Resilience Innovation through Scaling Entrepreneurship (RISE) Challenge

Centre for Community Initiatives Tanzania

The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) is launching the Resilience Innovation through Scaling Entrepreneurship (RISE) Challenge to convert idea- and concept-level innovative urban ideas that are meeting resilience needs in informality contexts and scale them to sustainable business ideas. The RISE Challenge provides customised support to maximise each initiative’s potential for impact and aligns potential funders to these initiatives and drive attention to the urgent need for urban systems transformation.

Why an urban resilience innovation challenge? 

Not just the future is urban – but the present too.  

Currently only 1.2% of urban climate investments flow to climate change adaptation and resilience solutions. Increasing investment flows requires diversifying and strengthening the solution pipeline across different models – for-profit, not-for-profit, private-sector-led and private–public partnerships, as well as nurturing an enabling environment – policy, finance, measurement and evidence-building – for these solutions to scale. 

Vulnerability to climate risks is extremely skewed across urban populations, with informal workers, residents in informal settlements, migrants and displaced people, as well as young and elderly people, facing the triple challenge of higher exposure to climate change hazards, higher susceptibility to damages caused by climate change and a lesser financial ability to cope and recover from shocks. This presents both a challenge and an opportunity for innovative solutions that build resilience to climate risks. 

Read our Policy and Investment Brief here or below.