Building Resilient Communities One Organization at a Time

The ICOR Resilient Community Framework asserts that there are five primary systems upon which each community functions no matter its size. Each system contributes to the overall resilience or vulnerability of the community.

When an individual system is strong it creates capital for the community. When an individual system is weak it makes the community vulnerable. The Community Resilience Framework encourages a “systems” view where each system is part of a larger system that works together.

A community’s resilience also increases when it has more adaptive capacity and decreases when it is more vulnerable and less able to manage change and endure stress. A community relies on its systems to be strong and flexible, to be able to evolve and adapt when necessary, and to be sufficiently agile to take advantage of opportunity.

When an individual system operates with spare capacity, has the capacity to rebound quickly and re-establish its functions to avoid long-term disruptions, and encourages constant learning to allow new solutions as conditions change, the whole system benefits.

The resilience of a community is not static. Adaptive capacity changes over time in response to changes in the community and its level of vulnerability.

As each community is unique there is no one-size-fits-all solution. A community needs to have a clear vision for how it wants to increase its resilience and set a roadmap for how it can get there.

A Healthy Environment

A healthy environmental system:

Protects and restores the natural resource base upon which life depends.
Seeks to reduce climate impacts through adaptation and mitigation efforts and increase resource efficiencies.

A resilient community has adequate natural resources to supports its population. There is access to energy, food, and water.

A resilient community has a healthy ecosystem and habitat. It has a limited amount of pollution in the water, air and land and it has procedures for the reduction of waste, and the recovery, reuse, and recycling of waste materials. A resilient community abides by International laws and standards and enforces these regulations.

Groups that are part of managing the community’s natural resources and protecting the environment are either provided by the government or are conducted by privately owned companies that deliver services such as electricity, water, gas, waste management, and sanitation services.

Responsible Governance

A responsible governance system:

Provides community services
Enforces laws humanely
Protects its community members
Manages its finances and meets its budgets under changing conditions.

All responsible communities have a governance system that is self-governing and self-sustaining. It provides services needed by its community members such as transportation, power/energy, water/wastewater, and communication systems. A responsible governance system also provides for the development and maintenance of the community’s environment and infrastructure.

The government protects its community members through use of the military and police and has an emergency management capability. It should also have governing bodies, laws and representation and enforce its laws in a humane manner.

There should be a capacity to deliver within government bodies at all levels. Governance includes managing its finances to ensure funding for all needed activities and meeting budget requirements under changing conditions. Leadership should look to the long term as well as deal with short term issues.

The governance structure should have healthy relations with the governing bodies of other countries and abide by international law and the Geneva Convention.

Strong Economy

A strong economic system:

Produces necessary resources
Has a diversified economy
Has access to financial and physical resources
Maintains the value of its currency

All communities require economic health and development in order to thrive. A resilient community is one where community members have access to good jobs and good wages and where employment is based primarily on education and skills.

The community produces enough goods to meet the needs of the community members. A resilient community has a diversified economy that supports sustainability.

A healthy economic system depends upon ease of doing business, public transportation systems, its economic networks, energy efficiency, and property and living costs. It also depends upon access to funding and resources – both financial and physical – and maintains the value of its currency.

A Prepared System

In a Prepared System:

Risk reduction activities are planned and funded.
Networks and partnerships exist to provide support in times of need
Community members are educated on how to be more prepared
Organizations within the community are recognized for their resilience initiatives

Communities need to reduce their vulnerability to natural and man-made disasters. This requires planned and funded risk reduction activities as well as preparing to manage through disruptive incidents and to be resilient against disasters. A strong emergency management system that supports the efforts of local police, fire fighters, and other emergency personnel is required.

Being prepared also requires a community to build networks and partnerships not just with other communities and governmental bodies, but also with the organizations it serves in both the public and private sectors. Being disaster-resilient requires educating community members on how to protect themselves and how to be more prepared.

A prepared system ensures that it has the resources and expertise necessary to assist the victims of disasters.

It also depends upon the resilience of the organizations within it. The resilience of each organization, a culture of innovation, and its ability to provide its good and services under all conditions has a strong impact on the overall resilience of the community. Resilient communities encourage preparedness, innovation, and recognize the resilience of the organizations within the community.

High Quality of Life

A community with a high quality of life has:

Access to education & information
Access to affordable housing & quality healthcare
The existence of social freedoms
Access to employment and prosperity.

The quality of the life inside a community directly impacts its resilience. Communities can be vulnerable when there exists internal tensions due to unfairness. In a resilient community, all members of the community are equal and diversity is valued. There exists social freedoms such as freedom of speech and freedom to worship in the religion of their choosing.

A community needs to provide its members with a public education system that provides equal opportunities for the education of all of its community members. Informal education should also be available for community members to access additional learning through traditional and non-traditional methods.

A healthy community includes access to knowledge repositories and information systems such as a library and/or the Internet. This includes the availability of world and community news.

The resilient community places a high value on human life. Community members have access to affordable housing, access to quality and affordable healthcare, and they have the freedom to worship in the religion of their choosing.

A resilient community is one where it is safe for its community members to live.