The Race to Resilience Culture: Expression of Interest

Overview:

The Race to Resilience Culture initiative (RTRC) aims to enhance resilience in cities and communities by integrating cultural and heritage assets into climate adaptation frameworks. Across the globe, the omission of culture and heritage from climate adaptation policy, planning, and implementation is a barrier to scaling up work to protect these community assets from climate-related risks.

In the context of climate change, culture and heritage refers to the traditions, practices, knowledge, and physical artifacts passed down through generations that can help communities become more resilient in the wake of changing environmental conditions caused by climate change. It also refers to the processes that make it possible for individuals and communities to explore their histories and sense of identity, understand their relationship to nature and the environment, and provide a source of pride and a motivational tool for communities to embrace sustainable development.

Creative expression through art, music, film, and storytelling can raise awareness, engage people emotionally, and inspire action on climate issues. Active participation in cultural life provides the motivation and possibility of increased civic participation, lends cultural visibility to marginalised groups, and fosters mutual recognition and cooperation between different generations and cultures.

Traditional and Indigenous knowledge plays a critical role in climate action by providing valuable insights into environmental changes, enabling adaptation strategies, and informing sustainable land management practices. It acts as a key source of information about local ecosystems and how they are being impacted by climate change, especially in areas where scientific data might be limited. This knowledge is often passed down through generations and deeply connected to the land and its inhabitants. Protecting and upholding indigenous knowledge systems is crucial for maintaining cultural identity and resilience in the face of climate change.

The goal of the RTRC is to make people from vulnerable groups more resilient to climate risks by activating public bodies and cultural organizations in cities and regions to commit to pursuing Culture and Heritage Based Strategies for resilience (CHBSs). Led by the U.S. Office and Africa Secretariat of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), the RTRC initiative will support local and regional governments in the U.S and Africa with knowledge building and tools to offer or expand CHBSs and thereby provide cities with a more comprehensive, and likely more successful, approach to help communities transform, persist and adapt.

The RTRC initiative is seeking 15 cities in the U.S. and 15 cities in Africa to actively participate and demonstrate their leadership in their regions. This opportunity is open to all cities, towns, municipalities, and counties across the U.S. and Africa and does not require current ICLEI membership. Tribal Nations are also eligible and welcome to apply.

African and U.S. participants will be paired in a peer-to-peer exchange that provides opportunities for knowledge sharing, capacity building and cross-cultural dialogue. Applicants emphasizing solutions to advance equity and increased engagement with underserved and underrepresented communities will be prioritized in the selection process. Please note that all communications will be conducted in English for this cohort.

Participants Commit To:

Integrate climate change adaptation and resilience in urban resilience projects/plans via culture and heritage based strategies.
Plan to use available knowledge and scientific evidence, including data and spatial analysis, for decision-making and action, and outline interim targets and milestones as part of a long-term commitment for citywide action.
Contribute to the development of a menu of culture and heritage based strategies and commit to at least one of those actions.
Report progress, milestones and metrics to RTRC

Program Activities for the RTRC:

The RTRC focuses on solving key equity and resilience issues through interconnected activities:

March 2025 - February 2026

Monthly 90 minute virtual convenings that includes:
- Presentations and tools provided by ICLEI
- Guest speakers and thought leaders in the realm of culture and heritage-based solutions for resilience
- Community of practice opportunities for participants to share their experiences and best practices with cohort members

March 2025-September 2026

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) to understand capacity building needs and progress of participants including:
- Baseline Survey and Cohort Closeout Surveys
- Metrics/Indicators provided for participants to use to submit data on priority projects and report to RTRC
- Participants contribute to the development of a menu of culture and heritage based strategies and commit to at least one of those actions.
- Data submissions and activities reported to the RTRC will be shared with Race to Resilience global campaign

April 2025-February 2026

Minimum 4 bilateral calls with city-pair to increase knowledge exchange and peer-to-peer learning

November 2025

COP30 Belem, Brazil: RTRC event with U.S/African participants
- Self-funded opportunity to share experiences with RTRC and amplify role culture and heritage based strategies for resilience

April 2026-September 2026

Sharing lessons learned from participation in the inaugural RTRC cohort with 40+ cities in the RTRC Academy

City Pairing:

The pairing of U.S. and African cities will be based on several criteria, including but not limited to size, leadership, and capacity to share knowledge and exchange information. The RTRC team will facilitate a minimum of 4 city-pair meetings designed to activate new peer learning to improve government services delivery and increase cross-sectoral and city-to-city connections. Pairs are welcome to strengthen relationships by communicating and continuing engagement outside of ICLEI facilitated calls.

Benefits of Participating in the RTRC:

Share knowledge of culture and heritage based strategies for resilience between U.S. and African communities.
Engage in subnational diplomacy to help to build stronger international relations, promote local interests, address global issues, and enhance cultural exchange.
Amplify the voices of underrepresented and historically underserved communities to enhance equity and ensure no one is left behind.
Build knowledge and strengthen capacity through global cultural and heritage subject matter experts and tools provided by ICLEI.

