Brock Hicks

Urban Planning  •  Research  •  Climate Resilience

I am an urban planner and researcher working at the intersection of climate, migration, and urbanization. I have 12+ years of experience in East Africa, Latin America, and the US. I excel at managing complex research projects and development programs, building strategic partnerships and connecting the dots from the big picture to the details. 

Three common threads tie my interests together: (1) rapid urbanization, displacement, migration, and inclusive climate action; (2) cities as frontline actors confronting spatial inequalities and climate change; and (3) the opportunity for cities to serve as centers for collaboration and innovation in governance and the co-production of knowledge and policy by local governments, civil society & academia, and grassroots social movements. 

See my interests & expertise below. Use the website menu above to view selected work.

Interests & Expertise

Topics

Urban climate justice

Place-based social movements; urban governance and grassroots partnerships; climate finance for urban adaptation

Urban adaptation and resilience

Locally-led action; informal settlement upgrading of infrastructure and basic services; urban design and placemaking; green infrastructure and nature-based solutions; urban forestry

Urban mitigation

Land use, buildings and transport

Urban migration

Rapid urbanization, climate displacement, protracted displacement in cities

Urban planning

Inclusive, integrated planning and policy; community development, housing, transit and land use; GIS and spatial planning

Modes

Cross-sector collaboration 

Multi-stakeholder facilitation between grassroots organizations, local governments, civil society and academia for: co-design and co-research; co-production of knowledge, plans, policies and budgets; co-implementation; stakeholder mapping

Applied and academic research

Community-based participatory action approach; qualitative methods; analytics, scenario modeling, data science and GIS; participatory M&E and outcomes mapping

Cross-disciplinary research

Comparative research; learning exchanges and capacity development

Management and communications

Managing projects, programs and partnerships and dissemination of research and programs 

Writing

Technical, analytical and lay writing, knowledge material production, information design and storytelling, in various styles and for multiple audiences (academic articles, research summaries, case studies, best practices synthesis, blogs, instructional documentation, educational materials, video scripts, journalism)

Narrative and cultural strategy 

For inclusive advocacy, planning and policy. Poetry, stories, films and multimedia projects. 

Capacity building

Facilitation, grassroots capacity building, learning exchanges and peer-sharing workshops 

User research and usability testing 

For infrastructure and services design as well as educational and capacity- building materials