.png)
Resilience Hub Workshop
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Silver Spring Civic Building
1 Veterans Place, Silver Spring, Maryland
Register now!
What is a Resilience Hub?
Resilience hubs are trusted gathering spaces that are enhanced to support and engage residents, distribute resources, and reduce carbon pollution while enhancing quality of life and assisting communities both during and after emergencies to minimize impacts and recover quickly. A resilience hub may be located at a trusted community space like a recreation center, a faith-based or nonprofit facility, or a multi-family housing building which features upgrades to improve their capacity to continue operating efficiently every day, during disruptions, and after emergencies. Those enhancements can include solar microgrids, energy efficiency improvements, nature-based solutions and green infrastructure, and more. Ideally, a resilience hub is powered and guided by the community it serves to enhance community preparedness, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and provide opportunities for community enrichment through self-directed programming and social connectivity.
Why do we need Resilience Hubs?
Climate change is already impacting us in our community, with increasing heat emergencies, severe storms, flash floods, and drought posing the greatest threats to our region. Local jurisdictions and residents are already engaged in making change. Montgomery County is actively working to reduce Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and address climate-related risks to the County’s residents, businesses, and the built and natural environment through the Climate Action Plan. But it is essential to acknowledge that climate change can disproportionately impacts communities with a reduced capacity to adapt. Historical disinvestment and the marginalization of people of color, immigrants, refugees, and low-income residents means that some residents experience more exposure and risk from climate hazards with limited resources to mitigate the impacts of those hazards. For example, a construction worker who works outdoors during high heat days, then comes home to a residence without air conditioning in a neighborhood lacking the cooling effects of trees and green infrastructure will have an increased risk of health impacts from heat. Resilience hubs are designed to protect and empower residents and neighborhoods, help address historic inequities, foster a sense of community, enhance economic opportunities, and build the capacity to not just adapt to a changing climate, but to thrive.How do I learn more?
Join us on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Silver Spring Civic Building for a dynamic, participatory workshop to learn more about the underlying concepts and framework for building out effective resilience hubs. The workshop will include examples of what a great resilience hub looks like; an exercise to facilitate connections, cooperation, and brainstorming with partner agencies and organizations; a panel with local practitioners already working on resilience hubs; and discussions with experts on how to maneuver logistical and financial hurdles in the development of resilience hubs to benefit your community.