Jacobs Engineering, a global, full-spectrum technical, professional and construction services firm for industrial, commercial and government organizations, has joined the 100 Resilient Cities movement as part of the advisory group that provides critical tools and services to help member cities adapt and transform into smart cities.
Jacobs will offer a three-day workshop called “Resilience Sprint Start”. The workshop is intended to aid government participants in developing cohesive, step-by-step plans for future projects, as well as reviewing and assessing initiatives that have already been identified in a city’s resilience strategy.
Bob Pragada, president of buildings and infrastructure at Jacobs said, “We are absolutely delighted to be working with 100RC to harness our global expertise in sustainability, environment, infrastructure, and resilience planning to help cities’ develop the proper tools and the organizational support to achieve their resilience building goals.”
100 Resilient Cities (100RC) , backed by The Rockefeller Foundation, defines urban resilience as “… the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience.” These shocks not only include earthquakes, fires, and floods, but also day-to-day stresses such as high unemployment; an inadequate public transportation system; violence; or chronic food and water shortages. The goal of the program is to provide cities with the knowledge and tools they need to address both the shocks and the stresses, thus becoming more able to respond to adverse events, and to better provide basic functions in both good times and bad.
100RC president Michael Berkowitz added, “in an increasingly complex and challenging world, cities need to leverage expertise from companies like Jacobs to withstand the shocks and stresses of the 21st century. By providing Resilience Sprint Starts to our network, Jacobs is leading by example, and is helping to build a global resilience movement. The Resilience Sprint Starts will build off of existing planning efforts to keep momentum moving forward, and inspire action towards realizing resilience goals.”