Participants emerging from this program will create sustainable, equitable, and resilient futures for their residents through concrete actions and knowledge sharing among communities worldwide.

Affiliation with Race to Resilience:

The RTRC is a partner of the global campaign Race to Resilience via the Climate Heritage Network. The Race to Resilience campaign – the sibling campaign to Race to Zero – is the race to catalyze a step-change in global ambition, to accelerate the investment and implementation of adaptation solutions, and to put people and nature first in pursuit of a resilient world where we do not just survive climate shocks and stresses, but thrive in spite of them.

By joining the RTRC, participating cities consent to being a member of Race to Resilience. Members are those that directly contribute to the pledge, plan and resilience actions that the RTRC initiative reports to the campaign. Data and activities that are reported by participating cities to RTRC will also be shared with Race to Resilience. By participating in RTRC, you will NOT need to submit any reporting directly to Race to Resilience.

Apply:

If you are interested in being a part of this program, please review the program descriptions and requirements above and indicate your interest by filling out this form by January 31, 2025. Applicants will be notified of their participation by February 14, 2025 and will need to commit to engaging in the program from March 2025 to September 2026.

Cities that are not selected to participate in the RTRC will have the opportunity to be placed – on a first come, first served basis – in the Race to Resilience Culture Academy. The Academy will draw upon the lessons learned from the RTRC program and share them with 40+ cities through virtual webinars and online platforms between April-September 2026.

Questions?

For North American Participants:
Marisa Kellogg, Senior Program Officer, ICLEI USA: marisa.kellogg@iclei.org

For African Participants:
Dania Petrik, Senior Specialist: Climate Change, Energy and Resilience, ICLEI Africa: dania.petrik@iclei.org

Region*

North AmericaAfrica

Country / Tribal Nation*

City / Town / County / Municipality*

Primary Contact Name*

First NameLast Name

Title/Role*

Email*

example@example.com

Secondary Contact Name

First NameLast Name

Title/Role

Email

example@example.com

1. Please list the top three urban climate resilience challenges in your city: (for example, implications of extreme weather events, air and water quality, solid waste management, lack of green space and tree canopy, etc.). How do these challenges impact your community?*

2. Please list the top three socio-economic challenges in your city: (for example, underserved populations, growing informal housing / unhoused people, traffic congestion, lack of access to basic urban services [including food, water, and energy], etc.) *

3. Please indicate the relevant category of your cultural and heritage priorities:*

If you selected Other, please specify below:

4. To understand the context for beginning work in this initiative, please provide details regarding your community’s cultural and heritage priorities, and existing or current planning/project efforts that incorporate this lens. *

5. Please list the current culture and heritage based strategies for resilience that your community is already engaged in. *

6. The RTRC must prioritize underserved and underrepresented populations. Please tell us more about who these groups are in your community and how you will integrate underserved/vulnerable groups into your resilience project. Examples include but are not limited to: indigenous communities, people of color, people who are low income, people with disabilities, children or elderly, LGBTQIA community, people who identify as women, people who live in informal settlements, etc. *

7. How have you engaged the community in previous planning and implementation initiatives? Include the levels of their engagement, such as:

Inform - provide community with relevant information
Consult - gather input from the community
Involve - Ensure community needs and assets are integrated into process and inform planning
Collaborate - Ensure community capacity to play a leadership role in implementation of decisions
Empower - Foster democratic participation and equity by placing full decision-making in the hands of the community

These examples of engagement can be outside the context of culture and heritage.*

8. Who are the community based organizations or indigenous groups that you already collaborate with (or have identified) to advance culture and heritage based strategies for resilience?*

9. Have you already conducted or are preparing to undertake a Climate Risk and Vulnerability Assessment? (Note: this is not required for program participation).*

YesNo

10. Do you already have formal and/or informal partnerships with U.S/African cities? If yes, please name them. If not, are there U.S. communities/regions that possibly face similar challenges with whom you would like to be matched?*

11. What is something you are hoping to learn from participating in the RTRC Cohort? What specific skills, resources, or knowledge are you hoping to gain?*

12. We hope to engage all participants as leaders and learners in a community of practice model where you can share successes, challenges, and lessons learned. Are you willing to share during a cohort session in a presentation style of 15-30 minutes?*

YesNo

13. Given the range of time zones across the U.S. and Africa, some bilateral calls or cohort learning sessions may need to occur slightly outside of typical working hours (though we will do our best to minimize this). Do you agree and understand that participation may require some flexibility with scheduling?*

YesNo

14. By participating in the RTRC, I agree to share relevant data and reports with the Race to Resilience Campaign for collective learning and global impact measurement.*

YesNo

15. Is there anything else you would like us to know about your community or culture and heritage priorities? Feel free to share any relevant links or attachments below.

File Upload - Limit 3 (Optional)

Expression of Interest

Contact Information:

Community Context:

Participation in the RTRC:

Additional Information: