Post by Sukhumbhand Paribatra, Governor, Bangkok

A warm welcome to Bangkok, and welcome to Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific 2015 –The first Asia-Pacific Forum on Urban Resilience and Adaptation. This is a milestone event which brings focus to Asia-Pacific, and provides a platform for urban resilience and climate change adaptation, solutions and opportunities for local governments. The event comes at a crucial moment as changes in climate, coupled with rapid and unplanned urbanization, make Asia-Pacific one of the most vulnerable regions for the myriad impacts of climate change.

Bangkok feels privileged to be the host of the first edition of the Resilient Cities Asia-Pacific series, especially because it is a city working hard towards increasing its resilience, especially since the devastating 2011 floods. Our city has been actively working towards building resilience and believes that engaging local and global stakeholders in collaborative efforts can streamline solutions towards a safer future. It gives us immense pleasure therefore to be a core part of this event that will bring together cities as a powerful think tank and cause noteworthy change.

The success of Resilient Cities Congress is testament to the growing need of adaptation and urban resilience among local governments. With an opportunity to unite experts and bridge structural and sectorial divisions on topics that are critical to our understanding of Resilience, the Congress becomes a vital platform for engagement.

We are looking forward to an exciting and rich programme and being inspired by some innovative thinking and ideas from all over the world!