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Draft:Jeb Brugmann

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Jeb Brugmann is an American-Canadian urbanist, economist, and social entrepreneur. A pioneer of the 1980s "Sanctuary Cities" movement,[1] he founded ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability in 1989–90.[2] In the private sector he supported the development of award-winning business ventures providing poverty-alleviating banking, energy, and telecommunications solutions to very low-income households in India and Sub-Saharan Africa.

Career and Impact

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The Birth of "Municipal Foreign Policy"

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In the early 1980s, Brugmann challenged the assumption that international relations were the exclusive domain of national governments. In 1980, he organized one of the first local Nuclear Weapons Freeze ballot measures (Hampden County, MA),[3] a model later scaled by the national U.S. campaign. In 1985 he played a foundational role in the "Sanctuary Cities" movement, drafting and coordinating adoption of the first municipal sanctuary policy in the United States.[4] As national coordinator for the Local Elected Officials for Social Responsibility (LEO-SR) network,[5] he promoted these policies across hundreds of member U.S. municipal jurisdictions. This work fostered the legal and administrative framework for local intervention in human rights and refugee issues, also fundamentally contesting the established jurisdictional relationship between local and federal government.

Local-Global Sustainability (1988–2002)

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In 1988, Brugmann again mobilized the LEO-SR network to establish the Stratospheric Protection Accord (SPA) initiative, through which 20 U.S. and Canadian cities adopted policies to rapidly phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).[6] Taking their lead, state governments passed similar legislation, eventually compelling major CFC producers to support uniform federal regulation in the 1990 U.S. Clean Air Act.[7]

Building on this momentum, Brugmann founded ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability in 1989–90.[8] Securing sponsorship from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), he established the fledgling organization's international "charter committee" and then organized and directed ICLEI's founding World Congress at UN Headquarters in 1990.[9] As ICLEI's first Secretary General, he led establishment of the organization's primary programs and offices on six continents.

Other Milestones

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  • Climate Action (1991–2000): Established the first international research program on cities and climate change (The Urban CO₂ Reduction Project) in 1991, supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency. He later co-led the Cities for Climate Protection Campaign, which engaged over 500 cities across six continents in measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.[10]
  • Local Agenda 21 (1991–2001): Spearheaded the first international program to develop the new field of local sustainability planning, securing its endorsement by 178 countries at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.[11] By 2001, more than 6,400 communities in 113 countries had established these participatory processes.[12]
  • By the conclusion of his tenure in 2000, ICLEI had expanded to include members in 56 countries across every continent. For this period of work, he received the 2000 Millennium Award: Best Sustainability Initiative from the European Environment Agency and 2002 Stockholm Partnerships Award, presented by King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden.[14]

Urban Resilience and Climate Adaptation (2002–present)

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In 2002, Brugmann transitioned his primary focus on local climate action towards adaptation and urban resilience. During this year, he advised the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) and ICLEI on the strategic framework for what would become the UN Making Cities Resilient Campaign.

He continued to shape the field through the following leadership roles:

  • ICLEI Senior Advisor (2002–2013): Guided the development of ICLEI's "urban resilience" and its "urban nexus" approaches towards integrated management of water, energy, and food resources.
  • Co-founded Resilient Cities Catalyst, where as Principal he focuses on the design and technical preparation of resilient urban infrastructure projects, including in the role of Co-Lead for the Climate Ready Infrastructure Service in Canada.

Business Innovation and Social Enterprise

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In 2004, Brugmann co-founded The Next Practice consultancy with strategist C.K. Prahalad, Craig Cohon, and Yann Risz.[16] He provided foundational business development support for several ventures, including First Energy (launching the Oorja smokeless biomass stove across central and south India),[17] Reuters Market Light (providing direct market access to Indian smallholder farmers via mobile),[18] and the Barclays Social Innovation Facility. He facilitated establishment partnerships between global corporations, women's micro-credit federations, and community development non-profits to deliver these product and service solutions. His 2007 Harvard Business Review article on these "co-creation" models received the McKinsey Award for Best Article of the Year.[19]

Regional and Market Economics

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Brugmann's early economic research focused on the regional and occupational impacts of the 1980s U.S. military build-up. A 1986 study for the City of Cambridge focused on economic diversification to safeguard local stability against defense contract fluctuations. With The Next Practice he refined methods for market sizing and segmentation and user insight for population segments reliant on informal economic activity. In the 2010s, he introduced the use of price-performance ratio analysis to assess market feasibility and competitive factors for mixed-income, mixed-use urban regeneration projects in Australia and Canada. Since 2014, he has provided economic and property advisory to community-driven initiatives, including El Centro Cultural/Calle Quatro (Santa Ana), the Centre for Social Innovation (Toronto), and 38th Street Thrive (Minneapolis).

