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Planning for Resilience in Rural Communities
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Planning for Resilience in Rural Communities

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Hazards and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2022) | Viewed by 19090

Special Issue Editor

Dr. John T Cooper

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute for Sustainable Communities, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA
Interests: collaborative land use planning; equitable disaster recovery; environmental justice; participatory research; leadership development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are in an era of disasters. A UN report published earlier this year confirmed how extreme weather events have increased in severity and frequency over the last 20 years. The report revealed that the number of major disasters almost doubled in the last 20 years, and the number of major floods, in particular, more than doubled. The report also notes that much of the difference is explained by a rise in climate-related disasters, with an increase in climate-related events from 3656 in 1980–1999 to 6681 in 2000–2019. In the United States, climate change is increasingly undeniable, as evidenced in 2020 alone by wildfires, floods, and a record-breaking number of storms during the Atlantic hurricane season.  If this trend continues, some economists and climate scientists expect future disasters to devastate rural communities in particular. Unfortunately, many rural communities already struggle with factors that cause some to suffer disasters disproportionately, including higher rates of poverty, disability, limited access to healthcare and broadband services. These same factors make bouncing back after disasters seem out of reach. To avoid or minimize the long-term effects of disasters on individuals, cultures, ecosystems, and economies, rural communities must focus on strategies to increase resilience.

Resilience is commonly described as the ability to anticipate, prepare, and plan for disasters so that a community can absorb the consequences and more adequately recover. Research and practice affirm that the path to resilience starts with developing plans that maximize the health, safety, and economic well-being of everyone in a community. In addition, time and effort invested in pre-disaster planning for resilience has a greater return on investment than time and effort poured into post-disaster relief and recovery. To that end, effective disaster resilience planning assesses the risk of disasters in a community, then prioritizes community needs and values in reducing risk. Developing plans before a disaster could also enhance a community’s ability to secure and expedite the flow of post-disaster resources for relief and recovery. Unfortunately, too often rural communities do not have the capacity (human, financial, organizational, technical, political, etc.)  and/or other resources necessary to become more resilient. Therefore, the focus of this Special Issue is to provide a better understanding of the barriers to enhancing resilience in rural communities and illuminating promising strategies for enhancing resilience.

Dr. John T Cooper
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Rural resilience
  • Social vulnerability
  • Collaborative disaster planning
  • Climate adaptation
  • Equitable disaster policy
  • Participatory research
  • Environmental justice

