About
Using systems thinking to unlock value and drive sustainable performance in city regions
We work with city-region stakeholders to demonstrate how they can use systems approach in design, planning, implementation and operations to unlock value and drive sustainable performance.
Acting as “brokers”, we facilitate cross-sector partnerships, access to effective tools and a thriving environment for collaboration that will enable cities to deliver the best solutions to their region-specific challenges.
Our phased and adaptable offering allows city regions to gradually apply, test, revise and embed this approach.
Our offering is designed to help cities:
- Increase infrastructure productivity and reduce investment costs by up to 40%.
- Improve management of resources and multi-hazard risk – including the adverse impacts of climate change.
- Put citizens’ wellbeing at the centre of planning and investment decisions.
- Scale solutions to support the delivery of local, regional and global sustainability targets.
Championing a practical and holistic approach to systems change
Working with city regions to learn, develop and share our knowledge
A networked organisation across industries, sectors and communities including business, science and academia, and youth and multi-faith groups
Our tools and frameworks are designed to support planning and investment decisions that can deliver positive regional transformations
Using systems thinking to unlock value and to improve the climate resilience of places
Our vision
Enabling resilient communities to provide a better future for generations.
Our mission
Using systems thinking to unlock value and to improve the climate resilience of places.
Who we are and how we work
Because business as usual is no longer an attractive option
We are Courageous, unafraid to challenge the status quo; Collaborative, mutually reinforcing in all of our relationships; and Ingenious, always working to make the complexity of life more understandable to generate positive actions
We aim to be effortlessly effective. Where everyone in the organisation has time for wellness and mental health, when people bring their best selves and highest levels of creativity to do the best work of their careers, and just have fun.
We embrace life long learning and curiosity, self reflection and critical thinking.
We can only do our work with humility, being honest and respectful with each other and the communities we work alongside, and we are completely committed to diversity.
As a networked organisation we believe we work better than traditional organisations, we communicate well, we rely on trust and integrity as well as shared leadership, responsibilities and objectives, and always foster positive, beneficial interactions.
Our approach
A holistic approach to systems change, driven by the power of collaboration, innovation and disruptive technology.
Our phased offering to embedding systems thinking into the planning process is designed to help regions to demonstrate how to accelerate the transition to sustainable development paths.
We are developing innovative systems modelling tools to support data driven, regional planning, policy and investments, powered by the systems modelling technology of resilience.io
Building on the strength of the Resilience Brokers Network, we are working to trigger the great global mobilisation required to speed up the transition to sustainable development paths in all economies and regions.
Our ultimate goal is to help advance the delivery of the Global Goals in city regions.
The civil society, academia and the private sector–all have to be mobilized–to find the resources needed to achieve the Goals, and apply them in the best possible way.
Because business as usual is no longer an option…
Rapid urban population growth, coupled with the adverse effects of climate change, are having a devastating impact on city-region’s support structures.
The challenges we face today call for an urgent global mobilization of governments, business, civil society, science and academia. They call for new ways of thinking and collaborating, and smart cross-sector partnerships backed by effective technologies and breakthrough business models.
The urgent transformational change required by cities to withstand the emerging global challenges can only be achieved through systems thinking.
The missing middle
The good news is the rapid, transformational change required is actually feasible. There is unprecedented momentum driven by UN agencies, access to data and technology and available finance. However, we are still lacking new institutions for collaborative mobilisation in what is now called “the missing middle”.
Resilience Brokers are facilitators in a neutral space, providing city regions with access to effective tools and support and facilitating a thriving environment for multi-sector partnerships to form and flourish.
Our approach empowers communities to take a leading role in the planning and development processes. Most importantly, it helps creating a long-term legacy of solid partnerships and learnings, critical to supporting a permanent shift to sustainable development and a circular economy in city regions all over the world.
Turning data into wisdom
Our work is fueled by data, science, evidence-based thinking and pioneering, open source systems models (resilience.io), networked across global to local scales.
The Resilience Brokers Network is building a global knowledge and data sharing infrastructure to enable the advance of leading research; dissemination of learnings; and the rapid evolution and adoption of innovative solutions across city regions worldwide. This include working with Network partners such as CODATA among others.
