Dr Rodin flew into Glasgow for a public discussion on the city’s role as one of the Foundation’s first 33 Resilient Cities.
Lord Provost Sadie Docherty welcomed Dr Rodin to the event in the Satinwood Suite in Glasgow City Chambers which was well attended despite heavy snow.
BBC Special Correspondent, Ken MacDonald, chaired the discussion about the shocks and stresses which Glasgow has to prepare for, such as climate change, extreme weather, access to affordable sustainable energy and combating poverty. Long term resilience is about planning ahead to make the city stronger and limit the impact of stresses and shocks to ensure services, businesses and residents can rebound quickly if, for example – major flooding occurs or there are widespread power cuts.
Glasgow was selected to join the global 100RC network by a panel of judges which included former U.S. President Bill Clinton.
The city has appointed the UK’s first Chief Resilience Officer, Alastair Brown, of Land and Environmental Services. Alastair is now working with agencies and communities across the city to develop a resilience strategy.
Dr Rodin told guests at the Glasgow event that resilient cities are adaptable and have the capacity to “denetwork” from a link in the chain if it fails. She also said strong community bonds were key to resilience as your neighbours are often your first responders in an emergency. She praised Glasgow’s work on sustainable energy and the use of Big Data and said the city would benefit from shared experiences with other members of the global 100RC network.
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