The UNDP-Tongji SDG Innovation Lab on Climate and Disaster Resilience (RISE Lab) will organize its inaugural flagship international event, RISE week 2025: co-creating resilient urban futures, from 17 to 22 October. This 6-day event aims to build capacity in urban resilience, with a particular focus on climate-induced disasters.
Date: 17 – 22 October, 2025
Location: Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Background
Cities today are at an increasing risks of climate-induced disaster, which place a significant strain on infrastructure, economics, and vulnerable populations. The RISE Lab (Resilience, Innovation, Sustainability, and Empowerment) is the first urban disaster resilience innovation demonstration project jointly developed by UNDP and Tonji University.
RISE Week 2025, their flagship event, will explore integrated, forward-looking solutions that combine policy foresight and cutting-edge technological solutions.
Credit: UNDP China
What to expect?
The event will bring together national policymakers, municipal leaders, and technical experts from around the world. The core objectives are to equip participants with integrated tools, practical methodologies, and actionable strategies to enhance urban resilience across local, regional, and national governance levels.
Participants will share their cities’ experience in resilience challenges and co-design potential targeted solutions.
Invited countries and delegates
The event has invited the following countries:
- Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
- South Asia and Pacific Islands: Fiji, Maldives, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Tonga.
- Other partner regions: Brazil, Egypt, Kenya, Peru, and Turkey.
Each participating country will be invited to nominate three core delegates, representing national, municipal, and technical perspectives.
Agenda
The event consists of 3 key components.
- Technical training workshop: to strengthen the practical capacity of technical specialists to assess and enhance technological solutions and risk reduction strategies.
- Policy and leadership training workshop: to strengthen the leadership and policy-making capacity of national and municipal officials in evidence-based governance, cross-sector coordination, sustainable financing, and the connection between national policy and programming with city-level implementation.
- Global urban resilience solutions presentation and learning showcase: to provide a global platform to showcase solutions developed in the event and exchange insights.
Organiser
The event is hosted by UNDP in China and the College of Civil Engineering at Tongji University. It is organised by UNDP-Tongji SDG Innovation Lab on Climate and Disaster Resilience (RISE Lab), and supported by UNDP Crisis Bureau, the China International Center For Economic And Technical Exchanges (CICETE), and ICLEI.