Approach to develop a climate change resilience assessment framework

Urban areas are complex, vulnerable and continuously evolving, with interacting strategic services, assets and stakeholders. Potential effects of climate dynamics on urban areas may include the aggravation of current conditions, with identification of new hazards or risk drivers. These challenges require an integrated and forward-looking approach to sustainable urban development. Several tools and frameworks for assessing resilience have already been developed in different fields of study. However, aiming to focus on climate change, urban services and infrastructure, some specific needs were identified. In this light, a resilience assessment framework was developed to direct and facilitate an objective-driven resilience diagnosis of urban cities and services; to support decisions on selection of resilience measures and development of strategies to enhance resilience to climate change; to outline a path to co-build resilience action plans; and to track the progress of resilience in the city or in the service over time. The paper presents an outline of the structure of the framework and details the approach used in its development, including engagement tools and actions undertaken to assure stakeholder involvement in its development, validation and testing.