Impact

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The "ICLEI" Effect

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The founding of ICLEI in 1990 has been described by scholars of city diplomacy as the moment local governments gained a collective voice in international environment and sustainability diplomacy.[20] ICLEI's programs in the 1990s began the professionalization of local sustainability practices.

  • Global Scale: What began as a group of 400 city leaders at the 1990 World Congress has grown into a network of over 2,500 local and regional governments in 125+ countries, representing roughly 20% of the global population.[21]
  • From Agenda 21 to Urban Sustainability Planning: Brugmann's initiation and leadership of Local Agenda 21 (LA21) provided the practical framework for community-driven implementation of the high-level goals of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. By building a participatory planning model that engaged more than 6,000 communities, it bridged the gap between UN-level declarations and neighbourhood-level realities.
  • Advancing "Urban Resilience" as a Practice Focus: Brugmann was among the first to advance a concept of urban resilience that went beyond the single focus on risk reduction to include the delivery of 'co-benefits' and increased asset 'performance' in resilience-building investments.[22]
  • Professionalizing the Sustainability Director: Using city-led action research methods to establish the tools, software, and networks needed for urban sustainability and climate action practices, this work contributed to the 1990s establishment of the first positions of municipal sustainability directors, municipal energy managers and climate action planners — roles that are now standard in major cities globally.

Critical Reception

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Brugmann's work has been subject to analysis by urban scholars, economists, and business historians, who often characterize him as a pragmatic radical for his ability to translate social activism into institutional policies and practices.

Academics in the field of world-cities scholarship, such as Andrew Kirby and Sallie A. Marston, have highlighted Brugmann's role in the 1980s as a catalyst for "municipal foreign policy." Critics and supporters alike note that his work challenged the traditional Westphalian view of the nation-state, arguing that he helped redefine cities not just as administrative hubs, but as autonomous actors in global geopolitics. His 2009 book, Welcome to the Urban Revolution, was praised by urbanist Jaime Lerner as a "fundamental reference."[23]

Brugmann's collaboration with C.K. Prahalad in the 2000s was credited with moving the "Base of the Pyramid" (BoP) concept from a theoretical framework to a credible new field of business practice. The receipt of the 2007 McKinsey Award[24] signaled high-level acceptance within the business community. However, his work in this area also invited scrutiny from development economists and NGOs who debated whether BoP business models could truly address systemic inequality or if they merely extended consumerism into vulnerable populations.

Within the environmental movement, Brugmann was both credited and criticized for "depoliticizing" sustainability by turning it into a technocratic discipline involving measurement, reporting, and standardized processes. While some environmental activists critiqued this approach as being too focused on "managerialism," the European Environment Agency and the United Nations have reflected the position that in the context of worldwide neoliberal economic and governmental reforms, this professionalization was necessary to achieve impact and scale.

Selected Publications

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Books

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  • Brugmann, J. (Coordinating Lead Author) (2021). Global Environmental Outlook for Cities: Towards Green and Just Cities. Nairobi: UNEP.
  • Brugmann, J. (2009–2010). Welcome to the Urban Revolution: How Cities Are Changing the World. New York: Bloomsbury Press. (Also published by Penguin/Viking, HarperCollins, University of Queensland Press, Kluwer, China Renmin.)
  • Brugmann, J. (2014). Building Resilient Cities: From Risk Assessment to Redevelopment. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership / Ceres.
  • Brugmann, J. (lead author), Brekke, K., & Price, L. (2014). Operationalizing the Urban NEXUS: Towards resource-efficient and integrated cities and metropolitan regions. Eschborn, Germany: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH / ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability.

Articles

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  • Brugmann, J. (2012). "Financing the Resilient City." Environment & Urbanization, 24(1), 215–232.
  • Brugmann, J., & Prahalad, C. K. (2007). "Cocreating Business's New Social Compact." Harvard Business Review, 85(2), 80–90. (Winner of the 2007 McKinsey Award.)
  • Brugmann, J. (Senior Editor). (1996). The Local Agenda 21 Planning Guide: An Introduction to Sustainable Development Planning. Toronto/Nairobi: ICLEI, IDRC, and UNEP.
  • Brugmann, J. (1996). "Is There a Method in Our Measurement? The Use of Indicators in Local Sustainable Development Planning." Local Environment, 1(3).

Institutional References

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  • ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. (2002). Second Local Agenda 21 Survey: Background Paper No. 15. New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).
  • United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). (1992). Agenda 21: Chapter 28 (Local Authorities' Initiatives in Support of Agenda 21). Rio de Janeiro: UN Conference on Environment and Development.

