Building resilience to climate change is a complex process, particularly for rapidly growing secondary cities. The impacts of climate change vary greatly among different cities due to agro-ecological nature, different environmental conditions and a host of social, political and economic factors rooted in systemic inequalities. This approach places greater emphasis on considering cities as dynamic systems capable of evolving and adapting to survive and even thrive in the face of volatile shocks or stresses.

The concept of building climate resilience from the micro to macro level is increasingly gaining currency in the context of rapidly transforming complex urban systems and increasing frequency and magnitude of disasters due to climate change. GEAG has been part of the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), a pioneering initiative of the Rockefeller Foundation. GEAG has been promoting ward-level

micro-resilience planning, which demonstrates ways to incorporate the concerns of urban vulnerabilities to climate change in a decentralised manner.

The resilience of a city is understood at three levels—the Systems of the city survive shocks and stresses; the Agents (people) and organisations are able to accommodate these stresses into their day-to-day decisions; and that the city’s Institutional structures continue to support the capacity of people and organizations to fulfil their aims. GEAG has been supporting various cities in India including Gorakhpur (Uttar Pradesh), Jorhat (Assam) and Basirhat (West Bengal in formulating their city resilience strategies and action plans. Children Focused City Resilience Action Strategies have been developed for the cities of Patna (Bihar), Udaipur (Rajasthan), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) and Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).