The Kresge Foundation has awarded the ULI Foundation a $600,000 grant to support ULI’s work in advancing more resilient land use and development patterns in communities across the United States. The grant will also serve to raise awareness among real estate and land use practitioners of the risks and opportunities of adapting to climate change, the economic benefits of sustainability, and strategies and technologies to improve resource efficiency and resilience in the built environment.

The new grant demonstrates Kresge’s continued commitment to the Institute’s work in developing and sharing best practices around resilient building design, land use, and development patterns—particularly for communities lacking the resources to develop this expertise on their own. This work will be carried out through several new Advisory Services panel engagements delivered by ULI’s Urban Resilience Program, established in 2014 with an initial $800,000 grant from Kresge.

“The Kresge Foundation has been a strong and steadfast supporter of ULI’s efforts to offer land use expertise to communities facing unique threats and challenges from climate change, and we are grateful for the continuation of this successful partnership,” says ULI Americas Chief Executive Officer Ralph Boyd. “ULI’s member networks are a powerful force to develop and disseminate best practices on how we can build more resilient cities and more sustainable and energy-efficient buildings and infrastructure, and identify the opportunities and risks to the built environment that climate change and extreme weather events pose.”

Since 2014, the Urban Resilience Program has convened panels in eight diverse communities across the United States that face unique challenges in creating more resilient infrastructure, development and land use patterns and practices, and local economies. The new grant will expand the impact and reach of the Urban Resilience Program, and provide new opportunities for ULI Foundation governors to offer their expertise.

The Kresge Foundation has been a consistent partner with ULI for new initiatives. In 2016, Kresge awarded ULI $250,000 to support the Creative Placemaking Initiative, focused on developing and sharing best practices of integrating arts, culture, and community-engaged design into revitalization of corridors and communities. This most recent grant brings the total amount of support provided by Kresge to ULI to $2.5 million.