Chapter 06 · Governance & regulationDevelopment, Impact & Global Frameworks
Community resilience
Definition
Community resilience describes a community's capacity to anticipate, prepare for, respond to and recover rapidly from disruptions — natural hazards, economic shocks or social crises — while adapting and transforming towards greater future wellbeing. NIST frames it around planning to withstand and recover; academic reviews find no single agreed definition but recurring elements such as local knowledge, social networks, communication and resources.
References
prepare/adapt/withstand/recover framing; resilience planning programme
absence of a single agreed definition; nine recurring elements
Overview
What it means
It shifts disaster thinking from infrastructure alone to the social fabric that determines who copes and who does not.
How it is used
Used in disaster-risk reduction, climate adaptation planning and public health; frameworks from NIST and others provide measurable dimensions for planning and investment.
Why it matters
Resilience is increasingly funded and legislated at community level, making definitional clarity essential for targeting resources. - **Note:** Definitions vary across disciplines; the entry reflects the converging core rather than a single authoritative formulation.