When a community feels connected and supported, it is better prepared to respond to and recover from challenges. That sense of connection can come in a variety of ways, from interpersonal relationships to shared spaces like food gardens and tool libraries.
Researchers are learning more about elements that can contribute to community resilience. They range from practical tools to philosophical perspectives.
1. Shared Values
The core of human connections is shared values—beliefs, principles, and ideals that unite individuals on personal and societal levels. Shared values are a powerful force that creates trust and empathy, allowing people to connect and build strong communities.
At the individual level, shared values are critical to forming meaningful relationships and building healthy families. They can also serve as a framework for conflict resolution, promoting cooperation and guiding behavior toward mutual understanding. On a larger scale, shared values are essential to fostering international cooperation and addressing global issues such as climate change.
For businesses, shared value is a strategic framework focused on creating societal good while delivering business value. However, creating shared value requires a firm to develop consistent values that are reflected across the organization’s operations. A lack of a clear values system can undermine the impact of social impact efforts, particularly if a company is criticized for questionable practices in one division while being praised for innovation and success in another. This can damage a company’s reputation and discourage future investment.
2. Shared Resources
Traditionally, community resilience models focus on disaster-preparedness activities. This includes efforts like creating continuity of operations plans for local businesses or compiling disaster kits to distribute in the event of a disaster.
These kinds of actions can be important in building resilience, but they are not the whole picture. True collective adaptability requires addressing deeper structural issues, such as systemic poverty or discriminatory housing policies.
Physical spaces within a community also play an important role in nurturing resilient connections. Neighborhood parks, community centers, and even local shops can act as hubs where people gather informally to meet each other, share information, and participate in social events.
Studies show that community resilience is heavily dependent on strong social connections. Intriligator and Walker point out that building those relationships doesn’t have to be a one-time endeavor; it can start small, with something as simple as lending a cup of sugar. Those relationships can then grow into more formal support networks or shared narratives that help communities interpret and respond to environmental change. They can even inspire more concrete actions, such as volunteering to clean up after a storm.
3. Shared Goals
Many of the activities that build community resilience are also a form of social support. Sharing resources or volunteering in a crisis can offer individuals an enhanced sense of purpose and the security that comes from knowing that there is a safety net should disaster strike.
In the case of weather events, community resilience initiatives can help first responders better anticipate and respond to a catastrophe. For example, communities that share weather data across borders enable a unified response to localized threats that can reduce the risk to people and property by equipping emergency services with a more accurate picture of an approaching storm’s impact.
Similarly, when it comes to community development, shared goals can foster collaborative leadership. Collaborative leaders ensure that all team members understand the unified vision of their organization, and provide them with tools to navigate conflicts and resolve misunderstandings. This ensures that all stakeholders are aligned on the work they are doing, and empowers them to be resilient leaders during times of stress.
4. Shared Values
Ultimately, a key factor in resilience is the shared values that individuals or communities hold. These values, often rooted in religious beliefs or culture, serve to unite people by promoting understanding, respect, and cooperation.
These values are especially important in building strong relationships and fostering trust and cooperation between neighbors. They also play a crucial role in conflict resolution by promoting the principles of fairness and respect. In a disagreement between neighbors, for example, sharing the value of forgiveness can help to restore harmony.
Finally, a shared set of values can influence individual and community resilience by facilitating the adoption of positive coping strategies during disasters. For example, volunteering – an activity that is rooted in shared moral principles – can support community spirit and foster normative-supportive behaviour.
Similarly, bridging social capital can provide links and relationships between local communities and external institutions such as government bodies or NGOs that can offer support during and after a crisis (Masud-All-Kamal and Walkerden 2020). This type of connection can help to bolster resilience by promoting the exchange of information and resources that are critical to disaster recovery.
5. Shared Resources
Many publications that mention community resilience haven’t defined it as a separate concept, but rather a collection of elements that are broadly believed to be important for communities that can adapt and cope with challenging circumstances. These intangible aspects include everything from natural, physical and financial resources to social networks and the fair distribution of these resources in a community.
A strong sense of shared identity can make a community resilient. It can also support community-focused health systems, disaster preparedness plans, and other initiatives that are critical for a community’s survival during difficult times.
However, these aren’t the only ways that cities can help their residents build resilience. Other ways involve simple human interactions that can be triggered by a variety of events and spaces within a community. These include neighborhood gatherings, social projects, and even tool libraries where people can share their spare equipment. All of these interactions can build a stronger network that is more resilient against the impact of climate change, or any other challenge.