ICLEI USA is proud to announce the successful completion of two climate resilience capacity-building cohorts: the 2024 Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (CRVA) Cohort and the Texas and Oklahoma Regional Resilience Cohort.
The CRVA Cohort, which ran from March to August of 2024, brought together over 20 municipal staff from across the country to engage in a series of expert-led discussions and peer learning sessions focused on climate resilience and adaptation.
The Texas and Oklahoma Regional Resilience Cohort (January – May 2024) also focused on CRVAs but was tailored to the specific needs of 20 local governments in Texas and Oklahoma. ICLEI USA’s valued partner, the South-central Partnership for Energy Efficiency as a Resource (SPEER), funded this cohort.
Partner with ICLEI USA to design and deliver a custom resilience cohort! This is the perfect opportunity for states, regional governments, counties, and community-serving organizations to create tailored capacity-building opportunities for the communities they serve.
ICLEI USA designed both cohorts to equip local governments with the knowledge and tools needed to understand, communicate, and plan for climate change-related risks.
Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessments (CRVAs) As a Learning Tool
CRVAs are studies that local governments conduct to:
- Understand local hazards (such as extreme heat, drought, flooding, and hurricanes) related to climate change
- Identify ways in which their communities are vulnerable to hazards through engagement with community members, staff, and experts
- Set priorities for taking action on resilience that address the community’s most pressing vulnerabilities to climate change
The cohorts provided participating local governments with a broad overview of the CRVA process as well as general tips for resilience planning, equitable community engagement, climate communications, and strategy development.
Peer Learning and Tailored Support
One of the key strengths of ICLEI USA’s resilience cohorts is their emphasis on peer learning. During special working sessions, cohort participants partnered up and completed practice exercises in breakout rooms on stakeholder engagement planning, hazard identification, and rapid vulnerability assessment. Local governments can repurpose these exercises for future work on CRVAs and other resilience planning processes. This structure facilitated the sharing of experiences and best practices among local governments.
Throughout, participants also had access to an ICLEI USA resilience technical advisor who provided personalized guidance and feedback. This support helped participants translate the concepts discussed during meetings into practical approaches that align with their specific community context.
Looking Ahead: Scaling Climate Resilience Efforts
We congratulate all participants of the 2024 CRVA Cohort and Texas and Oklahoma Regional Resilience Cohort for their dedication and hard work, and we look forward to continuing to support many of these communities’ efforts through ICLEI membership.
Congratulations to the following ICLEI members for their commitment to building stronger, more resilient communities:
The success of this program underscores the importance of collaborative, group-learning opportunities on climate resilience. ICLEI USA is already looking ahead to future opportunities for our network.For those interested in joining future cohorts or learning more about ICLEI USA’s work on resilience and climate adaptation, please stay tuned for announcements by signing up for our newsletter or contact us at iclei-usa@iclei.org.