CALL FOR PILOTS
Calling all communities in California and Connecticut ready to put Resilience Districts into action!
The Resilience District Incubator works with communities to turn that opportunity into action, providing fully funded expert capacity, peer learning, and financial modeling to bridge the gap from ‘intent’ to ‘implementation.’
Challenge
Climate-related disasters, such as wildfires, flooding, and extreme heat, pose an increasing risk to communities across the United States, with significant growth in the fiscal and economic risks taken on by government. However, current financing and economic tools, including traditional property insurance, are proving severely limited in the face of escalating threats. Development pressures, bureaucratic hurdles, and misaligned economic incentives hinder innovation and limit our ability to adapt effectively.
Opportunity
Climate Resilience Districts (Resilience Districts) offer one promising pathway: a structured mechanism for providing sustained, scalable funding for climate adaptation through tools like tax-increment financing and resilience bonds.
An innovative financial tool, Resilience Districts can enable local and regional governments to drive investment into adaptation by fostering collaboration between local government, businesses, residents, and insurance. Financing strategic adaptation and resilience interventions has the potential to reduce community scale risk that contributes to insurance market instability.
Approach
When determining whether a district is the right fit, communities need space to explore feasibility, benefits, and alignment with local priorities. In response, California Forward (CA FWD) and Resilient Cities Catalyst (RCC), launched the Resilience District Incubator to provides hands-on support, a national learning network, and practical toolkits to guide communities through the exploration and implementation of Resilience Districts, or similar models for securing long-term, community-driven investment in resilience.
About the Incubator
The Resilience District Incubator is launching with pilot communities in California and Connecticut. The Incubator bridges capacity gaps by offering communities:
Hands-on design and technical assistance from early exploration through district development.
A national peer learning network connecting pilot communities to share strategies, challenges, and solutions.
Advisory group insights from experts in insurance, public and private finance, risk modeling, and community development.
Practical toolkits and templates that support feasibility analyses, district development, and cross-sector partnerships.
By offering a structured curriculum and tailored technical support, the Incubator helps communities move beyond a dependence on one-time funding to stable, long-term funding to reduce risk.
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Authorized by California’s Senate Bill 852 (Dodd, 2022), Resilience Districts enable cities, counties, and special districts to fund projects that reduce local climate risks and support the operations, maintenance, and administrative functions needed to sustain those investments over time. Resilience Districts are modeled after Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts, a widely used mechanism for funding large-scale community infrastructure projects across the state.
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RCC is working in partnership with California Forward and the Connecticut Green Bank to advance the Incubator.
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Launched in late 2025, the Incubator will run for two years through the end of 2027.
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The Incubator is interested in exploring opportunities in communities across California, as well as in Connecticut and New York. If you are interested in learning more, contact us!
If you’d like to learn how Resilience Districts could work in your region, or if your community is interested in participating in the Incubator as a pilot partner, we welcome the opportunity to connect.