5 communities building resilience to thrive in an uncertain future

By Aditi Malhotra

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Vibrant and proactive civil society groups play a vital role in developing the resilience of communities, particularly in the face of climate change and increased disaster risk. Research suggests without social cohesiveness, some communities have a harder time recovering from a disaster.

Moreover, policymakers and scientists in the United States and elsewhere are increasingly aware that riding out future storms and rising sea levels will require significant spending. In many cases, this will be more than cities and governments can afford. As a result, communities, even sizable ones, are bound to be left behind, experts say.

In the face of the growing uncertainty about the extremities of disasters, resident-led initiatives to build resilience in their own communities are gaining momentum in North America, and across the world.

Here are five examples.

1. Mobilizing the community in Flagstaff, Arizona, to build resilience towards wildfire risk

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It took 18 months of extensive outreach efforts in Flagstaff for standards around infrastructure, vegetation management, and other compliance clauses within the Wildland Urban Interface code to be adopted and enforced. The stakeholders in this process included home builders’ associations, real estate and insurance agents, community leaders, engineering firms, and developers, among others.

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