
Communities globally depend on resilient, low carbon ports to prosper. With our partners, we are exploring opportunities for resilient, system-wide, transformation through the lenses of decarbonisation, technology and port cities.
Exploring resilience through change
Disruptors present both opportunities for improving resilience of port systems and the risk of new vulnerabilities. By exploring resilience enhancements through key disruptive lenses, we can encourage an holistic approach to change that enables positive outcomes for society and the environment – as well as business.
Decarbonisation
Capitalising on low carbon investments, managing changing trade dynamics and accelerating city decarbonisation.
Technological change
The future of shipping, Industry 4.0 and global supply chains, cyber crime, smart ports. Facilitating innovation whilst limiting new vulnerabilities.
Port communities and the environment
Creating good jobs, improving health outcomes, enhancing the coastal environment and preparing for a changing climate.
Our approach
We have adopted a rigorous, evidence-based collaborative, multi-stakeholder methodology to define the port system and its interdependencies, and consider resilience challenges and enhancements. We are going to convene workshops, undertake research, and work with sector-experts to acheive this.
Our focus is on action-planning, ensuring that actions are robust, and have the collective support of public and private stakeholders building on the valuable work developed by existing port sustainability initiatives.
Stage 1 – Scoping Study. In July 2020, we started our scoping study, the outcome of which will be published in early 2021. This will present research and analysis, findins from stakeholder engagement and actions for the next stage.
Stage 2 – Global initiative. The key outcome from the scoping study will be the framework for an ambitious, multi-year, multi-partner initiative. We want to frame an approach, and the relevant partnerships, that will align resilience goals across stakeholders and allow collaborative actions, from policy to implementation, to achieve these.

Partners and engagement
The Resilience Shift is working closely with sector experts from our two founding partners Arup and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, as well as Lloyd’s Register Group who are highly influential in the port and shipping sector.
In addition, are engaging with the value chain of ports - from financiers to operators and policy makers to shippers - to shape cross-cutting actions of relevance to the whole life of infrastructure.


Prospective outcomes
To enhance the resilience of global supply chains, we seek to:
- Build resilience across the value chain by bringing stakeholders and a community of practitioners together
- Create a global beacon of whole systems thinking as a model of ‘what good looks like’ for building resilience within other complex, integrated critical infrastructure systems
- Produce outputs that allow action that all major stakeholders need to undertake to build resilience across the ports value chain.
Project leaders
Mark Button
Project leader
Mark is a Maritime Engineer for Arup based in London, leading the design of coastal and port projects, with experience working in UK, Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Amy Leitch
Head of Partnerships
Amy focuses on the strategic and policy aspects of sustainable and resilience planning within the built environment. She works collaboratively with clients and partners to deliver innovative, technically robust solutions.
Publications
Resilience Shift Round-table: Ports and logistics
8 February, 2019
Resilience of global food supply chains
25 June, 2019
Articles
Useful posts from our blog archive
Read the Cereal & Grains Association article Resilience and Complex Interdependencies within and between Global Food Supply Networks and Transportation Infrastructure, co-authored by the Resilience Shift's Juliet Mian and Xavier Aldea Borruel.

Why ports matter for resilience
The interconnectedness of ports to multiple infrastructure systems means they are acutely well suited to the Resilience Shift approach of tackling whole-system resilience.

Resilience4Ports brings industry leaders together to discuss resilience challenges
Resilience4Ports has launched its first industry roundtable, bringing together stakeholders from across the entire ports and maritime shipping value chain for a major scoping study.

The Resilience Shift launches global resilient ports initiative
Our work to date shows an urgent need to build the whole-system resilience of ports and global supply chains to withstand multiple drivers of disruption. We are inviting industry, practitioners and policy makers to work with us to deliver on this ambition.

From field to fork – global food supply and its dependence on resilient infrastructure
The global supply of food is an incredibly complex system, involving multiple actors and a diverse value chain from production through to consumption. Every part of the chain is dependent on infrastructure systems. We share six principles for enhancing the resilience of food transportation systems from our contribution to Cereal Foods World.

Supply chain research highlights resilience concerns of ports
Topical discussions at the UK Ports Conference echoed the findings of research into global supply chain dependencies on critical infrastructure.

The critical nature of global ports and their future resilience
We interview Clon Ulrick on why ports matter to all of us and the challenges he sees for the sector. How can we make this critical infrastructure resilient to future shocks and stresses both expected and unexpected?