Building Community Resilience Research Articles

How to Deal with Crisis? Place Attachment as a Factor of Resilience of Urban–Rural Communes in Poland during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The phenomenon of place attachment as a community resilience determinant requires a detailed study and, as such, is not sufficiently explored in the literature. This study analyses both resilience determinants and resilience tools in order to provide local communities with optimum courses of action and decision makers with postulates concerning local development policies. Our goal is to determine the effect of place attachment on the activity of the local community in the process of the reconstruction of a local territorial unit following a crisis (COVID-19 pandemic) situation, as well as determine the symptoms of the crisis exemplified by urban–rural communes in Poland. Empirical research was carried out with regard to all 87 urban–rural communes in Poland with their seat in a small city with district rights. The respondents in the survey included individuals in governance positions: mayor/deputy mayor/secretary. Comparative analyses were performed on the entire group by juxtaposing communes located in peripheral regions (19 units) of the Eastern Poland Macroregion and the remaining communes (68). In light of the empirical research, communes located in Eastern Poland’s peripheral regions were more severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis than ones situated elsewhere in Poland. In urban–rural communes located in peripheral regions, actions supporting the “ability to absorb” shocks are taken more frequently than those promoting “positive adaptability in anticipation of, or in response to, shocks”. Less frequent were proactive measures of innovative nature, involving “restoration and use” of the existing local resources, e.g., new methods of the use of natural resources by the households or new activities in the creative industry based on individual creativity, skills and talents. An analysis of all units reveals a generally low level of pro-resilience activities of the local communities in the communes investigated in the study except for the application of modern technologies/forms of remote communication. It was demonstrated that, in local communities with a high level of place attachment, activities aimed at building resilience are more frequent. For local governments, the results constitute proof of the importance of place attachment in building community resilience in local development policies. We should highlight the need for activities integrating urban and rural residents in urban–rural communes in order to create a shared space with which they could identify while strengthening bonds, thus raising the level of social capital. It is also necessary to look for ways to use IT, not only for communication processes, but also for managing crisis situations, in parallel with activities aimed at strengthening social capital.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Muslim older immigrants in Edmonton, Alberta: A community-based participatory research project with a local mosque

ObjectiveOlder Muslim immigrants experience multiple vulnerabilities living in Canada. This study explores the experiences of Muslim older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic to identify ways to build community resilience as part of a community-based participatory research partnership with a mosque in Edmonton, Alberta.MethodsUsing a mixed-methods approach, check-in surveys (n = 88) followed by semi-structured interviews (n = 16) were conducted to assess the impact of COVID-19 on older adults from the mosque congregation. Quantitative findings were reported through descriptive statistics, and thematic analysis guided the identification of key findings from the interviews using the socio-ecological model.ResultsThree major themes were identified in consultation with a Muslim community advisory committee: (a) triple jeopardy leading to loneliness, (b) decreased access to resources for connectivity, and (c) organizational struggles to provide support during the pandemic. The findings from the survey and interviews highlight various supports that were missing during the pandemic for this population.ConclusionThe COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the challenges associated with aging in the Muslim population and contributed to further marginalization, with mosques being sites of support during times of crises. Policymakers and service providers must explore ways of engaging mosque-based support systems in meeting the needs of older Muslim adults during pandemics.

Risk-Reduction, Coping, and Adaptation to Flood Hazards in Manitoba, Canada: Evidence from Communities in the Red River Valley

In general, much is known about patterns relating to flood risk reduction, coping, and adaptation in various types of communities; however, knowledge of their drivers—which are critical for building community resilience to natural hazards—is limited. The present study investigates the influencing factors of coping and adaptation measures vis-a-vis flood hazards at the community level and examines their interrelationships. This work employs a “case study” approach and analyzes two towns—St. Adolphe and Ste. Agathe—in the Red River Valley in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Data collection consisted of in-depth interviews with key informants and obtaining oral histories from the locals, along with an examination of secondary official records and documents. The results revealed that the major drivers of local-level coping and adaptation include functioning partnerships among stakeholders, strong institutional structures that facilitate interactive learning, knowledge co-production, resources sharing, communication and information sharing, and infrastructure supports. It was observed that an institutional atmosphere conducive to spontaneous network development yields diverse coping and adaptation strategies. To improve the outcomes of coping and adaptation measures, close collaboration between community-based groups and formal and quasi-formal institutions, and transparency in decision-making processes are vital.

