Community Resilience

 

What is community resilience?

Community Resilience refers to the ability of communities to use local resources, knowledge, and skills to prepare for, respond to, recover from, and adapt to emergencies, disasters, or significant challenges. This approach emphasises self-reliance, collaboration, and proactive engagement, aiming to empower communities to mitigate the impacts of incidents and enhance recovery. Groups within communities—whether based on location (such as a neighbourhood, street, village, or parish) or shared interests and beliefs (such as faith groups, voluntary organisations, or neighbourhood watch schemes)—can play a key role in supporting broader community preparedness and resilience.

Why should communities be resilient?

Essex’s resilience to emergencies will be improved if everyone works together, through the building of stronger and more connected communities, who are ready to step forward at times of need to support each other.   

Five steps to improving your community’s resilience: - 

• Step 1 - If there isn’t already one for your community, think about forming a community resilience group. 
• Step 2 - Be aware of the risks that your community might face (link to the relevant page on the ERF Website)
• Step 3 - Has your community already got an emergency plan – maybe your parish has (contact your District/Borough, City or Unitary authority) or your community group (contact your group leader) to find out?  If not, think about developing, or helping to develop, an emergency plan for your group or community.   
• Step 4 - Build community connections, so you communicate effectively with your community in an emergency.  What contact methods could you use, for example contact lists, WhatsApp groups, social media platforms and physical meeting points. 
• Step 5 - Understand your community and who might be vulnerable in an emergency, so assistance can be offered.  For example, who in your street may need support in severe weather, a flood, power outage or pandemic? 
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Key Elements of Community Resilience

• Preparedness: - Individuals and groups understanding risks and taking steps to reduce their impact.
• Self-Sufficiency: - Empowering communities to support themselves during emergencies, reducing reliance on emergency services.
• Collaboration: - Strengthening relationships between community members, voluntary organizations, local authorities, and emergency responders.
• Adaptability: - Building the capacity to adapt to new risks, changing conditions, and lessons learned from past events.