Community Resilience: Evidence
and Applications
Deborah Tootle and Terry Besser
Iowa State University
Objectives and Overview
• Why the focus on resilience research?
• Define community shocks, community
resilience, and social capital
• Literature and gaps
• Research
• Findings and applications
Importance of Focus
• Community resilience
is a function of place
• Rural disadvantage –
rural places may be
less resilient than
urban places
• Difficulty in studying
pre and post shock in
rural communities
Importance of Focus
• Emerging research literature on
community social capital and resiliency …
very little in Extension and less on
economic shock
A Few Definitions …
• Community shock
• Community resilience
• Social capital
– Bonding
– Bridging
Community Shock
A sudden event that poses a
significant threat to the local quality
of life
Community Shock
• Sudden events that pose significant threat
to local economies and quality of life
– Loss of major employer
– Major disruptions to existing order
– Natural disasters
• Responses to shock can be determined by
pre-shock social and economic conditions
(Chamlee-Wright and Storr, 2011; Besser, 2013)
Losing a Major Employer
Natural Disaster
Community Resilience
• Many different ways to define
• Ability of community to bounce-back to preshock quality of life (Cutter, 2008; 2010)
• Grounded definition
– Quality of life
– Community satisfaction, happiness
(Andrews and Withey, 1976; Argyle, 1996; Besser, 2013; Sirgy et al., 2000)
Community Resilience
“resilience involves both absorptive capacity, or
the ability to resist disruption and remain relatively
stable, and the ability to bounce back, regroup,
and restore the activities of disrupted systems ...
resiliency involves not merely a return to or
replacement of some prior state, but
reorganization, change, and under certain
conditions major system transformations”
(Tierney, 2014: 164)
Community Resiliency Defined
“the capacity of communities and their built
environment to mitigate, prepare for,
respond to, and recover quickly from
disasters, and adapt to new circumstances
while learning from past disasters”
(Peacock, et.al., 2010: 57)
Resilience in Practice
• Resiliency work in social sciences
emergent at best
• Early work focused on “resilient”
individuals
• Later became more focused on place and
resilient communities
Drivers of Community Resilience
Social capacity
Economic vitality
Institutional structure
Infrastructure
Community capitals
(especially social)
 Social networks
Aldrich, 2012; Cutter, et.al., 2008;
2010; Peacock, et al., 2010.
Emery and Flora, 2008
Social Capital
The more people
know and trust
each other and
have built
expectations of
reciprocity …
the more likely
they can work
together to solve
problems
(Putnam 1993, 2000)
Communities with More
Social Capital Have:
Research literature tells us:
– Higher levels of
voluntarism and civic
engagement
– More effective local
government
– More positive
economic outcomes
– More resilience –
disaster social capital
Types of Social Capital
• Bonding
• Bridging
• Linking
(Aldrich and Meyer, 2015; Flora, 1998; Granovetter, 1972; Narayan,
1999; Woolcock, 2001)
Types of Social Capital
• Linking social capital critical in disaster
management – combination of local knowledge
and access to government resources can be
critical.
• Disaster social capital is another refinement of
bridging/linking social capital.
(Aldrich and Meyer, 2015; Woolcock, 2001;
Szertzer and Woolcock, 2004.)
Disaster Social Capital
• New concept
• Based on linkages to people and
organizations that can provide resources
and assistance for preparing for,
responding to, recovering from, mitigating
disasters
Bonding and Bridging Social Capital…
… are necessary for effective community
mobilization to solve problems and respond
to shocks.
– Bonding critical for day to day survival
– Bridging and linking critical for recovery and
redevelopment
(Agnitsch, Flora & Ryan 2006; Berke & Campanella 2006; Burns & Thomas
2006; Chamlee-Wright and Storr 2009,2011; Flora & Ryan 2006, Hawkins
and Maurer, 2010; Hurlbert,et al., 2000; Murphy 2007; Patterson et al.
2010; Smith & Anderson 2012)
The Gaps
• Empirical evidence
– Much is theoretical
– Some case studies but few quantitative
studies of pre and post events
– Little to no work on economic events
• Applications from the research
– How and where do we use the information?
– How do we connect the dots?
Research Literature Suggests:
• After a community
shock, previously
existing social capital
will have a positive
effect on community
quality of life
• Pre-shock bridging
social capital will have
a greater positive
effect on community
quality of life than
bonding social capital
99 Communities Research
• Data from 99 Small Towns in Iowa
Study
– Quality of life in small towns: 1994, 2004,
2014
– Household surveys of residents of same 99
Iowa small towns (500-10,000 pop.)
– 150-165 households in each town
– In 2005, collected shock data; 74 towns
experienced at least one kind of shock
Kinds of Economic Shocks
(Percent out of 152)
Businesses opened/expanded
21
Non-govt services
18
Businesses closed/downsized
18
Schools
14
Housing
10
Natural disasters
9
Govt services
7
Other
4
0
5
10
15
20
25
Findings?
What do you think we found when
we assessed the relationship
between social capital and
resiliency to shocks?
Findings
Bridging social capital is important to
future community quality of life
High levels of pre-shock bridging social
capital and community participation
contribute to small town resilience.
A high level of pre-shock bonding social
capital is detrimental to small town
resilience.
Findings
Why did high levels of bonding social
capital have a negative effect on
resiliency?
Discussion
• Implications for extension outreach
– Extension work in disaster preparedness
needs more focus on resilience
– Need to incorporate skills to build bridging
social capital
– Move further away from “technical expert” role
to facilitate more collaborative learning in
diverse groups – building social capital
Discussion
• But, keep in mind:
– Extension programming in general builds
social capital ... Why?
– Any programming that builds social capital,
especially bridging social capital, should
increase community resilience
Specific Applications
• ReadyCommunity
• Extension Disaster Education Network
(EDEN)
• Strengthening Community Agrosecurity
Preparedness (SCAP)
Specific Applications – Building
Disaster Social Capital
EDEN
CERTS
VOADS
Community
Extension
FEMA
Specific Applications
What are examples of specific
programs or activities in your
area that can build social capital
and increase community
resilience?
Thank You!
For more information about this project or
presentation, contact:
Deborah Tootle [email protected]
or
Terry Besser [email protected]