The Race to Resilience Culture
The Race to Resilience Culture (RTRC) initiative, led by the U.S. Office and Africa Secretariat of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), aims to enhance climate resilience through the integration of cultural and heritage-based strategies (CHBSs) within communities in the United States and Africa.
The ICLEI World Congress in Montreal, Canada, 2018.
Background
The Race to Resilience Culture (RTRC) initiative, spearheaded by the U.S. Office and Africa Secretariat of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), seeks to build climate resilience by integrating cultural and heritage-based strategies (CHBSs) into communities across the United States and Africa. Backed by the Climate Heritage Network (CHN) and funded through a subgrant from The Power of Preservation Foundation (POP), ICLEI draws on its expertise as the first and largest global network of over 2,500 local and regional governments committed to addressing the world’s most challenging sustainability issues.
The RTRC initiative aims to support vulnerable groups and communities in becoming more resilient to climate risks through the adoption of CHBSs. To meet this goal, the initiative will mobilize 75 cities to commit to enhancing culture-based actions for climate resilience and adaptation, with measurable progress reported along the way.
Stay tuned for the application details, timeline, and resources!
Key Goals
These four goals will guide the RTRC through 2024-2026:
- Provide CHBS capacity-building support to at least 75 local governments.
- Secure commitments from 30 cities across the U.S. and Africa to adopt CHBS by 2026.
- Pair African and U.S. cities in a peer-to-peer exchange that provides a deep examination of culture-based resilience strategies and innovation that is shared broadly.
- Develop a data workbook with metrics for cities and regions to track and manage CHBS initiatives.
Core Focus Areas
RTRC focuses on
- Supporting underserved communities by engaging public bodies and cultural organizations in CHBS initiatives.
- Centering resilience-building within cultural heritage programs.
- Normalizing the integration of culture in climate planning efforts.
Meet the Team
Kale Roberts
Deputy Director
Marisa Kellogg
Senior Program Officer
Anne Marie Cleary Rauker
Senior Communications Officer
Melissa Velasquez
Program Associate
Caio Pereira
Program Associate
