and programs which provide community residents with the knowledge, resources and opportunities to respond to change in a way that harnesses their strengths. Some of our projects include a state-of-the-art Resilience Research Center, food system advocacy, the revitalization of a park and a schoolyard and a community garden that works to heal social injustices as well as help a community better nourish itself.

For the Center and its partners, resilience planning has been a journey, marked by successes, challenges, discoveries and, above all, questions. How is building resilience different from community organizing? What is the connection between resilience and sustainability? How does resilience alleviate social and economic injustice? Which assets or strengths significantly impact a community’s capacity to be resilient?

We welcome discussion of these questions and all others related to resilience.  In particular, let us know about people, projects, programs and places which are building community resilience. If you would like to guest post, just let us know.

So join us each Thursday as we explore resilience! Make sure to sign up for email updates or add us to your RSS feed so you don’t miss a discussion.