Field Actions Science Reports (Dec 2018)
A comprehensive strategy of resilience: Veolia and Swiss Re partnership in New Orleans
Abstract
In 2016, Veolia, Swiss Re and the city of New Orleans signed the first public-private partnership designed to roll out a strategy for urban resilience, in a deal brokered by the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100 Resilient Cities network. Operating in the post-Katrina world, this collaboration has a twofold objective: (1) reducing the exposure to risk of the city’s water infrastructure and (2) facilitating post-disaster infrastructure recovery to limit the economic impacts. After presenting the methodology used in this partnership, the article examines the benefits to stakeholders of a resilience-based approach and sets out key factors and challenges to overcome in order to look at resilience not only in terms of risks but also as an opportunity.
