After several weeks of careful consideration, the CityLinks team is excited to announce the cities chosen to participate in the Climate Adaptation Partnership Program. ICMA received dozens of applications from all over the world and due to the overwhelming interest, CityLinks will be executing not two, but three city-to-city partnerships.

Both resource and international partner cities were selected based on the strength of their applications and commitment to the program. Cities were then paired together based on the similarity of their topography, climate, and infrastructure risks.

In the first round of partnerships, Boulder, Colorado will act as a resource city for Shimla, India and Townsville, Australia will act as a resource city for Portmore, Jamaica. Somerville, Massachusetts will serve as a resource city for La Ceiba, Honduras in the second round of partnerships.

In the coming months, representatives from each city will travel back and forth for a series of technical assistance exchange trips. They will be accompanied by CityLinks staff and an expert from the Urban Climate Change Research Network (UCCRN). UCCRN is a consortium of over 550 individuals dedicated to the analysis of climate change mitigation and adaptation from an urban perspective. UCCRN members are scholars and experts from universities and research organizations from around the world. They span a broad range of expertise including climate scientists; urban heat island and air quality experts; climate change impact scientists; social scientists, including political scientists, planners, and economists; and urban designers and planners.

Together, these cities, the CityLinks team, and experts from UCCRN will work to confront climate challenges and build a global network of cities that can learn from each other.

You can get to know the cities in the program by following along with an upcoming series on the Notes from CityLinks blog. To learn more about the CityLinks program, visit the CityLinks website, follow us on Twitter at @ICMACityLinks, like us on Facebook, and join the climate change discussion in the Climate Preparedness, Adaptation, and Resilience group on the Knowledge Network.