The Rockefeller Foundation has called for the 3rd and final round of applications for funding under its 100 Resilient Cities Challenge. 67 cities have been funded under this program to date including many of the great cities of the world such as New York, Paris, and London, with a further 33 cities to be funded under the third round.

The Resilient Cities program is directed at strengthening the capacity of cities to respond to shocks and stresses that confront them. This includes shocks such as earthquakes, fires, and floods and also stresses such as high unemployment, an overtaxed and inefficient public transport system, endemic violence, and chronic food and water shortage.

Cities selected for this program receive a grant to hire a Chief Resilience Officer, technical support to develop a holistic strategy to meet the distinctive needs of the city,and access to an innovative platform of services to support strategic development. The Rockefeller Foundation has made clear that the program is not only directed at technological aspects of resilience but that people and community aspects are seen as important aspects of resilience.

This means that Resilient Cities and Learning Cities have areas of common interest where exchanges of information and experience will have value. A few cities are already developing as both Learning Cities and Resilient Cities. With the implementation of the Global Network of Learning Cities by UNESCO after the Mexico City International Conference in October, this number will increase so that there will be value in arrangements being put in place to exchange ideas and experience. The next PASCAL International Conference at Glasgow University on 3-5 June next year will provide such an opportunity so that the program of the conference will provide for such exchanges.

Several Resilient Cities already participate in both the PASCAL Learning City 2020 networks program and the Rockefeller Resilient Cities program. These are Glasgow and Bristol. Both are examining with workshops this year how the inclusion objectives of Learning Cities can be enhanced. PASCAL welcomes more cities developing as Resilient Cities joining the Networks program so as to enhance their capability for learning and community building, and fostering values that support these objectives.

Information on applications for the 3rd round is available on the website established by the Rockefeller program for this program: http://www.100resilientcities.org/pages/100-resilient-cities-challenge