A new partnership has been announced today between ICLEI’s Resilient Communities for America (RC4A) campaign and Second Nature, a national nonprofit that works to create a healthy, just, and sustainable society by transforming higher education.
Second Nature has just launched the Alliance for Resilient Campuses (ARC) to help better prepare institutions of higher education for climate change impacts. Building on its flagship Program, the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), which has 682 signatory colleges and universities, Second Nature is complementing that effort with a network that will focus on climate adaptation and resilience.
“Building resilience at the local level starts with cultivating and supporting local leaders and stakeholders,” said ICLEI USA Climate Director Brian Holland. “Mayors and University Presidents have enormous influence and we’re proud to work with Second Nature to bring them together in pursuit of stronger and safer communities.”
Presidents of Colleges and universities from California to Maine, representing a diverse range of higher education – community colleges, four-year colleges, and multi-campus research institutions – have already endorsed ARC as Founding Signatories. In the coming months and years, the Alliance will grow, in partnership with cities, corporations, and others, to share knowledge, highlight and learn from success, and to contribute to an expanded and innovative focus on designing a resilient society.
“The ACUPCC has played an enormously influential role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and of embedding sustainability as an operating principle across higher education,” said David Hales, President of Second Nature. “At the same time, we recognize that there is an increasing likelihood of damaging climate impacts to many of our colleges. ARC will provide a platform for developing flexible and state-of-the-art guidance and support for assessment, learning, implementation, and evaluation with respect to adaptation and resilience, and will do so in full partnership with communities.”
ARC and RC4A will work together to encourage strong partnership between communities and campuses, and to share tools, information resources, and successes to support and highlight improved resilience.