Building Community Resilience

Many of the threats to resilience in Denham Springs are not surprises to those who know the city well. The most prominent environmental shocks come in the form of severe storms and flooding events. Floods are often exacerbated by chronic environmental stressors such as the cumulative impact of increased development in the Amite and Comite River floodplains, which reduce natural stormwater capacity. These shocks and stressors are further intensified by chronic social, economic and infrastructural stressors such as unemployment, poor public health, and old or overburdened infrastructure. In particular, social and economic stresses often coincide with greater vulnerability to shocks: low-income households are more likely to be located in areas with greater risk, and are less likely to be able to recover quickly when a disaster happens. This not only poses risk to individuals, it also weakens the resilience of the entire community over time.

The environment in Denham Springs is changing. Changes in climate and weather intensity, modifications to local waterways, and rapid regional development are all altering natural processes, often with unexpected results. Community resilience is about more than building stronger infrastructure to hold back the water. The capacity to adapt to changing conditions is founded on the knowledge and lessons learned from past experiences with shocks and stresses. It is about fostering the conditions for people, places, and systems to flourish. It is about encouraging adaptation to change, and complete transformation when necessary, to encourage long-term community sustainability. It is about developing and supporting community leadership in ways that build trust and encourage active participation in community processes.

community resilience

Community resilience is the capacity of individuals, neighborhoods, institutions, businesses, and systems within a community to survive, adapt, and grow, no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience.

Community Resilience Foundational Concepts

PEOPLE

The power to define community values and create an inclusive and resilient vision for the future resides with community members. This requires the active engagement of stakeholders, including typically underrepresented groups, in the resilience conversation.

PLACES

There is no place like home, but connections to community can be equally strong. Building attachment to community, often called “sense of place”, is an important foundation to resilience because it helps community leaders understand what residents are attached to and what should be prioritized in the face of adversity.

ADAPTATIONS

A community that can adapt to change is resilient. Communities are dynamic places and with change comes challenges that can make resilience seem unattainable. Envisioning adaptation as an ongoing process rather than an endpoint is key to building resilience.

TRANSFORMATIONS

Some challenges are so large that it is not possible to simply adapt. Thorough or dramatic change in form, appearance, or function may be necessary. In these cases, stakeholder input and rough consensus is required to increase community resilience.

SYSTEMS

Resilience requires us to build infrastructural, economic, and social systems with the ability to reduce the magnitude and duration of disruptive events. The effectiveness of systems depends on the ability of these interrelated elements to collectively anticipate, absorb, adapt to, and recover from shocks and stressors.

LEADERS

Resilience is not possible without the individuals and community organizations that take a prominent role in confronting challenging issues, and who take responsibility for the collective future.