On Saturday, January 12, 2013, the Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) is convening a free, day-long, community-rich program to look at the challenges – and opportunities – of building a more resilient New York City from the ground up.

“Charting the Road to Resilience” will be hosted by The New School at 66 West 12th Street, New York, NY 10011.  The day-long program begins with check-in at 8:30am and includes plenary discussions to provide the hard facts about the impacts of Superstorm Sandy.  Twenty working sessions that cover every aspect of the recovery picture will be presented before the day concludes at 4:15pm.

One of the featured discussions, entitled “What’s at Stake?” begins at 9:45am and includes an in-depth analysis by:

-Klaus Jacob, Senior Research Scientist, Seismology, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory (LDEO) of Columbia University; 

-William J. Fritz, Interim President, College of Staten Island/The City University of New York; and

-Jamie Rubin, New York State Director, National Sandy Recovery Task Force.

Other topics include: “The Real Picture–Data Briefing” at 9:10am; “Community Responses & Ongoing Challenges” at 10:15am; “Addressing the Hard Questions: What’s at Stake” at 2:15pm; and “Principles for Moving Forward” at 3:15pm. Working groups and lunch will also be part of the day’s activities.

View the full day’s agenda.

Over the last year, the MAS has convened extensively on the components of urban resilience, as part of ongoing advocacy efforts to ensure a livable city. Resilience is a concept commonly used by the science and environmental communities to describe the capacity of an ecosystem to absorb disturbance and shock. However, resilience has proliferated into many fields, as seen as a necessary attribute for local neighborhoods, economies, social systems, infrastructures, and cultural communities.

New York’s challenges to build resilience are shared by many cities around the world, and MAS has initiated an international network of practice to connect other civil society-led efforts.

Online registration is required for this free event.

Attendees are encouraged to participate in one or all of the sessions.