In the last decades, a broad scientific debate – which involves the fields of engineering, psychology and ecology among the others – has been developed on the concept of resilience. The broadness of the debate highlights the need to define new models for the management and development of cities and territories in a holistic perspective. Many models and tools developed to improve the resilience of cities converge in recognizing the fundamental role of stakeholder engagement in developing more resilient communities. However, initiatives launched by local, regional, national, and international governments and organizations often fail to involve urban stakeholders, who are the first to suffer the risks of living in fragile systems. In the study, by using a systematic literature analysis protocol, the authors explore the domain of urban resilience initiatives, with a particular focus on resilience dimensions and goals, addressed threats, involved stakeholders, and employed stakeholder engagement practices. The content analysis conducted on 57 initiatives has highlighted the centrality of water management as one of the main objectives in urban resilience initiatives. The analysis showed that the initiatives are mainly designed to manage chronic stresses. Additionally, the results highlight that local governments, citizens and public and private companies constitute the main involved stakeholders, whereas workshops and interviews represent the most adopted stakeholder engagement practices. From a theoretical point of view, the research contributes to enriching the state of the art on the concept of resilience by collecting knowledge about real-world initiatives. Furthermore, the paper presents some policy implications: it contributes to creating structured knowledge about urban resilience initiatives with a focus on stakeholder engagement so as to inspire and support policymakers interested in increasing stakeholder participation.