References

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  1. ↑ The Cambridge, Massachusetts City Council, Order No. 4, April 8, 1985, is the first official policy document to formally designate a city as a "Sanctuary City" with comprehensive non-cooperation provisions. The original resolution is preserved at www.rwinters.com/council/sanctuary1985.htm. For Brugmann's institutional base in Cambridge at this time: "The Cambridge Idea" Report of the Cambridge Commission on Nuclear Disarmament and Peace Education 1987. City of Cambridge Peace Commission, department history, https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/peacecommission ("In January 1984, the City hired Jeb Brugmann, an economist and peace activist, as the first director of the Commission" — the "Cambridge Commission on Nuclear Disarmament and Peace Education", whose remit included working on refugee and human rights policy and "working with elected officials through the National League of Cities").
  2. ↑ ICLEI, "Our Former Executive Management," https://iclei.org/former_executive_management/ (listing Brugmann as Secretary General, 1990–2000). For the legal establishment of the U.S. entity: IRS records, as reported by ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, confirm that ICLEI's U.S. affiliate (now "ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability USA Inc.") was granted federal tax-exempt status in October 1991 under EIN 04-3116623 (a Massachusetts-assigned prefix); the organization describes itself as "founded in Massachusetts" that year. See: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/43116623 ("Tax-exempt since Oct. 1991"; Brugmann listed as "Founder" on Form 990 filings). ICLEI USA, "About Us," https://icleiusa.org/about-us/ ("Since 1991, ICLEI...USA...is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in Massachusetts"). The iclei-story.org confirms that Brugmann opened the first ICLEI office in Cambridge, Massachusetts in October 1990, directly across the street from Cambridge City Hall: "Establishing ICLEI Operations (1990–1992)," The ICLEI Story, https://www.iclei-story.org/stories-testimonies. Further reference by ICLEI as the organization's Founder in GIZ and ICLEI, 2014, Operationalizing the Urban NEXUS: towards resource efficient and integrated cities and metropolitan regions (PDF). Eschborn: GIZ. 2014. p. 100. Primary institutional records covering Brugmann's tenure are preserved in ICLEI's biennial and triennial corporate reports (1991–2003), available at: "Documents," The ICLEI Story, https://www.iclei-story.org/references.
  3. ↑ Lawrence S. Wittner, "The Nuclear Freeze and Its Impact," Arms Control Today, December 2010, https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2010_12/LookingBack. The November 1980 ballot measure covered three state senate districts in western Massachusetts (including Hampden County), passing in 59 of 62 towns. See also: "Nuclear Freeze Campaign," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Freeze_campaign.
  4. ↑ Cambridge City Council, Order No. 4, "Resolution Declaring Cambridge 'A Sanctuary City,'" April 8, 1985, proposed by Councillors Wolf, Graham, D. Sullivan, and Vellucci. The resolution orders that "no department or employee of the City of Cambridge will violate established or future sanctuaries by officially assisting or voluntarily cooperating with investigations or arrest procedures...relating to alleged violations of immigration law by refugees from El Salvador, Guatemala or Haiti" and formally orders "that Cambridge be declared 'A Sanctuary City.'" This is the first official policy document to employ the term "sanctuary city" as a formal municipal designation; earlier policies (e.g., Los Angeles Special Order No. 40, 1979; Mayor Washington's Chicago executive order, 1985) addressed immigration non-cooperation but did not use this terminology. The resolution's own text notes that Berkeley, St. Paul, and Chicago had taken "independent actions" — confirming Cambridge's was the coordinated, model policy. The SPA pamphlet (Center for Innovative Diplomacy Archive, UC Irvine, https://escholarship.org/uc/uci_cid) lists Brugmann's Cambridge address as the LEO-SR contact point, independently confirming his Cambridge institutional base through this period.
  5. ↑ Cambridge Peace Commission, department history, https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/peacecommission (Brugmann's role included "working with elected officials through the National League of Cities" as part of his 1984–89 directorship). See also: Sharon Lerner and Gabriel Popkin, "The Drastic Steps Irvine, California, Took to Reduce Ozone-Depleting Chemicals," PS Mag, November 13, 2018, https://psmag.com/environment/how-irvine-curbed-ozone-depleting-chemicals/ (cites Brugmann "had formed a network of 630 U.S. mayors" by the mid-1980s). For the broader LEO-SR / municipal foreign policy network: Benjamin Leffel, "Animus of the Underling: Theorizing City Diplomacy in a World Society," The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 13, no. 4 (November 2018): 502–522 (drawing on the Center for Innovative Diplomacy archive, including Bulletin of Municipal Foreign Policy issues referencing "LEOs" and sanctuary cities). The CID archive is accessible at https://escholarship.org/uc/uci_cid.
