Resiliency.
Disaster resiliency is the ability of a community, organization, or society to adapt to, recover from, and withstand disasters. It involves preparing for and planning to reduce the risk of disasters, and then being able to respond to them in a timely and efficient manner.
Resilience is important because it helps protect people, communities, and countries from the effects of disasters, including loss of life, injury, and economic damage. It can also help to preserve cultural heritage, ecosystems, and socio-economic assets.
Some factors that contribute to a community's resilience include:
Access to human, social, political, and economic capital
The ability of people in a community to work together and mobilize resources. Social capital is important for establishing resilient communities and can help people access resources. Some ways to build social capital include encouraging participation in community groups, initiating opportunities for people to connect, and building capacity to resolve tensions.
The ability to learn from past disasters
By studying past disasters, communities can identify vulnerabilities, weaknesses in response systems, and areas for improvement to enhance preparedness for future events. Effective disaster resilience requires active participation from all levels of society, including local communities, government agencies, and private sector organizations. This knowledge gained from past disasters can be used to develop preventative strategies like land use planning, infrastructure upgrades, early warning systems, and public education campaigns.
The ability to manage change and maintain living standards
Community involvement and outreach happens at all levels of disaster response and recovery. A good strategy of outreach and information can go a very long way in maintaining community trust and support. This outreach becomes a two-way affair when the community has buy in. Not only will they get information from the source, but they can also give information, input and recommendations to you in a natural conversation.
Some ways to build disaster resilience include:
Investing in enhancing resilience
Investing in resilient infrastructure can help ensure that critical systems like electricity, water, and sanitation are less vulnerable to extreme weather events. When we say invest, it does not necessarily involve capital improvements. Time spent building partnerships within your community is an exercise in building trust and capacity for residents, businesses and utilities.
Developing a disaster debris management plan
Natural disaster debris management may involve the whole community, including individuals and families, businesses, faith-based and community organizations, nonprofit groups, schools and academia, media outlets, and all levels of government. For every dollar invested in resilience, some say the cost of damage and cleanup can be reduced by $6–13.
Implementing local resiliency measures, such as updated building codes and recycling programs
As referenced in the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) funding opportunity, building code adoption and enforcement efforts are eligible as capability- and capacity-building (C&CB) activities under the BRIC State or Territory Allocation and BRIC Tribal Set-Aside. This emphasis on building codes was reinforced by stakeholder feedback gathered during the development of the BRIC program, which indicated strong support for building code activities. Ideas that stakeholders offered to overcome barriers to adoption and enforcement were considered in the design of the BRIC program. As a result, several activities, such as training and outreach, have been incorporated into the list of eligible activities.
Often, we only consider resiliency post-disaster. As we build stronger communities, it is imperative that we include the input of those we serve in the consideration and planning of resiliency projects.
An engaged and supportive community, beyond infrastructure, is the rich soil which a strong community may thrive.
