The Providence Resilience Partnership (PRP) is a collective of public, private sector, academic, and community leaders committed to leveraging economic, environmental, and social knowledge and dialogue so urban neighborhoods in the city can address and adapt to climate change impacts – from riverine and coastal flooding tied to strong storms and sea level rise, to heat islands that can worsen with inundation. The partnership, established after a 2019 forum hosted by URI Coastal Resources Center, RI Sea Grant, and partners, accentuates social justice as a critical interweaving element of resilience building and works at the neighborhood level to build the capacity of community members to engage in science-informed practical measures to counter impacts. In addition, the partnership also secures expertise from local and state governments, businesses, colleges, and other stakeholder spheres to support its endeavors.
CRC, RI Sea Grant, and URI, with Brown University, are partnership founders.
For more information visit http://providenceresilience.org/
REPORT: Towards a Resilient Providence: Issues, Impacts, Initiatives, Information
The Providence Resilience Partnership (PRP), a group of civic and business leaders deeply concerned about the flooding threats of climate change asked the URI Coastal Resources Center to research what we know about the current situation, the climate challenges, efforts underway, and a host of recommendations that have been put forward to enhance resilience policy and practice to move Toward a Resilient Providence.
The 2021 report can be found HERE
Why a Resilience partnership?
Providence Resilience Partnership Brochure
Providence is long overdue for an extreme storm or hurricane that, in an era of changing climate, threatens to overwhelm our rivers and hurricane barrier and devastate our city. Sea-level rise will increase all our risks.
A catastrophic weather event is only one example of how our city will be impacted by climate change. RISD buildings are already experiencing salt water intrusion, and Waterplace Park is increasingly flooding from higher tides.
There is a heritage of innovative leadership from Roger Williams to moving rivers. Now, we need to come together to design and build a resilient response to climate change.
PRP’s Approach
PRP is building a coalition of businesses, universities, civic groups and citizens committed to educating the entire community about the issues and creating and implementing a set of solutions.
Convene stakeholders from the private and public sectors to develop the most effective resilience strategies for Providence.
Collaborate with municipal and state governments, subject matter experts, and institutions to explore best practices and share knowledge and expertise.
Communicate the need for a resilient future to meet the environmental, social, and economic challenges that climate change will bring.
Inform decision-makers and thought leaders about resources necessary to protect Providence’s diverse assets.
Join PRP to build a more resilient Providence
To address the existential threat from rising sea levels to Providence, leading businesses, organizations and universities in Rhode Island, such as Brown University, Cornish Associates, the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce, the Providence Foundation, ProvPort, Rhode Island Sea Grant, University of Rhode Island, and WaterFire Providence, have already pledged resources toward PRP’s plan to achieve real, tangible results.
GET INVOLVED, Contact PRP to stay informed about our activities, or for media requests
Building a Resilient Future for Providence: Business and Civic Leaders Forum January 2019
ON JANUARY 15 AND 16 2019, Providence-based business and civic leaders came together to catalyze thinking and action towards planning now for climate change impacts, challenges, and opportunities to make Providence a more resilient, prosperous, healthy and equitable city. More than 75 leaders participated in the two-day event to learn about the proactive and positive efforts underway to increase resilience in Providence, explore opportunities to weave the efforts into a unified—and thus more powerful—framework, and identify a critical action plan for moving forward. Organized by a team of partners from host entities URI Coastal Resources Center and RI Sea Grant, Institute at Brown for the Environment and Society, RI School of Design, and WaterFire Providence, the event included an evening panel, a morning forum, small group discussions, and networking focused on critical elements for moving forward in a collaborative way.
Executive Summary | Proceedings | Presentations
For more information contact:
Michele Jalbert michele@providenceresilience.org
Pam Rubinoff rubinoff@uri.edu