Introducing key innovations
A holistic approach to systems change, with a focus on improving human, ecological and resource systems health. A regenerative, resilient development model in which human and ecological systems health are central to land use decisions.
Resilience Brokers champion a Collaborative, Human, Ecological, Economic and Resource systems approach (CHEER approach) to harness data and scientific evidence for decision making, by integrated modelling of social and natural systems and their interlinkages.
Current approach
Conventional process deprioritises environmental and social elements and promotes siloed, sequential, short-term development.
CHEER systems health approach
Increasing investment and shared stakeholder value through interactive design, systems thinking and collaborative urban‑rural approaches.
resilience.io
The resilience.io platform is designed to support Earth Systems modelling, down-scaled to city-region scale for multi-hazard risks, to enable scenarios and investments to be risk-assessed and fully backed by science and research.
The prototype development team–from Imperial College London (ICL), the Institute for Integrated Economic Research (IIER), and NUS Engineering Singapore–continue the ongoing multi-sectoral expansion of resilience.io use cases from the Greater Accra datasets, as described in several peer-reviewed journal articles.
New ways to engage with young people and the wider community
To broaden understanding of the Global Goals and empower young people and the wider community to lead change at the systems level (including a “gaming” version of resilience.io).
Involvement of the world’s major Faith groups
To support this transformational change efforts, through a global mobilisation of their followers.
We are attracting faith-consistent investment groups to our Network and providing them with access to a pipeline of bankable projects in city regions, designed using resilience.io, with a focus on protecting and improving our sacred planet.
Bringing solutions to key challenges
Bridging the existing infrastructure investment gap by reshaping unproductive and unrewarding finance, and redirecting investment into building resilience in city regions.
Replacing the siloed approach to sustainable development will tackle resource inefficiencies through mobilising a global network of partners and supporters. This joined up marketplace will enable a rapid and seamless deployment to any region in line with UN agencies’ frameworks for the Global Goals.
Filling ‘data gaps’, in terms of both availability and accessibility, will improve the ability to target resources, develop policies and track accountability.
Activating disengaged groups through youth and community initiatives which are designed to engage, educate and influence ‘bottom-up’ behaviour. Thus, creating a long-term legacy, necessary to support transformational change at the systems level.
The development of a holistic global-to-local risk-assessment approach to support development, planning and design processes and to inform investment decisions.
Capacity for global scalability
- Access to open data and pioneering modelling technology.
- Multiplying impact through Partners and supporters’ global networks.
- Engagement and mobilisation of young people and communities, globally.
- Access to finance and tools to develop a pipeline of bankable projects in all city regions.
Accelerating positive impact
We are committed to accelerating the positive impacts of transforming cities into thriving communities for current and future generations, including the most vulnerable and least resourced, leaving no one behind.
- Impact and progress will be measured against the Global Goals.
- Projects’ targets will be set through the agency of business leaders; municipal and national government leaders; faith and community groups; and academia.
- Measuring tools and approaches will be codeveloped with local stakeholders and will form the basis of future decision making and local approaches to governance and investment.
The team
Our growing team operates within a governance structure of world-leading expertise. Together, we foster a collaborative, emergent and frictionless working environment to balance global reach with leading-edge practice.
We are used to rapidly deploying expertise and resources to address city-region challenges around the globe and deliver positive outcomes.
We always collaborate and innovate to empower the Resilience Brokers Network to deliver our shared vision. Our preferred legal approach is alliance contracting, which ensures there is collective ownership of projects.