  6. ↑ ICLEI USA, "Three Decades of Sustainability: ICLEI at 30 Enters Next 'Decade of Local Action'," icleiusa.org, January 9, 2021, https://icleiusa.org/iclei-at-30/ (describing the North American Congress of Local Governments for a Stratospheric Protection Accord, convened in Irvine, CA in July 1989). The SPA promotional pamphlet, archived in the Center for Innovative Diplomacy Digital Archive at UC Irvine (https://escholarship.org/uc/uci_cid), lists Brugmann's Cambridge, MA address as the contact point, corroborating his role as the initiative's coordinator. For Brugmann's role in bringing the initiative to international bodies: Lerner and Popkin (2018); Benjamin Leffel, "Principles of Modern City Diplomacy," Journal of International Affairs (Fall/Winter 2021) ("the Irvine-based Center for Innovative Diplomacy, led by Irvine Mayor Larry Agran, policy entrepreneur Jeb Brugmann, and attorney Michael H. Shuman").
  7. ↑ The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 included domestic provisions to accelerate the phase-out of ozone-depleting substances in line with Montreal Protocol obligations. United States Environmental Protection Agency, "International Treaties and Cooperation about the Protection of the Stratospheric Ozone Layer," https://www.epa.gov/ozone-layer-protection/international-treaties-and-cooperation-about-protection-stratospheric-ozone.
  8. ↑ Jeb Brugmann, panelist biography, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, https://sdgs.un.org/panelists/mr-jeb-brugmann-29807 ("In 1989-1990, he founded ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability"); Centre for International Governance Innovation, "A Global Network of Local Governments for Sustainability: The Role of ICLEI," https://www.cigionline.org/articles/global-network-local-governments-sustainability-role-iclei/.
  9. ↑ ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICLEI ("ICLEI was founded in September 1990... when over 200 local governments from 43 countries met at the inaugural World Congress of Local Governments for a Sustainable Future at the United Nations in New York"); "ICLEI Leaders," The ICLEI Story, https://www.iclei-story.org/iclei-leaders (Brugmann listed as Founder and 1st Secretary General, 1990–2000); International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), World Congress of Local Governments for a Sustainable Future: Congress Report (United Nations Headquarters, New York, 1990). The original ICLEI Charter, signed 8 September 1990, is available at: "Documents," The ICLEI Story, https://www.iclei-story.org/references. The UC Irvine eScholarship Collection of founding ICLEI documents is archived at https://escholarship.org/uc/uci_cid_iclei.
  10. ↑ ICLEI South Asia, "Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) Campaign," https://southasiaoffice.iclei.org/cities-for-climate-protection-ccp-campaign/ ("The CCP Campaign... grew out of ICLEI's Urban CO₂ Reduction Project (1991–93)"); "Cities for Climate Protection Program," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cities_for_Climate_Protection_program. See also: United Nations Partnerships for SDGs, "Cities for Climate Protection Campaign," https://sdgs.un.org/partnerships/cities-climate-protection-campaign.
  11. ↑ United Nations, Agenda 21 (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/outcomedocuments/agenda21 ("Agenda 21... [was] adopted by more than 178 Governments at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development... held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 3 to 14 June 1992"). For ICLEI's role in proposing and securing endorsement of Local Agenda 21: Jeb Brugmann, "Locating the 'Local Agenda': Preserving Public Interest in the Evolving Urban World," The ICLEI Story, https://www.iclei-story.org/the-local-agenda-21-story ("ICLEI proposed the LA21 concept to the UNCED Secretary General Maurice Strong and his team in January 1991. With their support, the LA21 concept was endorsed by the nation-states community in a distinct chapter (Chapter 28) of Agenda 21 at the UNCED"). For Brugmann's own account of ICLEI's role in founding LA21: Leslie Hom, "The Making of Local Agenda 21: An Interview with Jeb Brugmann," Local Environment 7, no. 3 (August 2002): 251–256, DOI: 10.1080/1354983022000001624. See also: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Agenda 21: Chapter 28 (Local Authorities' Initiatives in Support of Agenda 21) (Rio de Janeiro: UNCED, 1992).
