Projects on Climate Resilience

RAND has a long history of conducting research on policy and planning challenges related to environmental, infrastructure, and community resilience. In recent years, RAND researchers have expanded upon this experience by establishing the Climate Resilience Center, which develops new analytic tools and frameworks and science-based approaches to support decisionmaking and resilience planning for planners and stakeholders in coastal areas, cities and large metropolitan regions, as well as in communities that are vulnerable to physical and societal threats and stresses.

CRC researchers work closely with public, private, not-for-profit, and philanthropic clients and decisionmakers who are confronting the challenge of improving resilience to climate-influenced risks as well as both natural and man-made disasters. Through these engagements, we have helped implement innovative planning processes and establish best practices for policy research in this emerging field. CRC's growing body of work focuses on:

  • Hoover Dam intake towers

    Water Resources Planning

    RAND CRC works directly with water planners from utilities and agencies across the United States and internationally to help them address climate change and other long-term challenges in their planning.

  • City slums viewed from the Saigon River

    Coastal Resilience

    RAND CRC works directly with descisionmakers in coastal regions across the United States and internationally to help them better prepare for, and reduce the impacts of, climate change and coastal disasters — particularly those that can lead to risk of more frequent and damaging flood events.

  • Downtown Pittsburgh with the Allegheny River and Sixth Street Bridge

    Urban Resilience

    RAND CRC supports decisionmakers in cities and large metropolitan regions to understand and respond to climate change, enhance resilience and adaptive capacity, and address the challenges of an uncertain future.

  • Volunteers from the North Carolina Southern Baptists help clean out some apartments that were flooded during Hurricane Sandy

    Community Resilience

    RAND has implemented and evaluated community resilience-building activities worldwide. RAND CRC focuses on areas where water risks — such as flooding or drought — pose particular problems.