Planning for disaster resilience in rural, remote, and coastal communities: Moving from thought to action

Abstract

Disaster resilience is the cornerstone of effective emergency management across all phases of a disaster from preparedness through response and recovery. To support community resilience planning in the Rural Disaster Resilience Project (RDRP) Planning Framework, a print-based version of the guide book and a suite of resilience planning tools were field tested in three communities representing different regions and geographies within Canada. The results provide a cross-case study analysis from which lessons learned can be extracted. The authors demonstrate that by encouraging resilience thinking and proactive planning even very small rural communities can harness their inherent strengths and resources to enhance their own disaster resilience, as undertaking the resilience planning process was as important as the outcomes.The resilience enhancement planning process must be flexible enough to allow each community to act independently to meet their own needs. The field sites demonstrate that any motivated group of individuals, representing a neighborhood or some larger area could undertake a resilience initiative, especially with the assistance of a bridging organization or tool such as the RDRP Planning Framework.

Beyond the black stump: rapid reviews of health research issues affecting regional, rural and remote Australia

“…Community disaster planning and preparedness programs, including risk assessment tools, were reported in seven studies. Disaster planning programs — such as the Rural Disaster Resilience Project in Canada 10 and the Inclusive Public Health Preparedness Program in rural Appalachia in the United States 11 — depended on existing community resources and robust partnerships across agencies (eg, emergency management, public health, social care, education, disability service and not‐for‐profit organisations) to produce emergency plans acceptable to local communities. The Inclusive Public Health Preparedness Program focused on the needs of vulnerable populations and those with special needs.…”

The Canadian Rangers: Cornerstone for Community Disaster Resilience in Canada’s Remote and Isolated Communities

“…Resilience ows from community members working together to strengthen these relationships and networks, and to enhance the trust, social cohesion, and social support inherent within them (Norris et al, p. 137-139;Wilkin et al, 2019). Communities also build resilience when they are "empowered to use their existing skills, knowledge, and resources to prevent/mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters" and are provided with opportunities to develop other required capabilities (Public Safety Canada, 2019, p. 5-6; see also Murphy et al, 2014). Key capacities include hazard identi cation and risk awareness; planning and preparedness that outlines the roles and responsibilities of various groups; eff ective formal and informal communication; emergency response training and exercises; and partnerships between the diff erent internal and external organizations involved in disaster response (Bowles & Ursuliak, 2014;Chandra et al, 2011;Morley at el., 2018;Patel et al, 2017;Sithole et al, 2017;Tiernan et al, 2019).…”

Disaster Recovery Practices and Resilience Building in Greece

“…In smaller settlements or rural, mountain or island areas there is often a lack of such a capacity, depending to a large extent on external support. It is in such contexts that resilience is highly affected by social attitudes and perceptions [66], while the cultivation of a safety culture especially through exemplar risk management and disaster recovery practices that integrate local knowledge may appear as a solution to enhance resilience building. However, further research is needed to assess whether unanticipated events strengthen the aforementioned capacities and whether a learning process is established affecting the potential for efficiency and effectiveness in future responses.…”