Community-Based Approach for Climate Resilience and COVID-19: Case Study of a Climate Village (Kampung Iklim) in Balikpapan, Indonesia

COVID-19 and climate change are widely recognized to negatively impact communities in developing countries. Like several other developing countries, Indonesia also dealt with climatic hazards such as flooding and landslides during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, after the Paris Agreement was signed, the government launched a “Climate Village” program or Kampung Iklim (ProKlim) to enhance community contribution in addressing climatic hazard impacts. Yet, numerous studies have researched integrating COVID-19 and climate change impacts, which calls for a concept of community resilience. To bridge this gap, the objective of this research is to understand and measure the local adaptation and mitigation activities in ProKlim through the smart village concept. Methodological literature review, situation analysis through interviews, and field observations are applied in this study. This research used five indicators to measure the current situation of the Climate Village, which are: resilience, mobility, community, perspectives and digitalization. The findings reveal that the implementation of smart villages in ProKlim is still in its preliminary stages and must seek innovation and system integration from smart cities and smart communities. This research also suggests feasible strategies to build community resilience: (i) collaborative governance in the Climate Village program implementation, (ii) promoting the Climate Village program to other sectors for ICT, and (iii) strengthening community participation in implementing the smart village concept.

Designing a federal portfolio approach for understanding complex climate events: Disruption, resilience, and recovery among small- and medium-sized businesses

At the U.S. Department of Commerce, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Climate and Adaptation Partnerships (CAP) Program and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Community Resilience Program (CRP) collaborate on a portfolio of research projects, across national and regional scales that explore small- and medium-sized business (SMB) disruption and resilience to complex climate events. Some of the most significant costs associated with the impact of weather and climate disasters stem from disruptions experienced by SMBs, but the full extent of immediate and downstream impacts on communities can only be fully understood over time. The NOAA-NIST portfolio of projects uses social science framing to bridge federal research priorities that typically orient around specific hazards and risks, with sector-specific (i.e. SMBs) climate change resilience needs. This approach lends itself to a deeper understanding of complex climate events by focusing on cascading and compound events, including both acute and chronic exposures, as well as the broader social structures that formulate a variety of socio-economic stressors and that can exacerbate both vulnerability to impacts and recovery potential over time. In this commentary, we describe the development of the research portfolio and highlight the importance of the complex event framework and cross-agency cooperation in the federal approach to understanding and addressing climate change. This approach moves beyond considerations relevant to discrete risk types or events, to uncover the social and sectoral spaces in which conditions for impacts and recovery are formed and realized across multiple geographies and over time. Understanding the formulation of complex events, and in this demonstrative case how SMB operators across communities learn about and implement resilience measures, is key for effective and equitable climate services and building community resilience.

Critical review of urban community resilience indicators

PurposeUrban communities can be faced with many destructive events that can disrupt the daily functioning of activities and livelihood of people living in the communities. In this regard, during the last couple of years, many governments have put a lot of efforts into building resilient urban communities. Essentially, a resilient urban community has the capacity to anticipate future disasters, prepare for and recover timely from adverse effects of disasters and unexpected circumstances. Considering this, it is therefore important for the need to continuously review the existing urban community resilience indicators, in order to identify emerging ones to enable comprehensive evaluation of urban communities in the future against unexpected events. This study therefore aims to conduct a systematic review to develop and critically analyse the emerging and leading urban community resilience indicators.Design/methodology/approachFollowing the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRSIMA) protocol, 53 journal articles were selected using Scopus. The selected papers were subjected to thorough content analysis.FindingsFrom the review, 45 urban community resilience indicators were identified. These indicators were grouped into eight broad categories namely, Socio-demographic, Economic, Institutional Resilience, Infrastructure and Housing Resilience, Collaboration, Community Capital, Risk Data Accumulation and Geographical and Spatial characteristics of community. Further, the results indicated that the U.S had the highest number of publications, followed by Australia, China, New Zealand and Taiwan. In fact, very few studies emanated from developing economies.Originality/valueThe outputs of this study will inform policymakers, practitioners and researchers on the new and emerging indicators that should be considered when evaluating the resilience level of urban communities. The findings will also serve as a theoretical foundation for further detailed empirical investigation.

