RISE Urban Challenge

The RISE Urban Challenge is a competition seeking innovative, scalable solutions to build climate resilience for vulnerable populations in urban informal settlements in low- and middle-income countries. Selected winners will receive cash prizes up to US$50,000, tailored mentoring, and access to a virtual Leadership Academy to refine and scale their projects between 2025 and 2026.

• The RISE Urban Challenge targets the gap in urban climate investment, noting that only 1.2% of such investments currently flow toward climate change adaptation and resilience solutions.
• The challenge specifically focuses on urban informality contexts, where nearly 1 billion people—approximately one in four urban dwellers—reside in slums and informal settlements and face high vulnerability to climate shocks.
• Eligible applicants must be registered non-profit or for-profit organisations, local entrepreneurs, or innovators located in low- and middle-income countries that are eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA) as defined by the OECD-DAC.
• Winning projects will receive cash prizes of up to US$50,000 (with expected ranges between US$10,000 and US$30,000 for the first year) to be used for implementation and scaling from January to December 2026.
• The support package for winners includes a virtual Leadership Academy in September 2025, tailored mentoring, communications support, and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) support through December 2026.
• Proposals are evaluated on a 100-point scale across seven criteria: innovativeness, potential for impact, equity, scalability, profitability and sustainability, team composition/organisation, and risk.
• The challenge prioritises solutions addressing four key themes: climate risk action (e.g., flooding, heat waves, droughts), resilience retrofits for housing in informal settlements, water security, and urban migration and displacement.

APA

Global Resilience Partnership (n.d.). RISE Urban Challenge. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/rise-2025-guidelines.pdf

Chicago

Global Resilience Partnership. RISE Urban Challenge. n.d. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/rise-2025-guidelines.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Resilience Partnership |title=RISE Urban Challenge |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/rise-2025-guidelines.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalresiliencepartnershipndrise, author = {{Global Resilience Partnership}}, title = {{RISE Urban Challenge}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/rise-2025-guidelines.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }