Connection
Soft skills for building local resilience initiatives In mid-February, many across the nation watched as Texas experienced an apocalyptic series of cascading events that hindered utility and food supply chains from delivering necessities to homes and communities across much of the Lone Star State. From news stories reporting recordbreaking cold temperatures on Monday, rolling power outages on Tuesday, bursting pipes and lack of water service on Wednesday, bare grocery shelves on Thursday, and many cold, hungry, and huddled in their cars by Friday asking, “When will this all end?” the rest of us watched and wondered, “Can this happen in my own community?” As atypical as the events in Texas were, the state is not unfamiliar with the term “disaster assistance.” With increasing hurricanes and high-heat events each year, Texas is now standing at the precipice of needing to enhance its overall
Above: The Emergency Management Cycle Diagram
14
resilience or face billions of dollars in natural hazard damages and the potential loss of its population looking for safer ground. With geography being the primary determinant of a community’s risk to natural hazards, we’re now seeing increasing considerations for vulnerable populations, critical facilities, cultural assets, infrastructure, and other important land uses that lie in harm’s way as we approach incoming projects in our firms. Design professionals cannot always solely rely upon the building code to resolve the inequities highlighted by climate change and are finding themselves more often flexing their communication, problem-solving, and leadership abilities to bring a unique perspective to the conversation. As architects and designers, we possess unique skill sets that can bring value beyond our desktops and into the places where we live and work to ensure they are safer, healthier, and more resilient communities.
