| Launch comes with major commitment to provide pods to communities around the nation and the globe, and five additional pods in Miami-Dade County communities |
MIAMI, FL – JUNE 27, 2020 – Today, the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center, with Miami-Dade County and City of Miami leaders, deployed the first-of-its-kind Community Resilience Pod. The pod—which will play a critical role addressing local food insecurity—was debuted at a major food distribution drive in Coconut Grove to raise awareness of the issue.
Transformed from a 40-foot shipping container donated by the MSC (Mediterranean Shipping Company) Foundation, this highly versatile, interactive, and mobile space will meet residents of Miami-Dade County with resilience solutions to local threats like extreme heat, flooding sea-level rise, food security, and pandemics. The Community Resilience Pod will build awareness of individual and community risks and emergency and disaster preparedness acumen for neighborhoods in Miami-Dade County. Visitors of the Pod will find – through physical and digital displays – location-specific risks and guidance, resources, and tools to Be Prepared, Get Connected and Take Action. The Community Resilience Pod is a prototype and represents the potential for critical risk and resilience actionable information for communities across the country and around the world facing storms, floods, wildfires, food insecurity and the health and economic impacts of Covid-19.
Designed and fabricated by world-renowned architecture firm CambridgeSeven, the Pod will move to meet and support communities in the region, be placed in neighborhoods and alongside community centers, schools, parks, and libraries, and later at transit stations for county-wide connectivity, and large public events, conferences, and fairs. Through interactive and educational storytelling, advocacy and public service campaigns, the mobile and scalable Pods will reflect and engage the community around them. The Pod’s messaging and resources can and will be tailored to meet the changing needs and challenges of a community to include pandemic prevention and food security support and actions.
The Pod will also support Miami-Dade County Commissioner Eileen Higgins’ food drive, supported by the USDA, at 11:30AM at the Miami-Dade County Auditorium where up to 1000 people will receive food assistance. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez will be in attendance and will make remarks on the creation of the county’s first Community Resilience Pod.
“On behalf of Miami-Dade County’s 2.8 million residents, I thank the MSC Foundation for generously supporting this initiative led by the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. “Created by local artists, this first of five Pods being launched in our community beautifully conveys the urgent information and helpful resources needed for dealing with the growing challenges of rising seas and climate change. And these Pods do so with a unique South Florida flair designed to inspire not only our community, but also others around the world.”
“This Community Resilience Pod was created and designed with Miami-Dade County communities in mind so we can zero-in on the shocks and stresses they are facing today – especially the economic challenges that Covid-19 brings to community members.” said Kathy Baughman McLeod, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center. “We want to deploy these Pods so we can support relief efforts like this one and build stronger, safer and more empowered communities worldwide and make one billion people more resilient by 2030.”
“Our City is no stranger to strong, purposeful partnerships and we’d like to thank Adrienne Arsht and the Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation for continuing to bring to light such critical issues. People need to understand that resilience is not a single-faceted issue; resilience is a network and whether we’re stabilizing our shoreline or building up a food distribution system, it all comes together to form a more resilient Miami,” said City of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. “Today’s event is a testament to the hard work all of these individuals have put in, and we’re proud to keep building upon the foundation we established at the onset of Covid-19. Keeping families fed has been one of our top priorities and this Community Resilience Pod will be the first in the City and we hope to see the program expand to 5 pods across our 5 districts soon.”
“Climate change will impact virtually every area of our lives if it hasn’t already. The more sudden and chaotic these changes occur, the more negatively impacted vulnerable communities will be, whether in terms of human health or our local economies. The stakes are higher for Florida since we are ground zero for many of the effects of climate change, so the world is quite rightly watching the actions we take,” said Florida State Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez. “The Community Resilience Pod is an essential addition to our communities’ response during these challenging times, providing resources to help individuals withstand shocks and to be better prepared the future as communities step up and advocate for bold and necessary climate change policies.”
Drawing on Miami-Dade County’s unique physical and virtual spaces, the immersive experience and vibrant art focuses on building new knowledge and resilience skills to improve lives within Greater Miami and the Beaches’ most vulnerable communities. The Pod will help support goals and objectives laid out in the Resilient305 Strategy: building awareness of the risks of climate change and enhancing individual and community preparedness.
As a safe place to go in a time of crisis, the Pods can be quickly deployed to help communities where existing preparedness programs can be augmented with food, aid, water, financial literacy, and mental health support during extreme weather events and public health emergencies. Miami-Dade County is the largest U.S. metropolitan area at risk of sea-level rise, and a geographic global hub for the Americas and Caribbean. Miami will ultimately serve as a model for global expansion to more cities facing climate, migration and public health challenges. MSC Foundation has committed to donate and deliver shipping containers to cities, across the US and around the world, that wish to bring Community Resilience Pods to their neighborhoods.
“MSC Foundation is thrilled to be partnering with the Arsht-Rockefeller Resilience Center on the first Community Resilience Pod in Miami-Dade County,” said Daniela Picco, Executive Director MSC Foundation. “Our commitment to this project and our desire to amplify the Pod’s messages across all our communities are well-aligned with the foundation’s mission. We look forward to a lasting partnership as we expand to other cities across the globe.”
For more information on the Community Resilience Pod: Rosemary Mann, rmann@atlanticcouncil.org
For media inquiries: Alex Kisling, akisling@atlanticcouncil.org
**Video and photos of the event can be made available upon request**
About the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center
The Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center (AARFRC) aims to reach One Billion People with resilience solutions to climate change, migration and security challenges by 2030. AARFRC will focus its efforts on individuals, communities and a broad spectrum of governments and institutions to help them, and their constituencies and stakeholders, better prepare for, navigate and recover from shocks and stresses.
The Atlantic Council promotes constructive US leadership and engagement in the world based on the central role of the Atlantic community, working with its allies and partners, to meet global challenges. Through the ideas we generate, the papers we write and the communities we build, the Council informs public debates, shapes policy choices and forges sustainable strategies to create a more secure, free and prosperous world.
For more info please visit: www.onebillionresillient.org
About MSC Foundation
The non-profit MSC Foundation implements the MSC Group’s conservation, marine protection, sustainable development and humanitarian commitments worldwide. Utilizing MSC’s global reach and unique knowledge of the sea as the second-largest container shipping company in the world, the MSC Foundation protects and nurtures the blue planet, helps disaster-struck populations toward recovery and supports vulnerable communities around the world to realize their full potential. The Foundation works to achieve this both independently, leveraging MSC Group engagement, and together with trusted partners that have a strong innovative vision or track record for effective action, including UNICEF, the Andrea Bocelli Foundation, Marevivo and Mercy Ships.
For more info please visit www.mscfoundation.org