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Seattle and Vancouver pledge to build regional resilience

dsc_0283Today the Mayors of Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, Canada signed a Memorandum of Cooperation committing to work together in growing their respective cities’ resilience to the challenges of climate change, seismic risks, affordable housing, and aging infrastructure.

The cities of Seattle and Vancouver share many similarities—including geography, economy, and a deep commitment to sustainability. Both cities have also recently been selected to join 100 Resilient Cities—Pioneered by The Rockefeller Foundation, and will soon be hiring Chief Resilience Officers to lead their efforts to ensure Seattle and Vancouver will be well prepared for the physical, social, and economic challenges of the 21st century.

 “The challenges of addressing deeply complex issues like climate change, aging infrastructure, affordable housing, and inequity are better met when working in partnership,” said Seattle Mayor Ed Murray. “Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel to come up with solutions, we are partnering to share lessons learned, support one another on our resilience journeys, and solve problems together.”

 Vancouver and Seattle are economic leaders built on innovation, diversity, inclusion and a commitment to sustainability,” says Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson. “I’m looking forward to building on our strong partnership with Seattle to deepen our collaboration and drive progress toward stronger resilience, tackling climate change, housing affordability, social connectedness and emergency preparedness. Vancouver and Seattle will be stronger for supporting each other as we build healthy, liveable and sustainable cities.”

With the number of people living in urban areas rapidly increasing, the 100RC Network was established by The Rockefeller Foundation to help cities prepare for the impacts of urbanization, globalization, and climate change. As members of the 100RC Network, Seattle and Vancouver gain access to funding that will allow each city to hire a Chief Resilience Officer to lead their respective resilience building efforts along with additional tools and technical expertise to help them become more resilient to physical, social and economic challenges.

“The regional collaboration forged in this MOU is an impressive step for two of the newest members of the 100 Resilient Cities global network,” said Michael Berkowitz, President of 100 Resilient Cities.“We look forward to working with both Mayor Murray and Mayor Robertson — along with their soon-to-be-named Chief Resilience Officers — as the cities forge new approaches to managing risk and opportunity in their cities, and use their work to catalyze a regional commitment to urban resilience.”