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Last year you attended a Resilient Seattle Workshop, which brought together 100 participants representing diverse organizations for a productive event that introduced
100 Resilient Cities and brainstormed opportunities for collaborating to build a more resilient Seattle. The success of the workshop, and the valuable information collected, was in large part due to the wide range of attendees and the quality of the discussion. Thank you so much for coming to that event. The report from the workshop
can be found here.
Since the workshop convening, we have moved forward in the following ways:
- In March of 2017, the Mayor appointed me as Chief Resilience Officer (CRO), a new position created to lead citywide resilience building efforts. As many of you know, I also serve as director of Seattle's Office of Sustainability & Environment and will remain in that role while taking on these additional responsibilities. As CRO, I will oversee the development and implementation of the Seattle Resilience Strategy. Edie Gilliss joined on as Resilience Director in May to provide additional leadership for the City's efforts.
- Members of the Resilient Seattle team have been reaching out to organizations, leaders in the community, and at civic and community events to talk about the Resilience Strategy process. Some upcoming civic conversations include:
- 9/14: Jessica speaking at AIA Urban Design Forum on Urban Resilience in Seattle.
- 9/19: Jessica speaking at "Urban Innovations" speaker series at the Seattle Library
- We are also happy announce that Nora Liu, project manager for Racial Equity Here, a joint project of Government Alliance on Race & Equity (GARE)/Race Forward, has joined the Resilient Seattle team as a consultant. Nora brings over twenty years of experience working with communities to improve racial and social equity.
The Resilience Workshop and the appointment of our Chief Resilience Office was just the beginning, we'd like you to know what is happening next!
- In September, the CRO will also begin a conversation with Seattle's Environmental Justice Committee, to ensure that those most-affected by environmental inequities will define and lead in the decision-making around the resilience strategy and ensure that the Seattle resilience Strategy can be an avenue for better connecting community-based solutions into government.
- Today, we launched the Resilient Seattle website.
- We are also launching a survey (available in multiple languages) to further inform our strategy. Please take the survey, and share it with your networks. As you know from the workshop, Seattle's resilience initiative will focus on a unique combination of seismic risks, climate change, and the social and economic inequities that are being exacerbated by Seattle's rapid growth. Seattle needs to ensure that as we grow, we are doing so in a way that creates healthy communities with access to green space for all, responds to climate change, and tackles the health and environmental disparities present in Seattle. We would love to invite you to become part of the conversation by responding to the survey, and helping us to share it on social media, using #ResilientSeattle.
- In the new year we will re-convene this group, along with others to discuss potential "Discovery Areas," areas that could increase Seattle's resilience with additional focus and resources, determined by the first workshop, and our interviews, surveys, and other work. These "Discovery Area" workshops will inform the actionable, fundable strategies that will make up the final Resilience Strategy.
With all that is happening, in our City and in the world, the stresses can be overwhelming. Your commitment to this work is admirable and I want to say thank you, for your support and for your actions.
Thank you so much for all you do.
Jessica Finn Coven
Chief Resilience Officer - Seattle
Director, Office of Sustainability & Environment
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