The cost in dollars is staggering. From drought and severe tornado outbreaks to devastating rainstorms, the United States last year experienced 23 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, with the Los Angeles wildfires coming in as the costliest at $61 billion in damage.
But far worse than that dollar figure was the number of lives lost: 276 altogether.
“When we think back to a year ago, 2025 really showed us why we need resilience now more than ever,” Michael Berkowitz, the executive director of the University of Miami’s Climate Resilience Institute said Tuesday in his opening remarks for the two-day Resilience 365 Conference.
Held at different venues within the University’s Lakeside Village complex, the summit brought together thought leaders, researchers, and practitioners to catalyze action around three primary themes: the built and natural infrastructure, resilience finance, and climate and health.
Despite the challenges the nation faced a year ago, 2026 offers hope, Berkowitz said. “The [climate] community survived despite some significant headwinds. We are still standing. And there’s a lot to be proud of,” he explained, noting some of institute’s partners such as The CLEO Institute, Miami Waterkeeper, and Miami Homes For All.
South Florida, he asserted, could be a global leader in achieving successful resilience initiatives. “Given our challenges, given the innovation, given the brain power in this room, we should and could lead the world,” said Berkowitz, who is also the Eric T. Levin Endowed Chair in Climate Resilience.
He touted some of the University’s resilience initiatives, noting researchers at its Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, who are working on heat-resistant corals, and faculty members at the School of Architecture, who have reinvigorated the school’s Center for Urban and Community Design in the hopes of bringing innovation to local communities.
There’s lots of new evidence on the benefits of well-designed resilient infrastructure,” Berkowitz said. “Healthy coral reefs protect South Florida coastlines to the tune of $400 million in an average year. We know that trees, street trees in particular, while they reduce heat exposure and flood exposure, they also improve human health, particularly around chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes.”
In her keynote address, Eileen Higgins, the first female mayor of the City of Miami, echoed many of Berkowitz’s sentiments, saying that resilience initiatives are not accomplished in isolation but in partnership with others. “It's something we build together, not just across neighborhoods but also across sectors and across generations,” she said. “Miami’s resilient future will be built through partnership across government, universities, investors, innovators, and community leaders.”
Higgins noted some of the city’s ambitious efforts in resilience, including a recent action to move all its operations and procurement toward being plastic and Styrofoam free. “Straws, utensils, cups, lids, bags, and more—new contracts will prohibit them from day one, and existing ones will have a year to make that transition,” she said. “Compostable plastic-free alternatives are already available, and they're also affordable. There’s no reason to wait.”
Through a partnership with FPL, fast-charging stations for electric vehicles will soon be coming to six city parks, she revealed. She also noted that Miami is launching a new composting pilot at its administration building and at select parks. “Our community faces a solid waste challenge. Composting allows us to turn food waste into a sustainable resource,” Higgins said.
“The focus is simple: move faster and deliver resiliency that people can see,” she added. “That includes permitting reform so that resiliency projects can move faster with clearer timelines, fewer delays, and lower costs. It includes improving energy efficiency in buildings, especially in housing, so families can lower their monthly costs while we strengthen our cities against the reality of hotter days. It also includes using data like heat sensors at homes to better understand where residents are most impacted and which interventions can do the most good.”
During one of the concurrent panels held on day one of the summit, researchers examined transdisciplinary approaches to addressing heat-related health risks. “In a place like Miami, we’re dealing with heat for several months throughout the year, and not just during the daytime but also during the nighttime,” said Nkosi Muse, who last year earned his Ph.D. in environmental science and policy from the Rosenstiel School and is now an environmental fellow at Harvard University. “That is a different kind of heat hazard. It may not be extreme, but it’s chronic and ongoing, and that can impact people’s health in many ways.”
During his doctoral studies at the Rosenstiel School, Muse used satellite telemetry to analyze land surface temperature patterns in different Miami neighborhoods, studying whether some areas were warmer at the surface than others and how such a characteristic may lead to hotter air temperatures in those enclaves.
Anjali Saxena, a pediatrician at the Miller School of Medicine who has helped children recover and build resiliency post disasters such as hurricanes, bemoaned the fact that for many youngsters, outdoor activities such as summer camps have moved indoors because of the extreme heat and humidity. “They’re stuck in a classroom instead of playing sports [outdoors] where they can develop their motor skills,” she said. “So, there’s a lack of awareness of how even just the smallest changes in their routine can impact them for a lifetime.”
By participating in even the simplest activities such as tree planting, she said, children can “feel like they’re empowered” and “learn about heat and heat mitigation.”
Other panels on day one explored financing resilience, applying AI and data science to climate resilience initiatives, and the challenges and opportunities in using public funds and municipal debt for resilience building.
Day two of the conference, which is taking place during Miami Climate Week, will include opening remarks by Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava as well as panels on everything from helping communities plan in an environment of chronic natural hazards to managed retreat and obstacles and opportunities for implementing water projects.
