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January 30, 2025
The deadline for applying to this program is March 14, 2025 at 5 pm PT.
Interested parties should complete the linked application and email the application, along with any supplemental materials, to ULI’s Advisory Services program at [email protected].
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) is seeking applications from municipalities in California and Nevada for its Technical Assistance Leadership Exchange. This year-long program aims to advance innovative solutions to regional land use and climate resilience issues through collaboration between local governments, public sector leaders, and the real estate industry. Hosted from April 2025 to April 2026, the program will facilitate connections, dialogue, and expert exchange to explore strategies for creating resilient and sustainable communities through land use and real estate interventions.
The built environment plays a critical role in enhancing a community’s ability to withstand, adapt to, and recover from the effects of climate change and physical climate hazards. Thoughtful building design and land use policy can mitigate the impacts of extreme weather and other environmental risks, allow flexibility as conditions change, and promote community health. Although climate change and environmental vulnerabilities are worldwide issues that transcend geographic boundaries, localized strategies can help ensure adaptation addresses unique community needs.
Through the California-Nevada Technical Assistance Leadership Exchange, six participating governments will analyze local resilience issues and explore land use and real estate strategies for enhancing community readiness to climate impacts and other environmental vulnerabilities. Each government will work with the staff and members from their closest ULI District Council to complete the program. The six participating District Councils are ULI Sacramento, ULI San Diego, ULI San Francisco, ULI Los Angeles, ULI Orange County/Inland Empire, and ULI Nevada.
A key component of this program is the delivery of ULI Technical Assistance Panels (TAPs) in participating communities. TAPs offer objective, expert guidance to municipalities and other public entities around specific land use issues. The normal price of a TAP is $20,000 – $35,000. With support from the ULI Randall Lewis Center for Sustainability in Real Estate, participating governments will receive a TAP, three ULI memberships, conference registrations, participation in the leadership exchange, and the other benefits listed below for a program participation fee of $5,000.
Program Goals
Key benefits for local government participants include:
As part of this project, selected governments will work with their local ULI District Council to execute one TAP focused on a specific local land use and resilience issue. TAPs leverage the knowledge and expertise of the ULI membership to provide objective advice to city agencies and nonprofits on specific land use challenges. ULI has been providing technical assistance to communities for more than 75 years. During a TAP, a small group of volunteers work over a concentrated timeline to provide solutions to complex land use and real estate problems posed by a local government or nonprofit. ULI selects volunteers or “panelists” from its global network of more than 48,000 members based on the specific nature of each assignment. Panel member expertise typically includes real estate developers, investors, designers, planners, engineers, market and financial analysts, and public sector members. The panel lasts two to three days, and on the final day, the panel presents its final recommendations to the local government and key stakeholders. Following the final presentation, ULI prepares a formal report summarizing the recommendations, completed a few months after the on-site engagement.
Resilience Topics and Themes
To participate in this program, interested governments must identify one local land use challenge they would like to have addressed by the ULI TAP. The selected topic or issue should demonstrate a strong alignment with ULI’s urban resilience program.
ULI’s Urban Resilience program is focused on how buildings, cities, and communities can be better prepared for the impacts of climate change and other environmental vulnerabilities. A central goal is ensuring that efforts to enhance resilience not only reduce vulnerability to climate impacts but also strengthen cities overall, enhancing environmental performance, economic opportunity and social equity.
Participating governments should select a land use challenge that can be reasonably addressed by the panel team within 2 – 3 days. Often TAPs will focus on a specific and clearly defined site, neighborhood, or area, but they can also evaluate broader policy approaches or planning initiatives. Prior to the TAP, ULI staff will work with the participating government to generate a list of 3 – 5 questions they would like to have answered by the panelists.
Example TAP concepts might include:
• Strategies for a community or specific site to address wildfire resilience
• Urban design, planning, or zoning approaches to address extreme heat
• Implementation and funding models for a climate adaptation plan or a resilience strategy
• Finance, funding, and implementation strategies for green infrastructure or flood infrastructure
• Providing real estate sector input into upcoming resilience strategies or other planning initiatives
Examples of past resilience-focused Technical Assistance Panels are listed below. Additional examples, as well as principles of resilience, can be found in ULI’s 10 Principles for Building Resilience report.
Local government participants will demonstrate their commitment to the program by:
The deadline for applying to this program is March 14, 2025 at 5 pm PT. Please submit an application here.
Interested parties should complete the linked application and email the application, along with any supplemental materials, to ULI’s Advisory Services program at [email protected]. Before applying, applicants may request a meeting with ULI staff to discuss their TAP project focus. Please direct questions to the program manager, Victoria Oestreich, at [email protected].
This program is open to all government entities based in California and Nevada.
Applications will be evaluated on the selected topic’s relevance to the ULI urban resilience program and the participating government’s commitment to the program.
The Urban Land Institute (ULI) is a non-profit research and education organization with almost 45,000 members globally, representing the entire spectrum of land use and real estate development disciplines working in private enterprise and public service – including leading property owners, investors, advisors, developers, architects, lawyers, lenders, planners, regulators, contractors, engineers, university professors, librarians, students, and interns. ULI’s mission is to shape the future of the built environment for transformative impact in communities worldwide. Learn more about ULI at uli.org
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