learningforsustainability.netSustainable development and community resilience
"Sustainability, is better seen as a measure of the relationship between the community as learners and their environments, rather than an externally designed goal to be achieved" (Sriskandarajah et al, 1991).
All too often "sustainability" is seen as an outcome - a tangible situation that we strive to define and arive at - rather than a process of "planned change" ... or "managed learning". This process must involve the building of sustainable relationships between people, and between people and their environment. To do this requires the development of learning societies ... capable of adapting to feedback, with improved abilities to improve decision making through the sharing of information, communication and understanding. This page highlights links in the two related areas of sustainable development and community resilience
As Allen (20011) points out, Agenda 21 clearly identified information, integration, and participation as key building blocks to help countries achieve development that recognises these interactions. It emphasises that in sustainable development everyone is a user and provider of information. It stresses the need to change from old sector-centred ways of doing business to new approaches that involve cross-sectoral co-ordination and the integration of environmental and social concerns into all development processes. Furthermore, Agenda 21 emphasises that broad public participation in decision making is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving sustainable development.
As these multiple dimensions of development have been taken into account by governments, agencies and other organisations, so we have seen a different language emerging in development papers and reports. The World Bank defines participation as 'a process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives and the decisions and resources which affect them', and talks about the need to 'empower' the poor -- helping them move from being 'beneficiaries' to 'clients' (World Bank 1996). The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) coined the term 'sustainable human development' to describe the very human-centeredness of sustainable development (UNDP 1996). Within Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Vice-President Pierre Beemans suggested that development is 'change that improves the conditions of human well-being so that people can exercise meaningful choices for their own benefit and that of society'. This ability lies at the heart of current initiatives to strengthen community resilience and community adaptation in the face of global environmental change and other sustainability issues.
Sustainable development
- Introduction to sustainable development This introduction has been developed by the Sustainable Development Communications Network, including sustainable development organizations from around the world. The site contains a timeline of sustainable development history, background material on the most important aspects of the concept, and suggestions for further exploration.
- Sustainable development - Global issues This part of the globalissues.org web site attempts to introduce the issue of development and sustainable development. Sustainable Development is often an over-used word, but goes to the heart of tackling a number of inter-related global issues such as poverty, inequality, hunger and environmental degradation. In theory, development that is sustainable and not damaging to the planet is very possible. Of course though, in reality there are a lot of politics and challenges involved as highlighted throughout this site.
- Social learning processes and sustainable development As this site from the Centre for Development and Environment points out, sustainable development issues are always part of a larger ‘multi-stakeholder’ setting. Therefore, the translation of sustainability into concrete social practice must be the result of a joint effort, involving all relevant actors. This translation of the sustainability principles into concrete action can be understood as a social or collective learning process involving all actors related to a certain issue.
- What is sustainable development? This site is home to the UK-based Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) is situated within the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). A widely-used and accepted international definition of sustainable development is: 'development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs' - Globally we are not even meeting the needs of the present let alone considering the needs of future generations.
- Sustainable development as a policy concept The need for new approaches to environmental policy and ecosystem management has emerged in line with the evolving concept of 'sustainable development'. Over the past three decades, 'development theorizing has progressed beyond economic parameters based on gross domestic product (GDP) per capita growth, and even the conventional social indicators of literacy, life expectancy and caloric intake ... interventionist frameworks now regularly include such dimensions as sustainable environmental practices, gender equity, respect for human rights and participatory governance'. While conventional approaches to agriculture have in the past tended to employ narrow economic or productivity criteria to measure their success, today the questions have been broadened to simultaneously evaluate the health of relevant systems in terms of ecology, ethics and equity
- Looking for Oregon's future: What is sustainability? The publication, "Looking for Oregon's Future: What is Sustainability?" features 33 articles about sustainability, an interactive quiz to test your knowledge and links to other sustainability sites.
Community resilience and adaptation
- The Community Resilience Manual: A Resource for Rural Recovery & Renewal In November 1999, the Canadian-based Centre for Community Enterprise released in draft form The Community Resilience Manual from this site. Over 500 communities, government agencies, researchers, and CED practitioners downloaded the draft in portable document format (PDF) in the subsequent 12 months. The base dimensions are people, organizations, resources and community process. Each dimension is then analysed against characteristics that have been demonstrated to be predictive of resilience. Although specifically addressed to the rural communities of British Columbia, the Manual offered valuable assistance to any small community (including some in Australia and New Zealand) that wanted to make better decisions about mobilizing and investing its resources.
- How to Build Resilient Community?
This article by Sudibyo Markus (Chairman, Muhammadiyah Committee for Aceh Recovery Jakarta, Indonesia) brings together a number of key lessons related to community resilience. The issue of different scales and their importance and lingages are pointed out. - How Resilient Is Your Coastal Community? A Guide for Evaluating Coastal Community Resilience
to Tsunamis and Other Hazards This Coastal Community Resilience (CCR) Guide was developed, building on lessons learned and experience gained in the Indian Ocean region after the 2004 tsunami, to address coastal hazards and reduce risk to vulnerable communities. The framework described in this CCR guide posits 8 elements of resilience, was developed in partnership with institutions throughout the Indian Ocean region, and is already beginning to guide development along Asian coasts most in need of building resilience. The results of the CCR assessment process outlined in this guide can fit easily into and enhance development plans for any given coastal area, and can thereby complement traditional planning processes used by local and national governments. A summary newsletter version is available.
- Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition This article highlights the importance of resilient communities as healthy communities capable of "bouncing back" from adverse situations by actively influencing and preparing for economic, social and environmental change. Fact sheets are then provided for the key elements of resilience. Social capital provides a community with an informed communications network and access to a wide range of resources, beyond the traditional labour market, during times of crisis. A high-level of community capacity will set the framework for quick disaster relief and information sharing through community networks. Well-planned urban development and sustainable environmental practices help diminish the effects of disasters by mitigating toxic run-off and erosion, among other factors. And finally useful evaluation can be used to examine current programs to determine if they are fostering resilience.
- Does adaptive management of natural resources enhance resilience to climate change? This paper by Emma Tompkins and Neil Adger suggests that building resilience into both human and ecological systems is an effective way to cope with environmental change characterized by future surprises or unknowable risks. The authors review perspectives on collective action for natural resource management to inform understanding of climate response capacity. They demonstrate the importance of social learning, specifically in relation to the acceptance of strategies that build social and ecological resilience. Finally, using the example of community-based coastal management in Trinidad and Tobago they demonstrates that community-based management enhances adaptive capacity in two ways: by building networks that are important for coping with extreme events and by retaining the resilience of the underpinning resources and ecological systems.
- Concepts and practices of "resilience": a compilation from various secondary sources This overview document was prepared by Atiq Kainan Ahmed for the Coastal Community Resilience Coordination Workshop, Bangkok, Thailand, May May 23-25, 2006, Bangkok, Thailand. It covers definitions, discourses and provides an introduction to models and frameworks.
A number of other papers that extend the ideas of community resilience and adaptation highlighted through the links here can be found from the social learning page. The main index points to related topic areas that can support the achievement of these ideas in practice.
Links to manuals, checklists and tools 