  12. ↑ Jeb Brugmann, "Locating the 'Local Agenda': Preserving Public Interest in the Evolving Urban World," The ICLEI Story, https://www.iclei-story.org/the-local-agenda-21-story ("The survey identified more than 6,400 LA21-type processes in 113 countries, documenting a substantial increase from the 1,800 LA21 processes identified in a similar survey undertaken in 1996"). For a primary interview account of the LA21 story by Brugmann himself: Leslie Hom, "The Making of Local Agenda 21: An Interview with Jeb Brugmann," Local Environment 7, no. 3 (August 2002): 251–256, DOI: 10.1080/1354983022000001624. The underlying survey data is published in: ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, Second Local Agenda 21 Survey: Background Paper No. 15 (New York: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2002). Confirmed also in "Agenda 21," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda_21.
  13. ↑ For ICLEI's observer status at the Rio Conventions: "ICLEI," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICLEI.
  14. ↑ Jeb Brugmann profile, Canadian Urban Institute, https://canurb.org/team/jeb-brugmann-he-him/ ("Jeb's awards include the Millennium Award for Best Sustainability Initiative from the European Environmental Agency/Princes' Foundation"). For the 2002 Stockholm Partnerships Award: Jeb Brugmann, profile, Resilient Cities Catalyst, https://www.rcc.city/jeb-brugmann.
  15. ↑ Jeb Brugmann, profile, Resilient Cities Catalyst, https://www.rcc.city/jeb-brugmann ("In 2017 Jeb joined the 100 Resilient Cities team as Vice President, Solutions Development").
  16. ↑ Jeb Brugmann, profile, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs, https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/people/jeb-brugmann ("In 2004, he co-founded The Next Practice innovation consultancy with C. K. Prahalad"); Jeb Brugmann, profile, Re-Emerging World, https://re-emergingworld.com/our-team/jeb-brugmann/.
  17. ↑ Mark C. Thurber et al., "'Oorja' in India: Assessing a Large-Scale Commercial Distribution of Advanced Biomass Stoves to Households," Energy for Sustainable Development 19 (2014): 138–150, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4371602/ ("BP's Emerging Consumer Markets (ECM) division and then successor company First Energy sold this stove and the pelletized biomass fuel").
  18. ↑ "Reuters Market Light," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuters_Market_Light. Thomson Reuters launched RML in October 2007, delivering personalized agricultural information via SMS to Indian smallholder farmers. See also: YaleGlobal Online (April 2008), https://archive-yaleglobal.yale.edu/content/small-stove-big-ambitions.
  19. ↑ Jeb Brugmann and C.K. Prahalad, "Cocreating Business's New Social Compact," Harvard Business Review 85, no. 2 (February 2007): 80–90, https://hbr.org/2007/02/cocreating-businesss-new-social-compact; "The 49th Annual McKinsey Awards: Recognizing Excellence in Management Thinking," Harvard Business Review, April 2008, https://hbr.org/2008/04/the-49th-annual-mckinsey-awards-recognizing-excellence-in-management-thinking.
  20. ↑ Benjamin Leffel, "Animus of the Underling: Theorizing City Diplomacy in a World Society," The Hague Journal of Diplomacy 13, no. 4 (November 2018): 502–522.
  21. ↑ "ICLEI," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICLEI ("As of 2023, over 2,500 cities, towns and regions were listed as members"); ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, homepage, https://iclei.org/ ("a global network working with more than 2,500 local and regional governments... Active in 125+ countries").
  22. ↑ "ICLEI," Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICLEI ("In 2002, ICLEI coined the term 'resilient cities' and launched the Resilient Cities initiative"). See also: Jeb Brugmann, "Financing the Resilient City," Environment & Urbanization 24, no. 1 (2012): 215–232. The paper and its concept of urban resilience was first presented by Brugmann as a keynote contribution to the 2011 ICLEI Resilient Cities congress, which concept has been cited as "a demand driven approach to development, disaster risk reduction, and climate adaptation" incorporating "an economic and performance model with far reaching implications." https://www.preventionweb.net/news/mitigation-adaptation-bottom-financing-resilient-cities.
  23. ↑ Jeb Brugmann, Welcome to the Urban Revolution: How Cities Are Changing the World (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2009). Jaime Lerner (1937–2021) served three terms as Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil, and was President of the International Union of Architects. He was also a member of ICLEI's founding Executive Committee (1990–1993): "ICLEI Leaders," The ICLEI Story, https://www.iclei-story.org/iclei-leaders.
  24. ↑ See references in note for the McKinsey Award above. For Brugmann's discussion of "co-creation" and Base of the Pyramid models, see also: Jeb Brugmann and C.K. Prahalad, "Cocreating Business's New Social Compact" (2007).

Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:American urban planners Category:Canadian urban planners Category:Sustainability advocates Category:Social entrepreneurs Category:American economists Category:Canadian economists

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