Spatial regression identifies socioeconomic inequality in multi-stage power outage recovery after Hurricane Isaac

Power outages are a common outcome of hurricanes in the USA with potentially serious implications for community wellbeing. Understanding how power outage recovery is influenced by factors such as the magnitude of the outage, storm characteristics, and community demographics is key to building community resilience. Outage data are a valuable tool that can help to better understand how hurricanes affect built infrastructure and influence the management of short-term infrastructure recovery process. We conduct a spatial regression analysis on customers experiencing outages and the total power recovery time to investigate the factors influencing power outage recovery in Louisiana after Hurricane Isaac. Our interest was in whether infrastructure damage and recovery times resulting from a hurricane disproportionately affect socioeconomically vulnerable populations and racial minorities. We find that median income is a significant predictor of the time it takes to restore 50%, 80%, and 95% of the total outages within a ZIP Code Tabulation Area, even after controlling for hurricane characteristics and total outages. Higher income geographies and higher income adjacent geographies experience faster recovery times. Our findings point to possible inequities associated with income in power outage recovery prioritization, which cannot be explained by exposure to outages, storm characteristics, or the presence of critical services such as hospitals and emergency response stations. These results should inform more equitable responses to power outages in the future helping to improve overall community resilience.

A community-informed transdisciplinary approach to coastal restoration planning: Maximizing the social and ecological co-benefits of wetland creation in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, USA

Port Fourchon is a vital staging area for Gulf of Mexico energy production and is strategically located in the Barataria-Terrebonne Estuary System, a biologically and economically productive ecosystem bounded by the Atchafalaya and Mississippi Rivers. This is also one of the most fragile and rapidly evolving landscapes in the United States, making the port and surrounding communities highly vulnerable to natural hazards and the impacts of climate change. Building resilience to climate-based disruptions is vital to Port Fourchon and other businesses operating in this dynamic landscape. The port plans to deepen its channel to 50 feet (15 m) to service larger vessels, generating millions of cubic yards of sediment and seeks to beneficially utilize this sediment to develop natural and nature-based solutions to help prepare for future challenges. To accomplish this goal, an Environmental Competency Group consisting of residents, coastal scientists, and key stakeholders was convened to co-develop and evaluate a series of marsh creation projects utilizing this sediment that will maximize social and ecological co-benefits and enhance the resilience of Port Fourchon and the surrounding communities. The group utilized participatory modeling and social return on investment methods to model long-term changes to the landscape and wetland vegetation communities resulting from the co-developed restoration strategies and assess the social value of these strategies. Residents who live and work around Port Fourchon were included in all stages of this research, including development and prioritization of potential restoration areas, identifying important physical and ecological parameters that should be modeled, evaluation of model results, and assessment of the social values expected to be generated by each restoration alternative under consideration. The transdisciplinary approach used in this research highlights the effectiveness of a community-informed, systematic approach to coastal restoration planning in building community resilience and ecosystem sustainability. This study provides approaches and tools that can be adapted for use elsewhere to develop holistic solutions that maximize the social, ecological, and economic co-benefits of coastal restoration.

Supporting Faith-Based Communities Through and Beyond the Pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought widespread and notable effects to the physical and mental health of communities across New York City with disproportionate suffering Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino communities alongside additional stressors such as racism and economic hardship. This report describes the adaptation of a previously successful evidence-based community engagement health education program for the deployment of resilience promoting workshop program in faith-based organizations in BIPOC communities in New York City. From June 2021 to June 2022, nine faith-based organizations implemented 58 workshops to 1,101 non-unique workshop participants. Most of the workshops were delivered online with more women (N = 803) than men (N = 298) participating. All organizations completed the full curriculum; the workshop focused on self-care and physical fitness was repeated most frequently (N = 13). Participants in the workshops ranged from 4 to 73 per meeting and were largely female. The Building Community Resilience Project is an easy and effective way to modify an existing, evidence-based community health education program to address new and relevant health needs such as resilience and stress amidst the COVID-19 pandemic among faith communities serving BIPOC populations. More research is needed regarding the impact of the workshops as well as adaptability for other faith traditions.

