Local and national resilience leaders from academia, government, the nonprofit sector, and private industry will converge at the University of Miami next week to share emerging trends and inspire new ideas to catalyze resilience action. The conference also marks the start of Miami Climate Week, a series of communitywide events designed to spark conversation, action, and network building around resilience.
The University’s Climate Resilience Institute is partnering with Miami-Dade County and Miami Climate 365 to host the inaugural conference titled “Resilience 365: Catalytic Conversations for the Next 100 Years.”
“Making our communities stronger in the face of shocks and stresses is an inherently interdisciplinary undertaking,” said Michael Berkowitz, executive director of the Climate Resilience Institute. “This conference will foster conversations between innovators and resilience builders from academia, government, civil society, and the private sector, enabling us to develop real solutions to our most pressing challenges.”
The conference will be held Monday, March 24, and Tuesday, March 25, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Lakeside Village Expo Center and other spaces around campus. University students and faculty and staff members can attend free of charge.
Over the course of two days, the more than 30 conference sessions will feature local and national experts in the field, including nearly 20 University faculty members from diverse disciplines such as medicine, economics, architecture, environmental policy, marine biology, environmental law, and environmental engineering. The conference will focus on three areas: climate and resilience finance, how to build resilient communities, and how climate technology can help resolve the most pressing global challenges.
Some featured speakers include Rebecca Benner, managing director for climate programs at The Nature Conservancy; Henk Ovink, executive director for the Global Commission on the Economics of Water; Jane Gilbert, Miami-Dade County chief heat officer; and Daniella Levine Cava, Miami-Dade County mayor, to name a few. A full schedule of speakers and panels is listed on the Resilience 365 Conference website.
The conference aims to spark collaborations and provide opportunities to share knowledge on new developments in the climate resilience field, while also energizing movement and policy among thought leaders across the nation and community members in partnership with Miami-Dade County.
Started in 2022 through a generous donation from Eric T. Levin, the Climate Resilience Institute at the University of Miami aims to support faculty and students across the University’s 12 schools and colleges to cultivate the next generation of climate resilience leaders and establish South Florida as a leader in climate resilience innovation.
Miami Climate Week runs from March 23 to 29 and is the signature event of the new Miami Climate 365 initiative, created to inspire and mobilize community-driven climate action across Miami-Dade County. This Resilience 365 Conference kicks off a week of county events aimed to help residents understand the challenges Miami could face with climate variability, while celebrating its bountiful natural beauty and spreading awareness about the need to protect local resources.
“We are thrilled to kick off the week with the support of the University of Miami Climate Resilience Institute,” said David Duckenfield, executive director of Miami Climate 365 and Miami Climate Week. “The Resilience 365 Conference provides a crucial foundation for this weeklong series of events and activities across the county, which will explore collective actions and opportunities to create a more resilient future.”
Anyone in the University community interested in attending the conference should register on the website with the code UMCRI.
