Resilient Communities

The term resilience is defined as the capacity to return to equilibrium after a displacement. Resilient materials and systems bend and adjust to absorb pressure without breaking. In public relations literature, and specifically in risk and crisis communication research, resiliency is examined at the community level. Resilient communities are able to maintain operations or quickly return to normal following a disturbance such as a natural disaster. Community resilience has been described as both a process and an outcome.

There are four key elements in the process approach to community resilience: anticipating threats, reducing vulnerability to hazard events, and responding to and recovering from hazard events when they occur. Risk and crisis management and communication are essential throughout the process approach to community resilience. As an outcome, resilience is defined as a loose antonym for vulnerability because a resilient community is able to withstand or quickly bounce back from external shocks, stresses, changes, or disturbances in the social, political, or physical environment. When considered an outcome, resilience can be examined to determine what resources enable the community to be resilient. The resources are then assessed according to the attributes of the 4R's: robustness (ability to withstand stress); redundancy (extent to which elements are substitutable); rapidity (ability to achieve goals in a timely manner); and resourcefulness (capacity to identify problems and mobilize resources). Community building and community relations help establish these resources.

Fran Norris, Susan P. Stevens, Betty Pfefferbaum, Karen F. Wyche, and Rose L. Pfefferbaum (2008) provided a framework for a theory of community resilience that identified four primary networked capacities of community resilience: economic development, social capital, information and communication, and community competence. Together, these capacities provide a strategy for community preparedness, response, and recovery.

Economic development includes fairness of risk and vulnerability to hazards, level and diversity of economic resources, and equity of resource distribution. Hazards are not evenly distributed across populations, and individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are not only more likely to live in areas prone to hazards, but also less likely to have the financial resources to rebuild and recover from a disaster. Communities that have just a few primary employers can be devastated by a disaster that affects the industry. Poor communities are also less successful in mobilizing support after disasters.

Social capital includes received and perceived social support, formal and informal ties to the community, organizational linkages and cooperation, sense of community, and attachment to place. Social support includes having family and friends nearby who are able and willing to help as well as relationships between individuals and their neighbors and the larger community network, including religious groups, schools, and community organizations. Sense of community and attachment to place promote community recovery as a requirement for personal recovery. Community relations is essential in building social capital to bring organizations and municipal services together to support community rebuilding and renewal.

Information and communication includes narratives, responsible media, skills and infrastructure, and trusted sources of information. Effective communication before, during, and after a disaster can be crucial in reducing damage and loss of life, while rumors and misinformation can exacerbate a crisis. Likewise, media coverage that sensationalizes disaster information rather than providing instructional messages for self-protection can hinder community response and recovery. Therefore, public relations practitioners and crisis communicators must ensure accurate information is reported through trusted sources. Establishing a protocol for communication and effective media relations can truly be life or death strategies in a disaster. After a disaster, information resources are needed to assist communities with rebuilding and recovery. Libraries, schools, media outlets, and other information resources can also provide forums for sharing communal narratives of the disaster to assist with emotional recovery. Disaster memorials offer a continued outlet for communal narratives.

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