Fostering Community Resilience through Social Capital

An experienced and resilient community has become a much-studied discourse after COVID-19. Strengthening the ability to self-organize post-crisis events encountered difficulties around changing local risk perspectives. In addition, they are increasing the capacity of individuals as a whole to form the expected community resilience. This study explains the importance of leveraging social capital to increase community capacity, affecting the ability to survive future crises. This study used a literature review to explore prior conceptions and conclusions about fostering community resilience and essential agreement of social capital. In this research, we seek a contribution through the following arguments a) Community resilience is the outcome of reciprocity social relationships; b) Social capital is an endeavor to cultivate relationships that encourage shared-value advantages between community members; c) Intellectual capital is the valuable sources in representing action-based of knowledge. The result shows it is necessary to build community resilience through a robust social approach, maintaining and reconstructing social capital to present community advantage and shared-value embedded in each community member.

Evaluation of the Community Health Worker Model for COVID-19 Response and Recovery.

Community health workers (CHWs), or promotores de salud, have long played a role in health promotion, but the COVID-19 pandemic has brought renewed attention to the functions, sustainability, and financing of CHW models. ¡Andale! ¿Que Esperas? was a 12-month (June 2021-May 2022) campaign that expanded the CHW workforce to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates in structurally vulnerable, Latinx communities across California. This mixed-methods evaluation aims to elucidate (1) the role of CHWs in COVID-19 response, recovery, and rebuilding and (2) the importance, needs, and perils of CHW models in the COVID-19 era and beyond. CHWs facilitated 159,074 vaccinations and vaccine appointments by countering mis/disinformation, addressing mental health and social needs, building digital competencies, and meeting people where they are, all of which expanded access and instilled confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine. CHWs' success in engaging the community lies in their shared lived experience as well as their accessibility and recognition in the community, enabling their role in both immediate response and long-term recovery. Funding instability imperils the advances made by CHWs, and efforts are needed to institutionalize the CHW workforce with sustainable funding models. While Medicaid reimbursement models exist in some states, these models are often limited to healthcare services, overlooking a critical function of the CHW model: building community resilience and mobilizing the community for social change.

Building Resilience of Communities in Rural Areas of Himachal Pradesh-Capacity Building Programme in Himachal Pradesh - Climate Change Adaptation in Rural Areas of India (CCA-RAI)

Building Resilience of Communities in Rural Areas of Himachal Pradesh-Capacity Building Programme in Himachal Pradesh - Climate Change Adaptation in Rural Areas of India (CCA-RAI)

Unseen risk: Mapping contamination hazards to enhance risk perception in Galena Park, Texas

As extreme weather events have become more frequently observed in recent decades, concerns about exposure to potential flood risk have increased, especially in underserved and socially vulnerable communities. Galena Park, Texas, is a socially vulnerable community that also confronts escalated physical vulnerabilities due to existing flood risks from Buffalo Bayou and the Houston Ship Channel as well as proximity to industrial facilities that emit chemical pollution. To better understand the underlying risks that Galena Park is facing, this research assesses and visualizes the existing contamination hazards associated with the chemical facilities within Galena Park. Through this process, we (1) compute the environmental, health, and physical hazards associated with industrial facilities, (2) spatially geocode the points of contamination sources and flood exposure, and (3) increase awareness of existing risk by visualizing and distributing related information using an ArcGIS Dashboard. The results indicate that there are 169 points of location from 127 industrial facilities, and 24 points were inducing potential chemicals. In total, 126 chemicals have potential physical, health, and environmental hazards. On average, each facility has 2.4 chemicals that could cause potential hazards with a range of zero to 57 chemicals. When examining the specific physical, health, and environmental risks associated with the chemicals, on average each facility has 14.6 types of risks associated with it. This includes, on average, 9.8 types of health hazards, 1.53 physical hazards, and 2.3 environmental hazards per facility. When analyzing the spatial relationship between the chemical exposure and the current flood risk using the Dashboard, it is noticeable that most of the industrial facilities are located in the south of Galena Park, near Buffalo Bayou, where a variety of industrial facilities are clustered. Through this study, we spatially mapped the existing risks in Galena Park that are not readily available to the community and risks that are not currently tangible or visible. The utility of ArcGIS Dashboards affords the opportunity to translate massive databases into digestible knowledge that can be shared and utilized within the community. This study also takes another step toward building community resilience by providing knowledge that can be used to prepare for and respond to disasters. Visualizing unseen risks and promoting awareness can enhance risk perception when supported by scientific knowledge. Further investigation is necessary to enhance preparedness behaviors, identify proper evacuation techniques and routes, and build community networks to comprehensively promote resilience to multi-hazard circumstances.

