Disaster resilience competition generates innovative ideas

Disaster resilience competition generates innovative ideas

Published 25 June 2015

The National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC), an innovative partnership between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Rockefeller Foundation, is already bearing fruit — even before the selection of any finalists or winners. The Foundation offers six examples of innovative, substantial steps that communities around the country are taking to create, and maintain, a culture of resilience.

The National Disaster Resilience Competition (NDRC), an innovative partnership between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Rockefeller Foundation, is already bearing fruit — even before the selection of any finalists or winners. The Rockefeller Foundation offers six examples of innovative, substantial steps that communities around the country are taking to create, and maintain, a culture of resilience.
Here is how these six places are building more resilient communities:

1. Tuscaloosa, AL, Office of Resiliency and Special Projects
   Tuscaloosa is planning to transform its Department of Recovery Operations into the Office of Resiliency and Special Projects and appoint a Chief Resiliency Officer, who will equip the city with a better understanding of modern shocks and stresses and how these can be magnified by extreme events.
2. The State of Colorado Resiliency Framework
   Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has adopted a resilience framework which is now moving into implementation. The state collected feedback from communities, local governments, housing authorities, chambers of commerce, foundations, and other stakeholders — all leading to the final framework which was submitted to the governor in March, providing a resource for cultivating a culture of resilience at the local level.
3. Northeastern Illinois Resilience Partnership
   The City of Chicago, Cook County, DuPage County, and the State of Illinois have created a multi-jurisdictional, bipartisan partnership to build resilience in Northeastern Illinois, called the Northeastern Illinois Resilience Partnership. During the first stage of the competition, the partnership hosted a series of neighborhood workshops to address the region’s resilience to incidents of extreme weather, especially rainstorms that cause floods and related damage. The partnership works at both the community and regional scale in order to build resilience in “most vulnerable communities, while also making transformative infrastructural and institutional changes,” throughout the region.
4. Moore, Oklahoma, Department of Resiliency
   As a part of their NDRC application, Moore, Oklahoma has created a Department of Resiliency located in the city manager’s office, with dedicated staff members to oversee the implementation of their resilience projects. Moore has moved its six-person disaster programs team out of the Community Development and Planning Department and into the city manager’s office, where they will be able to coordinate and integrate with other departments more effectively.
5. Minot, North Dakota
   The City of Minot has appointed City Planner Donna Bye as its first Chief Resilience Officer. Bye will work with city departments and community members to “maximize innovation and minimize the impact of unforeseen events.” CRO Donna Bye sees her new role as “someone who engages community stakeholders, listens to them and empowers them to become adaptable.” Through her work she plans to help the community implement a long-term plan and vision, while also taking short-term steps to maintain the quality of life for her community.
6. State of Minnesota Resilience Steering Committee
   In order to create a smooth management process that can build regional resilience, Minnesota is pulling together a Resilience Steering Committee, which will select projects for incorporation into a NDRC final application, oversee the overall project implementation, develop a long-term resilience work plan, and work with partners to establish opportunities for leverage, policy implementation, and cross-sector partnerships.

The Foundation says it looks forward to sharing more success stories as the competition progresses!