Individual Resilience vs. Community Resilience

Understanding the overlap and differences between personal and collective resilience.

As explained in the Reality Studies Resilience Manual, resilience operates at individual and community levels. This quick piece differentiates the two at a high level—for a deeper dive, check out some of the other posts in the RSRM, for example:

Individual resilience pertains to your capacity to navigate personal challenges, while community resilience refers to the collective ability of groups to withstand, recover from, and adapt to future crises. Of course, there’s overlap here; understanding the interplay between these two forms of resilience is crucial for fostering truly robust systems capable of enduring and even thriving in the polycrisis.

Individual Resilience: The Personal Journey

Individual resilience refers to the psychological ability to cope with and adapt to significant stressors or adverse events. It involves a dynamic process wherein individuals use personal resources, skills, and coping strategies to maintain or regain mental health. Key characteristics of resilient individuals include:

• self-awareness

• self-regulation

• self-sufficiency and perseverance

• problem-solving abilities

• the presence of a supportive social network

While different people will have varying degrees of innate traits conducive to resilience, it is also a mental skill that can be trained.

Community Resilience: Collective Strength and Adaptation

Community resilience, on the other hand, pertains to the sustained ability of a community to utilize available resources to respond to, withstand, and recover from adverse situations. It involves collective efforts to ensure that infrastructure, public services, and social networks remain functional during and after crises.

Elements contributing to community resilience include:

• local knowledge, community networks, and relationships

• open communication (and channels for it).

• governance, leadership, and commitment to community

• economic investment in robust infrastructure and preparedness

A great example of a resilient community is Kahikinui in Hawaii. Following the devastating Lahaina Fire, they introduced the ‘Firewise’ program to mitigate future wildfire risks. Residents collaborated with organizations to clear waste, create defensible spaces around homes, and develop emergency response plans.

Interconnection and Mutual Reinforcement

Individual and community resilience operate at different levels, but they are (obviously!) deeply interdependent. The resilience of individuals contributes to the overall resilience of the community, and a resilient community provides a supportive environment that fosters individual resilience. Set, repeat. Research indicates that factors such as social support and community cohesion play significant roles in enhancing individual resilience.

In the aftermath of the 2022 floods in Lismore, Australia, for example, South Lismore Public School implemented the MacKillop Seasons Stormbirds program to support students who had experienced trauma. This initiative not only aided individual students in developing coping mechanisms but also strengthened the school's communal bonds, illustrating the reciprocal relationship between individual and community resilience.

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