Enhancing Resilience to Recurrent Droughts and Floods in Semi-Nomadic Communities: A Case of CMDRR amongst the Doma Community in Mbire District, Zimbabwe

Marginalized communities in Zimbabwe experience recurrent climate threats due to low-risk perception, lack of awareness, depletion of household assets, and marginalization from the mainstream economy. The Doma community has had their livelihoods undermined by recurrent droughts and floods perennially. The study analyzed the causes of vulnerability and evaluated approaches employed by CBO Focus in building community resilience to hazards in this community in Mbire district. A case study design was employed. Focus group discussions, interviews, and community hazard mapping were used as data collection tools during the assessment. Training, sports, theatre arts, and functional adult literacy approaches were used in building resilience to shocks. Village heads, community leaders and the ward councillor led the activities and discussions. The Doma community is reserved and rarely interacts with outsiders, thus ill-prepared for disasters. Risk perception is low, and they lack the literacy skills to process early warning alerts. Lack of household productive assets and poorly constructed dagga huts that are susceptible to floods increase their vulnerability. Their nomadic practices are limited by national parks and conservancies. This has led to a sedentary life with little agronomic skills. The community produced a draft disaster preparedness plan and has sought collaborations with stakeholders in addition to initiating resilience-building strategies. Scaling up agronomic training, accelerated non-farm economic activities and market linkages will improve resilience to hazards. The integration of traditional knowledge into CMDRR approaches will promote project sustainability and enhance community resilience. Government support through infrastructure development and drafting policies that will promote disaster preparedness is desirable.

Centering equity in the development of a community resilience planning resource

Building community resilience requires centering equity in resilience planning processes. Tools and resources for strengthening community resilience need to address equity in both their content and the process for using them. This is especially so for communities living in proximity to contaminated lands that face compounding hazards (i.e., environmental, disaster, and climate-related); legacies of institutional or structural disenfranchisement; challenges with inclusion of minority populations in planning; and constraints on doing data-intensive planning and management in under-resourced and underserved jurisdictions. A research team from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is developing a new resource, the Equitable Resilience Builder, which will serve communities with intersecting social and environmental vulnerabilities, in pursuit of creating resilience plans and developing the intra-community connections to implement them. This article details how the team used human-centered design to develop the Equitable Resilience Builder. Our objective in doing so is to share the evolution of equity in the project and demonstrate key inflection points in the discovery, synthesis, and ideation phases of human-centered design. The team was able to expand their understanding of what it means to undertake resilience planning in an equitable way during engagements with state, local, tribal agencies, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and academia and through participatory workshops. It developed design principles for how the tool might use storytelling and other techniques to address emotions and trauma, ensure local voices are heard, and encourage relationship building. This article offers lessons learned for others seeking to address resilience and equity in climate risk management, particularly when working with communities in proximity to contaminated lands.

Flood Risk Assessment and Management in Urban Communities: The Case of Communities in Wuhan

The likelihood and uncertainty of severe rains and flooding in the middle basin of the Yangtze River have grown due to global warming and growing urbanization. A flood risk assessment index system is built based on resilience theory to assess community flood risk in a significantly changing environment, with communities serving as the primary body to manage flood risk in cities. The flood risk level of communities in Wuhan from 2011 to 2020 was assessed using the Analytic Hierarchical Process (AHP) and Dempster–Shafer (DS) evidence theory, utilizing an example of the typical Wuhan community. The findings indicate that: (1) The weight of hazard-causing factors is the largest and has the greatest influence on the risk of flooding in the community. (2) When looking at time series, the risk of hazard-causing factors gradually rises, while the risks associated with systemic governance, protective works, and community vulnerability steadily decline. Building resilient communities and enhancing flood risk management capability should be priorities for the government, local communities, and citizens.

