Giving Compass' Take:

• The Rockefeller Foundation reflects on their 100 Resilient Cities project five years into its execution and reports on how local policymakers have implemented strategies to make cities greener.

• This overview shows the importance of partnership and getting out of silos to create systematic change, but scaling such progress will be the next challenge.

• Here are some cost-friendly solutions from the Sustainable Cities Forum.

In 2013, The Rockefeller Foundation launched 100 Resilient Cities (100RC), to help and inspire cities to innovate and adapt in their growing role as standard-bearers for a more resilient future. In creating 100RC, the Foundation understood the need to work directly with municipal governments to upend the old structures that stymie this potential. With seed funding and training for a new position in city government — the Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) — 100RC — and our city partners — forged a new model for interceding on this systemic scale.

Even the most visionary mayors preside over a governance structure created in the 20th century that has solidified over generations and administrations. The agencies they oversee have been optimized for efficiency, but those silos often hinder the kind of integration cities need to successfully address their challenges. Transport people talk to transport people, as do economic development, housing, and immigration. Those conversations are more efficient at least in the short-term. But that approach has risks, and misses significant intersectional benefits. How many times in the 20th century has road construction damaged existing development (or missed upside) because it was planned and built by people using a single metric — moving cars. Similarly, how often do social services operate in silos, where a coordinated approach would provide better impact, more cheaply.

Read the full article about leading the way to a more resilient future by Michael Berkowitz at Medium.