Midwest Climate Resilience Conference

The Midwest Climate Resilience Conference (MCRC) is a 3-day convening held annually in October in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, hosted by the University of Minnesota and the Great Lakes Commission. The conference brings together regional climate scientists, community adaptation leaders, policymakers, and infrastructure planners to address climate risks specific to the Midwest. Core themes include community and ecosystem resilience, climate adaptation for critical infrastructure (water systems, transportation, energy), nature-based solutions, and cross-sector policy collaboration. MCRC features keynote presentations, breakout sessions on regional adaptation strategies, and networking forums connecting practitioners working on agricultural climate stress, urban heat mitigation, and water resource management. The Standing Committee on Climate Resilience's Great Lakes focus ensures coverage of freshwater ecosystem protection and basin-wide adaptation planning. Attendees span state and federal agencies, municipal governments, universities, nonprofits, and private sector stakeholders invested in building Midwest climate resilience.