As a resilience hub, Bonn is not only committed to continuing disaster prevention and building resilience locally, but above all to supporting other cities in doing so. To this end, the city has set up a three-year program together with many partners, the implementation of which has already begun. These include, for example, the International City Network for Sustainability ICLEI, which is also based in the City of Bonn, and the Bonn Network for International Civil Protection and Risk Management. The Bonn Water Network, the Bonn Climate Group, the BION network and the Gender@International Bonn network are also involved.
To mark the official launch of Bonn as a resilience hub, the City of Bonn, together with ICLEI, is inviting mayors and partner organizations to an exchange of ideas. Several European and overseas resilience hubs and cities with extensive experience in building resilience are currently on site in Bonn for the ICLEI conference "Daring Cities". These include Malmö (Sweden), Recife (Brazil), Makati (Philippines) and Quelimane (Mozambique).
In the global initiative "Making Cities Resilient 2030", they all share their experience and knowledge with other cities, dedicate themselves to supporting and advising other municipalities, promote cooperation between cities and offer mutual support. These hubs play a crucial role in sharing knowledge, building capacity and creating learning opportunities, inspiring other local governments to become more resilient.
Mayor Katja Dörner is concerned about this commitment, and not just for Bonn itself: "The phrase 'better safe than sorry' is still not taken seriously enough. We have seen just how real the risks to people and infrastructure caused by the climate crisis in particular are in the Ahr flood, but also recently in Mozambique, where Cyclone Freddy raged. We need awareness, good concepts, but also the financial and human resources in the cities to protect lives without hesitation in an emergency."
Raising awareness of disaster prevention
As a resilience hub, the city of Bonn plans to use its local partners and networks to raise awareness of disaster risk reduction. In addition to the population of Bonn, the target groups primarily include cities in Germany and Europe as well as Bonn's project partner cities Cape Coast (Ghana), La Paz (Bolivia), Chengdu (China), Ulanbataar (Mongolia) and Bukhara (Uzbekistan). Priority will be given to sharing experiences and networking in several formats developed together with partners. For example, there will be an international webinar series on resilience topics that invites local and regional governments from all over the world. Further online activities and international conferences are intended to reach a broader resilience community.
The international water operator partnerships met in Bonn back in May. Participants took part in an excursion on the topic of stream flooding and a discussion event on resilience, both in partnership with the Bonn Water Network. For ten years, Bonn also hosted the leading global forum for urban resilience, Resilient Cities. This was followed in 2020 by the Daring Cities forum, which focuses on tackling the climate crisis in a broader sense.
Making Cities Resilient 2030" initiative
The initiative aims to support cities in building resilience and encourages municipalities that have already successfully established resilience projects and programs to accompany other cities on this path. Bonn has applied to become one such "resilience hub". A special feature of Bonn's application is its intensive cooperation with local networks, such as the Bonn International Disaster Preparedness and Risk Management Network, the Bonn Water Network and the International City Network for Sustainability ICLEI. In addition to these collaborations, Bonn can also point to successes and projects in flood protection and in the fight against heat and heavy rainfall.