The Alliance for Resilient Campuses (ARC) will mobilize colleges and universities to create individual and collective institutional resilience, to be full partners in community resilience efforts, and to be essential leaders in a strategic national response. 

It will recognize and emphasize the dependence of institutions on the communities surrounding them, and bring resources and leadership to integrated planning and implementation efforts among academic institutions and their co-dependent communities.

Evaluating risk and vulnerability

  • Understanding likely future climate conditions and associated regional impacts and providing a common hub of information for all institutions of higher education. Also part of this resource hub will be information on climate impacts on critical resources such as water, energy and transportation, as well as on other likely impacts such as for health, recreation, land use and others. We are partnering closely with the U.S. National Climate Assessment
  • A framework for vulnerability assessment for colleges and universities that is flexible and relevant but allows for shared insight into assessing risk, along with the most valuable adaptation priorities at each campus.

Tools for collaborative assessment and implementation

  • Support for regional nodes of cooperation, demonstrating critical relationships between colleges and universities as well as with the surrounding communities and illustrating and evaluating the benefits of collective assessment and action
  • Opportunities for leadership campuses and institutions to emerge in resilience, adaptation and sustainability. An initial group of leaders and experts will be sought to develop the strategy for this cooperative approach to investing in adaptive and resilience-focused efforts
  • More collaborative research opportunities, as well as shared approaches to encompassing adaptation and resilience into educational activities and student experiences.

Evaluating progress and filling critical research and knowledge gaps

  • Development of a prototype resilience tool (or suite of tools) for institutions of higher education to track and measure success in increasing resilience and adapting efficiently and effectively to a changing climate. These tools will also be nationally important in developing some shared characteristics and understanding of resilience, a method of collecting and analyzing resilience data and for demonstrating progress.

Ball State University is a founding signatory to this national effort.
More information is available here.