This was originally published on the International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure website. Read more about our partners.
The Resilience Shift is a founding partner of The International Coalition for Sustainable Infrastructure (ICSI), which, with the support of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and Arcadis, has developed an innovation framework for the promotion of resilient and sustainable infrastructure from around the world. This framework is outlined in this report, which highlights projects and cities that serve as examples of innovative solutions for climate adaptation, mitigation and development strategies.
The projects and programmes, referred to as ICSI Innovation Champions have been selected, evaluated and ranked using a set of key criteria and values informed by ASCE’s future trends and forecasting analyses and input from a global expert panel. These values determine that an ICSI Innovation Champion must have a multi-functional and holistic approach to innovative solutions. Project have been chosen therefore that address both sustainability and resilience through their innovation.
For example, a mitigation project that is focused on resilience should also include sustainability values. It’s not just about protecting communities, but about addressing the current and future needs of communities in a holistic way that creates more value and enables communities to thrive. The projects showcased in this report serve as inspiring examples of how to approach this transformative change.
The ICSI Innovation Action Track aims to support projects that enhance innovation in both sustainability and resilience practices and solutions. This paper summarizes key findings of this work, allowing stakeholders across the infrastructure lifecycle to access and learn from real-world approaches to embedding sustainability and resilience in infrastructure. The projects highlighted in this report can facilitate others to build towards quality, fast-paced, and replicable innovations that will help to accomplish the UN Sustainable Development goals and address the growing demand for climate-resilient infrastructure.
For inquiries about additional details or how to get involved with these studies, contact the contributing authors, Jerry Buckwalter at gbuckwalter@asce.org or Edgar Westerhof at edgar.westerhof@arcadis.com, or contact info@sustainability-coalition.org.