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Enhancing Community Resilience
Pages 3-24

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From page 3...
... . FEMA charged the committee with identifying "applied research topics, information, and expertise that can inform action and collaborative priorities within the natural hazard mitigation and resilience fields." The committee's charge directed us to convene two public workshops as the primary source of information for our work, supplemented by discussions with members of the Resilient America Roundtable.
From page 4...
... We evaluated this list of potential themes based on our understanding of each theme's importance to advancing hazard mitigation and resilience, the state of current science and practice available for applied research to each theme, and the potential for new insights and approaches offered by the theme. Based on these criteria, Social Capital and Social Connectedness for Resilience was selected as the theme of the first workshop and of this report.
From page 5...
... Resilient America pursues these objectives through two main activities. The first is the Resilient America Program, which seeks to implement recommendations from the 2012 report to strengthen community resilience and adaptation.
From page 6...
... Broader audiences include public, private, nongovernmental, philanthropic, and academic organizations at the local, regional, state, and federal levels seeking to reduce the impacts, losses, and suffering across the United States from disasters due to natural or technological hazards, public health emergencies, and other significant threats to communities and the nation. The ultimate aim of the committee's activities is to enable and empower applied research programs to engage in research that will strengthen capacities for hazard mitigation and resilience across the nation and around the world.
From page 7...
... 2. What are the most effective examples of social capital and connectedness in communities that you would like to see replicated to equitably enhance hazard mitigation and community resilience?
From page 8...
... APPLIED RESEARCH PRIORITIES Based on input from the workshop and committee members' knowledge and experiences with natural hazard mitigation and resilience, we chose three applied research priorities that can inform action and collaborative priorities within the natural hazard mitigation and resilience fields: 1. Inspiring Communities to Create and Sustain Social Capital and Connectedness 2.
From page 9...
... Because the creation of social capital and connectedness as network phenomena can function in discriminatory ways, how can they be best approached to maximize equity and social justice? Recognizing the role of social capital and social connectedness for active and functioning communities highlights the role of strong, pre-existing local networks in community resilience.
From page 10...
... There should be recognition that social capital and social connectedness are related constructs but not the same. Sometimes communities may experience increased social connectedness because there is less social capital or have high social capital but low social connectedness.
From page 11...
... Though implementation science is more common in fields other than disaster planning and response, it has much to offer in terms of applied research on the links between social infrastructure and resilience. Applied research topics for Inspiring Communities to Create and Sustain Social Capital and Connectedness include • Identify and highlight key connections, co-benefits, and value of social capital and connectedness for equitable hazard mitigation and resilience.
From page 12...
... meant to connect and prepare community members. a Wellington Region Emergency Management Office, Community Resilience Strategy (Second Edition)
From page 13...
... Redlining, zoning, and unjust design, as well as approaches to access and control of spaces, have instituted and extended inequities in access to and use of public space. Equity and access must be considered in investments to enhance community assets and infrastructure, including ones intended for hazard mitigation and resilience, to ensure benefits for all community residents.
From page 14...
... How can new digital and public spaces best be created and distributed throughout communities in ways that can be shown to enhance social capital and connectedness, and ultimately community resilience? How can community-initiated science identify the greatest community values based returns on investment for place-making programs that avoid over-investment in luxury or large infrastructures that benefit few community members or are designed for infrequent use?
From page 15...
... For example, GoodSpace Murals, a women run studio based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, demonstrates the potential of the visual arts to seed community resilience. The organization works with communities around the world to activate walls as spaces for community storytelling and community voice.
From page 16...
... By studying the creation and effects of community art, researchers could determine best practices and ways of disseminating and scaling up these practices. They could uncover the best ways of training community art leaders, who are crucial for facilitating connectivity and inclusiveness.
From page 17...
... The third is the risk of intangible impacts, such as damage to social institutions. This third category is where social capital and connectedness primarily falls, and often constitutes the cause of the most damage and loss from natural hazards and other disasters.
From page 18...
... Applied research topics for Building Social Capital and Connectedness through Financial Investment Strategies include: • Identify existing approaches and examples for integrating social capital considerations in to financial mechanisms. What lessons are available from instruments such as social impact bonds for valuing and strengthening social institutions and community resilience?
From page 19...
... During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, Americans' behavior depended partly on their views of the role of the government, the public health community, and nonprofit organizations in disaster response, and these views affected individual and community choices around mask wearing, indoor gatherings, and social distancing. To support community resilience, financial investment strategies must reflect this division between perception and reality.
From page 20...
... All of these variations of trust complicate study of the issue, but such research will be essential in building understanding of social capital and connectedness with respect to disaster resilience. As an example of the role of trust in one of the identified research topics, financial investment strategies have typically been disconnected from the infrastructure of community resilience.
From page 21...
... Such ownership may also result in exclusion of other groups from otherwise public spaces, something that can be avoided via community co-development and early recognition of public ownership. To sustain social capital and connectedness over time, researchers need to listen to community members, and research outputs must align with a community's desires and shared purpose.
From page 22...
... Recognizing the importance of social capital and connectedness in communities, the Committee on Applied Research Topics for Hazard Mitigation and Resilience focused on applied research needs and opportunities to better understand the role of these factors. We sought to identify ways to extend and strengthen their contribution to community resilience.
From page 23...
... b. Identify existing and potential metrics for social capital and social connectedness.
From page 24...
... . The importance of social capital in building community resilience.


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