About
Using systems thinking to unlock value and to improve the climate resilience of places
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
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. We are a 4 day a week employer allowing everyone in the organisation 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.
Like what you hear? interested in working for us? From time to time we advertise jobs and internships. To work with us and for speculative enquiries email us at team@resiliencebrokers.org
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.
The team
Our growing team operates within a governance structure of world-leading expertise. Together, we foster a collaborative, emergent and inclusive 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
David Hodgkinson
ex ADB
Sue Parnell
University of Cape Town
Michael Appelbaum
City of Boulder, Colorado
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
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.