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Introducing Zilient: A global resilience network

A version of this post original appeared on Zilient.org

Imagine that with just one click you could access a destination where you could learn of a groundbreaking new technology; participate in an online workshop with peers from around the world to create new solutions; comment on a rigorous piece of research; be challenged by a provocative opinion piece; discover a must-attend event; and share your work with people who can help you scale. Time spent with this platform would be valuable investment in helping you do your job better and smarter as part of a global community of resilience scholars and practitioners. Imagine no more—welcome to Zilient.

With crisis as the new normal, the need for resilience has never been greater.

And many are responding, but often in ways that are siloed and fragmented. There is an urgent need to bring these people and ideas together to further build the field of resilience.

 

For The Rockefeller Foundation, supporting field-building is in our DNA: from seeding the development of the field of public health in the early twentieth century to our working growing the field of impact investing in the early twenty-first century. In our resilience work over the past decade, we have recognized the power of networks for knowledge sharing and learning. These networks have been enormously successful in connecting people around the globe who are working on certain aspects of resilience or in particular contexts.

There are many other valuable networks that connect people working in a particular geography or sector. But part of the strength of resilience is its multi-disciplinary nature, and there is no one place for all those working on resilience to come together. The development of Zilient emerged from this need we have heard from you and your peers.


Resilience: The capacity of individuals, communities and systems to survive, adapt and grow in the face of stress and shocks, and even transform when conditions require it.


Based on feedback from thousands of resilience scholars and practitioners, Zilient uses the latest technology to provide high-quality content and meaningful connections. In building Zilient, The Rockefeller Foundation is working with three key partners that are experts in these areas.

Technology

Zilient’s technology surfaces the most valuable content for you, you to engage in workshops and discussions, and—most importantly—can be personalized for the content and connections most relevant to you. To deliver this we have partnered with Blue State Digital, a digital agency with deep knowledge of how to build platforms and deploy social networks.

 

Knowledge

Zilient hopes to have the highest quality content and knowledge. Much of that will come from you and other members but we also want to provide a solid base. That’s why we are working with the Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF), a leading provider of independent journalism. Zilient will feature reporting from TRF’s award-winning journalists, and their editors will be curating the best of other content.

 

Engagement

Zilient is not just about great content. It will also provide connections and networking opportunities for global resilience practitioners. OnFrontiers, experts in connecting professionals to get insights and share knowledge, will be working to ensure the Zilient network is broad, global and engaged.

Please dive in, contribute and recommend content, and share back with us what you like and how we can improve. Together we can build a diverse community of resilience experts to help cities, organizations and communities prepare for, respond to, and transform from disruption.

With all our funding at The Rockefeller Foundation, we work to achieve scale and leverage in order to maximize impact. With Zilient we seek to achieve scale and leverage for resilience knowledge and connections. The world needs nothing less, and we urge you to become a part of this.

Learn more at http://www.zilient.org.

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