1. Research
  2. The Center for Global Resilience and Security (CGRS)
  3. CGRS Fellowships
  4. Resilient Vermont Network

Resilient Vermont Network

Resilient VT

The Resilient Vermont Network (RVT) was first formed experimentally in 2015 under the direction of the Institute for Sustainable Communities. From 2017, under the leadership of the Center for Global Resilience and Security (CGRS) at Norwich University, RVT embarked on a new phase of coordinating and supporting resilience work in Vermont. 

Since 2017, CGRS has also supported the RVT by hosting professional development workshops for Community Resilience Organizations (CROs), participating in Vermont's State Hazard Mitigation planning process, including hosting a working group meeting, and leading the development of an Academic Resilience Collaborative (ARC) that would bring Vermont researchers into communities to minimize or solve Vermont's resilience challenges.

Resilient Vermont Conference

Resilient Vermont 2025: Securing Resilient Communities

Bring together community and university partners to explore the problems, solutions, and pathways to implementation for some of the wicked challenges that threaten the resilience of our communities in Vermont and beyond. 

The conference will be organized around the following ideas:

  • We are thinking about what actually makes the Resilient VT network resilient, which we think involves more regular, casual engagement among stakeholders.
  • We want to use today as an opportunity to do some learning, brainstorming, and visioning for the future of this entity
  • Please use today as an opportunity to think about how the Resilient VT network can serve your communities and lend your voice/energy/capacity during lunch.

Agenda

  1. Friday

    8:30-9 a.m. | Check In
    Milano Ballroom, Crawford Hall

    9-9:15 a.m. | Welcome
    Milano Ballroom, Crawford Hall
    Norwich University Center for Global Resilience & Security Director, Dr. Kahwa Douoguih, will frame the day and discuss the future of the Resilient Vermont Network. 

    9:15-10 a.m. | Keynote Panel
    Milano Ballroom, Crawford Hall

    Moderator: Kahwa Douoguih, Ph. D., Director, Center for Global Resilience and Security, Norwich University 
    Panelists: Chris Tucker, Exercise Designer, Norwich University Applied Research Institutes; Seamus Leary, President, Meridian Strategic Services; Salim Uddin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont

    10-11 a.m. | Nonprofit Collaboratives in Vermont
    Milano Ballroom, Crawford Hall

    Moderator: Sarah Henshaw, Leaves of Change, LLC
    Panelists: Cheryl Gilbert, Vermont Aging Network Consortium; Christine Zachai, Thirty Three Thirty Foundation; Sarah Phillips, Vermont Community Loan Fund 

    11-11:50 a.m. | Exploring Economic Resilience in Vermont and Beyond
    Milano Ballroom, Crawford Hall

    Moderator: Jacqueline Strenio, Ph.D., Faculty Fellow, Center for Global Resilience & Security, Norwich University 
    Panelists: Alyssa Ryan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Michigan State University; Kevin Chu, Vermont Futures Project; Esther Charlestin, Vermont Commission on Women; Becca Washburn, Vermont Agency of Natural Resources 

     

    Noon-1 p.m. | Working Lunch
    Milano Ballroom, Crawford Hall

    • LinkedIn/social media/outreach
    • Events/workshops - start with data, etc.
    • Disaster exercise/resilience

    1-2 p.m. | Post-lunch Networking Session
    Milano Ballroom, Crawford Hall

Past Conferences

A Resilient Vermont conference brings together community leaders, neighbors, and groups that are working to strengthen Vermont's resilience to climate change and other challenges. The conference helps people connect, learn about success stories and best practices, and gain skills and resources to boost resilience on the ground. Geared toward municipal leaders, organizations, and agencies working on resilience, the conference addresses social, environmental, economic, and physical strategies for helping our communities reduce impacts on people, places, and property, and recover faster after disasters.

RVT 2025

Resilient Vermont 2025: Securing Resilient Communities

This conference centered on building community resilience by fostering collaboration between community and university partners. It emphasized exploring challenges, developing solutions, and identifying practical pathways for implementation. A key focus was strengthening the Resilient VT network through regular, casual engagement among stakeholders, with the event serving as a space for learning, brainstorming, and visioning how the network could better serve communities moving forward.

View slides from the Economic Resilience panel
CGRS RVT LOGO

Resilient Vermont 2024: After the Floods

The Vermont floods in the summer of 2023 highlighted the broad and ongoing need for investments in systems that support our health, safety, and wellbeing. This conference drew from a range of novel perspectives on resilience, while challenging our attendees to see how the insights and tools derived from these perspectives can be incorporated into our response to environmental, social, and economic threats.

Watch Featured Panels
Resilient VT 2022 Logo

Resilient Vermont 2022: Looking to the Past to Plan for the Future

A conference for Vermonters seeking to engage with each other, their communities, and the state at large through meaningful and interdisciplinary discussions and problem-solving, as we looked to the past to plan for our future.

Watch Opening Session