Resilient Communities - Conference Briefing

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Conclusion This briefing outlines how community resilience can be developed and strengthened through community-based initiatives and partnerships between individuals and groups. What has emerged is that, whilst the challenges faced by communities are complex and always changing, the desire to improve community life is a shared one. People and institutions have the ability to initiate and drive transformative change, aimed at improving places and the lives lived therein, through social action, campaigning, grassroots work and local leadership. Although local funding is key, it is only one part of the answer: funding alone will not lead to long-lasting developments in greater community resilience; community engagement and collaboration are essential for ensuring that funding is applied in effective ways. Although local funding is key, it is only one part of the answer: funding alone will not lead to long-lasting developments in greater community resilience; community engagement and collaboration are essential for ensuring that funding is applied in effective ways. The contribution of several key areas of community life to community resilience and social cohesion are explored above. In particular, this briefing highlights the community-building opportunities related to collaborative and active citizenship, faith-based communities, arts and culture, sport and leisure, business and entrepreneurship and education. Each section of highlights theoretical underpinnings and real-life examples to demonstrate how these areas of community life can be harnessed to equip communities to thrive in the face of adversity. In many ways, these areas are interconnected and must work collaboratively, across groups and time, in order to bring about effective change. The examples highlighted above demonstrate that effective community programming promotes inclusivity,

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