Back in July, as part of the Connective Cities Insight Sessions series, we had the pleasure of inviting Ms. Isabel Njihia, associate program management officer at the UNDRR Regional Office for Africa to speak about the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative to the Connective Cities community.

Cities face a growing number of problems, including unsustainable urbanization, natural disasters, and climate change. The traditional method of addressing risks one hazard at a time is no longer effective. Instead, to effectively manage risk, local planning must cross departmental boundaries and include representation from several sectors and stakeholders. Cities must also make investments in resilience building in addition to risk reduction in order for their systems, services, and residents to be able to respond to crises, sustain shocks, and recover.

The MCR2030 initiative is a unique global collaborative initiative with the goal of enhancing the resilience of communities. This project uses a variety of strategies, including advocacy, knowledge-sharing, the creation of city-to-city learning and exchange networks, the spread of technological know-how, and the development of partnerships. MCR2030 aims to support cities in lowering risks and bolstering their resilience by outlining a clear path toward urban resilience that includes all relevant stakeholders and partners, and provides tools, knowledge access, and monitoring capabilities.

MCR2030 serves as a focal point where cities may get advice and help to improve their knowledge of risk reduction and resilience, hone their strategic planning to reduce risks, and implement practical measures to move forward on the resilience pathway. The goal of MCR2030, as the name suggests, is to make urban areas inclusive, secure, resilient, and sustainable by the year 2030. This program is a response to the rising understanding of urban risk, including the way risk has evolved and continues to evolve, as well as the effects on cities and inhabitants that this will have. It acknowledges the growing demand for an integrated, systemic approach to risk reduction that enables city planners to plan for risk-informed growth and benefits citizens. DRR and resilience plans must be established in accordance with other global frameworks because they cannot be produced independently.

To address the various, multi-scale, and systemic hazards that cities face, as well as to lighten their planning, resource-allocation, and reporting burdens, DRR and resilience strategies must be integrated with other policy frameworks, such as the New Urban Agenda and the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development (SDGs), and they must be in harmony with initiatives for climate adaptation and mitigation as outlined in the Paris Agreement. MCR2030 will help with coherence, which leads to sustainability, risk-informed development, and overall resilience.

Cities are at various phases of their individual resilience journeys. Some can be just getting started, while others might be more experienced. Cities are aware that constructing resilience is a process. They want a program strategy that is adaptable enough to let them begin their journey at the most suitable stop and receive the services that are pertinent at a specific time. A distinct resilience roadmap that includes various entry and exit points is provided by MCR2030.

A three-stage "resilience roadmap" that directs cities on how to increase resilience over time forms the foundation of the MCR2030 programmatic strategy. Cities can join MCR2030 at any time and have access to a variety of tools and technical advisory inputs provided by various partners because the resilience roadmap is adaptable and iterative. Cities pledge to show advancement along the resilience pathway.

The three-stage journey includes:

Stage A – Cities know better

The resilience roadmap's Stage A aims to increase cities' understanding of risk mitigation and resilience. Cities have little experience creating DRR/resilience programs at this early level. These municipalities are committed to moving forward on the resilience path and are new to MCR/MCR2030. They start by educating the public about DRR and resilience strategies and involving city stakeholders.

Stage B – Cities plan better

The resilience roadmap's Stage B aims to improve cities' strategic risk reduction and resilience planning capacities. These cities typically have disaster plans but don't have all-encompassing risk mitigation techniques. With an emphasis on evaluations, alignment with national and regional objectives, and policy improvement, they ask for assistance in order to complete DRR and resilience initiatives. These cities exhibit a dedication to advancing risk-informed development strategies and resilience building.

Stage C – Cities implement better

Cities can implement risk reduction and resilience measures with the help of Stage C of the resilience roadmap. These cities have comprehensive DRR, resilience, and sustainability strategies that may already be in place or are being worked on to be integrated into existing governmental institutions. They place a high priority on improving cross-sector governance, securing funding, designing robust infrastructure, using natural solutions, being inclusive, and extensively integrating DRR and resilience across all sectors. Cities with ISO37123 certification immediately advance to this stage.

Cities can move on to the next stage based on predetermined criteria and committed commitments as their requirements and commitments to MCR2030 change over time and as they accomplish the milestones. Advancing cities to the end of Stage C, where they have successfully mainstreamed DRR/resilience, and putting their attention on monitoring and assessment to make sure they maintain the degree of resilience attained, is the objective of MCR2030.

If your city is interested in joining the MCR2030 and take part in a network including 1568 other cities globally on the pathway towards resilience, find by using the step-by-step guide for local governments under the following link: https://mcr2030.undrr.org/dashboard-guide/local-government/how-to-join

To watch the full Insight Session, you can find the recording here: https://community.connective-cities.net/en/node/1371