Building business resilience in Venice: UNDRR and VSF put SMEs to the test at Venice Climate Week 2026
On 5 June 2026, UNDRR and the Venice Sustainability Foundation (VSF) brought disaster risk reduction to the heart of the business community, hosting Business Under Pressure — an interactive scenario exercise for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) — as part of Venice Climate Week 2026 (Planet Aqua, Planet Peace).
The workshop, organized by VSF in collaboration with UNDRR and the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative, engaged local business owners and managers in a hands-on simulation designed to test their preparedness for climate-related disruptions and build practical capacity for emergency management and operational continuity.
Stress-testing Venice's businesses against compound hazards
Participants were confronted with a concrete and deliberately challenging scenario: a 45°C heatwave, a widespread power blackout, and low tide conditions disrupting lagoon mobility — a combination of hazards that is increasingly plausible for Venice and many other cities across Europe. Working in groups, participants took on operational roles within typical Venetian business settings such as a boutique hotel, a museum, and an events agency. They worked through rapid decision-making on safety, logistics, communications, and business continuity.
The exercise was facilitated by UNDRR experts Yigyeong Oh and Ignasi Fontanals, who guided participants through the simulation and drew out key lessons on the links between business preparedness, community resilience, and the role of the private sector in disaster risk reduction.
Preparedness protects everyone
The exercise generated rich discussion and a clear takeaway: a prepared business not only protects itself — it reduces pressure on emergency services and can become an asset to the wider city in a crisis. Early investment in planning pays off for both economic sustainability and community resilience. This message sits at the heart of the MCR2030 approach to urban resilience. Local businesses are integral parts of the urban fabric, and their capacity to absorb shocks and maintain operations during emergencies directly affects the resilience of the communities they serve.
"This workshop was extremely practical and eye-opening. Working through a real crisis scenario together with the municipality, private sector, public institutions and academia all in the same room — made it possible to think through business continuity in a way that no organization can do alone. We hope to build on this and bring an even broader group of Venice's business community into the conversation," said Ms. Silvia Oliva, Coordinator of Project Activities, Venice Sustainability Foundation, which is the organization supporting the participation of the Municipality of Venice in the MCR2030.
Venice as a living laboratory for resilience
Venice is no stranger to climate risk. As a city navigating the intersecting pressures of flooding, extreme heat, and tourism-dependent economic activity, it offers a uniquely relevant setting for exploring how businesses can prepare for compound hazards. The partnership between UNDRR, VSF, and local institutions, including Iuav University of Venice, reflects a growing recognition that resilience in Venice — and in cities like it — requires engagement across public, private, and civil society actors.
The Business Under Pressure workshop is part of a broader collaboration between UNDRR Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (ROECA) and Venice as a Resilience Hub of the MCR2030, contributing to MCR2030's efforts to expand the resilience agenda beyond city governments to include the private sector and local communities.
About Venice Climate Week 2026
Venice Climate Week 2026, held under the theme Planet Aqua, Planet Peace, is an annual platform convening city leaders, businesses, researchers and civil society to advance climate action in urban contexts. The event is co-organized by the Venice Sustainability Foundation and partners.
About MCR2030
Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) is a United Nations-led global initiative supporting local governments and communities to strengthen disaster resilience through advocacy, knowledge exchange, and practical tools. UNDRR serves as the Secretariat of MCR2030.