The Climate Resilience Research Agenda (CRRA) for the Philadelphia Region

Climate Rally
A 2/28/20 Climate Rally attended by students, faculty, and NGOs held on the campus of Drexel University

The Climate Resilience Research Agenda (CRRA) was developed through a collaboration formed in 2019 between the City of Philadelphia, the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC), the Academy of Natural Sciences (ANS) of Drexel University and Drexel University faculty and staff engaged in the Consortium for Climate Risks in the Urban Northeast (CCRUN).

In that year, Drexel undergraduate students had petitioned the University to take more institutional action on climate change. They organized a Climate Rally attended by students, faculty, and representatives of several NGOs, and obtained over 2000 signatures in support of a student-led proposal to form a Sustainability Office on campus. Though the COVID-19 pandemic soon closed campus, Drexel’s leadership responded by declaring 2021 “Climate Year,” and committing the university to acceleration of its climate-focused research, civic engagement, and collaboration throughout the city and region. 

In recognition of this institutional commitment, Drexel was invited to join the University Climate Change Coalition (UC3), an alliance of more than 20 leading research universities working to build resilience to climate change in their communities. One requirement of UC3 members is that they convene local stakeholders to discuss the climate risks facing the region. 

To plan its convening, Drexel took a collaborative, outward-looking approach, reaching out to the partners listed above, each of which was independently engaged in climate initiatives in the Philadelphia region. A Planning Team was formed including:

  • Franco Montalto and Korin Tangtrakul, Drexel University and CCRUN
  • Hugh Johnson and Jennifer Britton, Drexel University
  • Richard Johnson, Alexis Schulman and Roland Wall, ANS
  • Saleem Chapman and Matina Granieri, City of Philadelphia Office of Sustainability  
  • Julia Rockwell, Philadelphia Water Department  
  • Chris Linn, Robert Graff and Miles Owen, DVRPC
  • Ariella Maron, LION Advisors 

Together, the Planning Team recruited a much larger team that, through four Working Groups, developed the research needs articulated in this document. The Climate Resilience Research Agenda (CRRA) is a co-produced preliminary list of research activities that, if undertaken, could help to make the Philadelphia region1 more resilient to climate change. Rather than a traditional focus on climate mitigation or climate adaptation, Working Group members deliberated more broadly about how climate action could be integrated into decisions, policies, and strategies that could collectively make the region more resilient to climate change, a field that the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change describes as Climate Resilient Development. 

The research activities listed in this document constitute a first step in what must become an ongoing, inclusive public discussion regarding how this region will address the challenges of climate change. The intended audience is much more than a group of traditional academic researchers. Rather, the hope is that the needs articulated herein will provide important context for decision-makers and policymakers, practitioners, philanthropic organizations, community-based organizations, and others as they incrementally work to make the region more climate resilient. The Planning Team invites all who read this document to become part of this process. 

1The CRRA Planning Team acknowledges that the entire Philadelphia region is located on Lenapehoking, the traditional land of the Lenni-Lenape tribal nation, most of whom were forcibly removed over the last few centuries. We recognize the Lenni-Lenape as the original people of this land and their continuing relationship with their territory. In our acknowledgement of the continued presence of the Lenape people in their homeland, we affirm the aspiration of the great Lenape Chief Tamanend, that there be harmony between the indigenous people of this land and the descendants of the immigrants to this land, ‘as long as the rivers and creeks flow, and the sun, moon, and stars shine.’

CCRUN Climate Projections for the Philadelphia Region Based on CMIP6 Data



CRRA Working Group Findings




Team Logos

For more information on CRRA, please reach out to swre@drexel.edu.