“We survived the pandemic together”: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canadian families living with chronic pain

ABSTRACT Introduction Pediatric chronic pain is a significant problem in Canada, affecting one in five youth. This study describes the impact of the pandemic on the experiences of Canadian families living with chronic pain through interviews with youth living with chronic pain, parents, and siblings. Methods Employing a qualitative descriptive design, in-depth semistructured interviews were completed with Canadian youth living with pain, as well as parents and siblings. Participants were not required to be related. Interviews were analyzed using a reflexive thematic analysis approach. Results Forty-four interviews were completed with 14 parents, 19 youth with chronic pain, and 11 siblings from across the country. Three key themes were developed: (1) absorbing and shifting: the toll of the pandemic on the family system (e.g., loss of coping mechanisms, shifting roles to respond to the pandemic), (2) social ambiguity and abandonment (e.g., social sacrifice and abandonment by the health care system), and (3) building community resilience: familial adaptation to the pandemic (e.g., family cohesion, confidence, and self-management). Discussion/Conclusions Youth, parents, and siblings reported that the pandemic impacted coping strategies across the family system. These results outline the challenges youth experienced managing their pain and overall health throughout the pandemic and the resilience built within families during this time. Going forward, it would be relevant to examine how racialized and structurally marginalized youth with chronic pain and their families experienced the pandemic. Future research should examine how unexpected benefits of the pandemic (e.g., increased confidence and self-management) may be sustained into the future.

Digitally Enhanced Information and Coordination System for Disaster Preparedness in Sri Lanka

Disaster preparedness is one of the key phases of disaster management that mitigates the impact of hazards and ensures the effective response and recovery. Therefore, enhanced disaster preparedness is imperative to successfully cope with future disasters and thereby to minimise the adverse impacts. In terms of successful disaster preparedness, information and coordination systems play a major role by creating linkages among the different stakeholders and managing preparedness information. However, existing information coordination systems used in disaster preparedness of developing countries like Sri Lanka need to be enhanced by digital technologies in order to obtain successful outcomes of disaster preparedness. Therefore, under the joint collaboration of Multi-Agency Platforms for Building Resilient Communities (MOBILISE) research project and the Center for Disaster Risk Reduction at University of Moratuwa, we have researched on the nature of a digital information and coordination system that can be utilised for disaster preparedness in Sri Lanka.

Analisis Komparasi Mitigasi Komunikasi dalam Penanganan Bencana Tsunami

Mitigation of the tsunami disaster can be done by identifying the form of communication and realizing what will be the challenges and obstacles in overcoming disasters in the future. By identifying the main characteristics that can cause communication during an emergency or disaster to become ineffective or completely fail, future researchers and practitioners will have a frame of reference for addressing communication problems in an emergency. One of them is by creating a communication system. Then form a media tool that operates to combine various mixes of spatial data, visualization assets, and mobile devices. It includes the underlying dimensions, interactions, and situations. In addition to the existing media tools, one way to gain insight or identification in building community resilience is to increase the resilience of the community itself where the community has avoided the worst impacts of natural disasters through its own local wisdom strategy that can be easily recognized.

Experience of Community Resilience in Rural Areas around Heritage Sites in Quanzhou under Transition to a Knowledge Economy

With the transition to a knowledge economy becoming an important aim, this qualitative study examines rural communities (Yongning and Xunpu) near heritage sites in Quanzhou, China. “Pu Jing” and exhibition space are connected with the inheritance and creation of intangible cultural heritage in order to form a knowledge economy with unique local characteristics around these sites. Beliefs and customs that reconstruct social values are integrated with heritage conservation. Economic competition and social capital restructuring strengthen social identification and benefit building community resilience. Combining with the “Local Tourism Alliance” activities organized by local organizations is important when developing innovative education and tourism activities. The innovation-oriented rural revitalization strategy has promoted community resilience in rural areas around the heritage sites, enhanced local area values, and encouraged social and economic efficiency.