The winners will be announced in mid-September, a week before UN Secretary–General Ban Ki-moon’s Climate Summit on 23 September 2014. The new Apps then will be made available to the 2,000 cities and towns which are part of UNISDR’s vibrant Making Cities Resilient campaign. 

The Campaign, which was launched in May 2010, addresses issues of local governance and urban risk. It is based on the implementation of Ten Essentials, a list of priorities to build and maintain a disaster resilient city focusing on areas such as land use and good planning. 

Esri and UNISDR announced their partnership at the Abu Dhabi Ascent, a high-level meeting in May involving government representatives and leaders from business, finance and civil society to develop proposals for action on climate change, to generate momentum ahead of the Climate Summit. 

“This partnership with Esri can help bridge the gap between aspiration and implementation,” the Head of UNISDR, Ms Margareta Wahlström, said. “It puts the latest science and technology at the disposal of those who have joined the Making Cities Resilient campaign.” 

Esri President, Jack Dangermond, agreed: “We are committed to providing expertise, support, and capabilities on a global scale for the Making Cities Resilient effort. The experience of cities already working to build their resilience is essential for helping us all to understand climate impacts and plan measures to reduce exposure to disaster risk in the 21st century.” 

Link to entering App challenge: 
http://www.esri.com/landing-pages/software/un-app-challenge

 

Date: 21 Aug 2014

 

Sources: United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR)

Related Links

• Visit the Global Disaster Resilience App Challenge website
• The Ten Essentials for Making Cities Resilient
• http://www.unisdr.org/campaign/resilientcities/

Keywords

Regions: Africa, Americas, Europe, Asia, Oceania