Management Team
Advisory Board
Bob Bishop
ICES
Xuemei Bai
Future Earth
Emma Torres
UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network
Anthony Capon
International Council for Science
Eugenie Birch
University of Pennsylvania
Michael Cohen
New School New York
Rachel Kyte
Sustainable Energy for All, Fletcher School
Mike Rann
Independent
Theresa Anderson
Social Infomatics
Michael Braungart
Cradle to cradle and chemistry
Ruth Deakin Crick
Systems learning and leadership
Herbert Girardet
Urbanist
Andy Goldring
Permaculture
Prof Laura Lee
Systems design
Marcus Lindner
Forestry
Clare Saunders
Materials resource recovery
John D Liu
Ecology and landscape remediation
Nick Mabey
Climate politics
Kerry Mashford
City energy systems
Bill McDonough
Cradle to cradle and built environment
David Miller
City governance for sustainability
Martin Palmer
Religions and cultural heritage
Pankaj Patel
Bio-energy
Michael Pawlyn
Architect biomimicry
Sanjay Prakash
Architect sustainable development
Prof Kristin Ragnarsdottir
Soil science and health
Robin Stott
Health
Michael Velders
Urban agriculture
Dr Kongjian Yu Fasla
Landscape, water and ecology systems
Rita Soni
Philanthropy
Geoff Smith
GEO data and mapping
Scott Williams
Mission Finance
Our journey so far
In September 2017, the Ecological Sequestration Trust (the Trust) convened a high-level meeting of the Resilience Brokers Programme team at the Rockefeller Bellagio Center in Italy. “Approaching Programme Implementation” was the third in a trilogy of workshops delivered by the Trust, and kindly hosted by the Rockefeller Foundation.
The first event, in March 2015, brought together world-leading experts to brainstorm innovative ways to effectively mobilise long-term investment in city regions. The resulting report was very well received at the UN Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa.
In the run up to Habitat III, United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN) raised the need for a roadmap to support the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. To this effect, in March 2016, the Trust convened a second high-level meeting to cocreate Roadmap 2030: Financing and Implementing the Global Goals in Human Settlements and City Regions.
Roadmap 2030 is the consolidation of leading-edge research and practice from city experts, renowned scholars and world-leading specialists including Eugenie Birch, Aromar Revi and Jeffrey Sachs among many others. Roadmap 2030 was the first fully integrated action plan presented at Habitat III, capable of supporting the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. It continues to be very well received and widely adopted by leading organisations.
Following the introduction of Roadmap 2030 at Habitat III, a number of key actors stressed the urgent need to take things forward. In response to this call, the Trust assembled the Resilience Brokers in 2017, and convened a high-level meeting to identify the critical concepts and opportunities for collaborative and transformative action within Roadmap 2030.
The three-day workshop brought together delivery partners and key supporters–including Jeff Sachs and John Elkington–who cocreated a detailed delivery plan for the Resilience Brokers Programme.
How it began
Peter Head
I went on to lead a long list of sustainable development projects, including eco-cities in China. But time and again, I felt we were falling short of delivering the impact we could achieve because we could not demonstrate long-term economic benefit.
I kept quizzing world-leading experts, at events and conferences, on the reasons why nobody seemed to be addressing existing challenges and coming up with a sound plan, capable of delivering more inclusive resilient solutions at the systems level. Until one day at a conference in Hong Kong, when I had asked this again, someone in the audience said:
Why don’t you do something about it, Mr. Head?
We continue to grow and work with the Resilience Brokers Network to build on the strengths of city regions, including young leaders, to improve ecological and human health, and infrastructure productivity, to steer towards the Global Goals and beyond. Together, we can mobilise billions of people and unlock and redirect trillions in investment and finance into city-regions to build a better future for generations to come. A future built on equal opportunity, justice, dignity and shared prosperity for all.
Driven by the power of collaboration and the combined strengths of a powerful global Network
The first event, in March 2015, brought together world-leading experts to brainstorm innovative ways to effectively mobilise long-term investment in city regions. The resulting report was very well received at the UN Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa.
To this effect, in March 2016, the Trust convened a second high-level meeting to cocreate Roadmap 2030: Financing and Implementing the Global Goals in Human Settlements and City Regions. Roadmap 2030 is the consolidation of leading-edge research and practice from city experts, renowned scholars and world-leading specialists including Eugenie Birch, Aromar Revi and Jeffrey Sachs among many others.
Roadmap 2030 was the first fully integrated action plan presented at Habitat III, capable of supporting the implementation of the New Urban Agenda. It continues to be very well received and widely adopted by leading organisations.
Following the introduction of Roadmap 2030 at Habitat III, a number of key actors stressed the urgent need to take things forward.
The three-day workshop brought together delivery partners and key supporters–including Jeff Sachs and John Elkington–who cocreated a detailed delivery plan for the Resilience Brokers work.