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 1230 KiB  
Article
Climate Disasters and Subjective Well-Being among Urban and Rural Residents in Indonesia
by Moh Shadiqur Rahman, Novil Dedy Andriatmoko, Moh Saeri, Herman Subagio, Afrizal Malik, Joko Triastono, Renie Oelviani, Juliana C. Kilmanun, Helena da Silva, Marietje Pesireron, Rein Estefanus Senewe and Yusuf Yusuf
Sustainability 2022, 14(6), 3383; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063383 - 14 Mar 2022
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3129
Abstract
Climate disasters pose a risk to residents’ well-being globally. However, information about the impact of climate disasters among urban and rural residents remains lacking, especially in Indonesia. This study aims to fill the gap by investigating the impact of climate disaster on subjective [...] Read more.
Climate disasters pose a risk to residents’ well-being globally. However, information about the impact of climate disasters among urban and rural residents remains lacking, especially in Indonesia. This study aims to fill the gap by investigating the impact of climate disaster on subjective well-being based on urban and rural typology model. The data were cross-sectional, involving 7110 Indonesian residents who had experienced climate disasters, 3813 from urban areas and 3297 from rural areas. An ordered probit model was employed to estimate the impact of climate disasters on subjective well-being (i.e., happiness and life satisfaction). In general, the empirical results show that climate disasters do not significantly affect the happiness of Indonesian residents, but they significantly and negatively impact their life satisfaction. Further analysis reveals that climate disasters impact urban and rural residents differently. The subjective well-being of rural residents is more severely affected than those living in urban areas. Further estimation also indicated that climate disaster significantly reduces residents’ subjective well-being at the lowest income level for both rural and urban residents. Our finding confirms that rural residents remain the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planning for Resilience in Rural Communities)
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20 pages, 306 KiB  
Article
Supply Chain Resilience: Unleashing the Power of Collaboration in Disaster Management
by Muhammad Umar and Mark Wilson
Sustainability 2021, 13(19), 10573; https://doi.org/10.3390/su131910573 - 23 Sep 2021
Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4741
Abstract
This study builds on the extant literature of supply chain collaboration, specifically, vertical and horizontal collaboration, and examines how these capabilities influence the resilience of supply chains that experience regular natural disasters in rural communities, as their economic wellbeing relies heavily on the [...] Read more.
This study builds on the extant literature of supply chain collaboration, specifically, vertical and horizontal collaboration, and examines how these capabilities influence the resilience of supply chains that experience regular natural disasters in rural communities, as their economic wellbeing relies heavily on the continuation of these supply chains. A multiple case study approach has been adopted to investigate the role of collaboration within food supply chains of two different South Asian regions. This context was selected because these regions are prone to regular natural disruptions, and these food supply chains also play a crucial role in the disaster relief process. The data revealed that effective communication, mutual dependence, information sharing, informal financial support, and trust are some of the components of supply chain collaboration that enhance the overall resilience of supply chains in natural disasters. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planning for Resilience in Rural Communities)
16 pages, 2849 KiB  
Article
A Conceptual Framework Integrating “Building Back Better” and Post-Earthquake Needs for Recovery and Reconstruction
by Manjiang Shi, Qi Cao, Baisong Ran and Lanyan Wei
Sustainability 2021, 13(10), 5608; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13105608 - 18 May 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3131
Abstract
Global disasters due to earthquakes have become more frequent and intense. Consequently, post-disaster recovery and reconstruction has become the new normal in the social process. Through post-disaster reconstruction, risks can be effectively reduced, resilience can be improved, and long-term stability can be achieved. [...] Read more.
Global disasters due to earthquakes have become more frequent and intense. Consequently, post-disaster recovery and reconstruction has become the new normal in the social process. Through post-disaster reconstruction, risks can be effectively reduced, resilience can be improved, and long-term stability can be achieved. However, there is a gap between the impact of post-earthquake reconstruction and the needs of the people in the disaster area. Based on the international consensus of “building back better” (BBB) and a post-disaster needs assessment method, this paper proposes a new (N-BBB) conceptual model to empirically analyze recovery after the Changning Ms 6.0 earthquake in Sichuan Province, China. The reliability of the model was verified through factor analysis. The main observations were as follows. People’s needs focus on short-term life and production recovery during post-earthquake recovery and reconstruction. Because of disparities in families, occupations, and communities, differences are observed in the reconstruction time sequence and communities. Through principal component analysis, we found that the N-BBB model constructed in this study could provide strong policy guidance in post-disaster recovery and reconstruction after the Changning Ms 6.0 earthquake, effectively coordinate the “top-down” and “bottom-up” models, and meet the diversified needs of such recovery and reconstruction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planning for Resilience in Rural Communities)
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21 pages, 773 KiB  
Article
Ageing in Place in Disaster Prone Rural Coastal Communities: A Case Study of Tai O Village in Hong Kong
by Crystal Kwan and Ho Chung Tam
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4618; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094618 - 21 Apr 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2848
Abstract
Rural coastal communities face unique disaster risks that will impact interventions throughout the disaster risk reduction (DRR) cycle (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery). At the same time, these communities are experiencing an ageing population. As climate change contributes to rising sea levels and [...] Read more.
Rural coastal communities face unique disaster risks that will impact interventions throughout the disaster risk reduction (DRR) cycle (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery). At the same time, these communities are experiencing an ageing population. As climate change contributes to rising sea levels and an increase in the intensity and frequency of climate-related disasters, older populations living in rural coastal communities face heightened risks. This is a qualitative case study examining the ageing in place (AIP) experiences of older people living in a disaster-prone rural coastal community in Hong Kong—Tai O Village. Findings highlight that: (i) a critical dimension of AIP is their ability to sustain and continue their work, which played a multidimensional role, (ii) local community-based organizations play an instrumental role in providing social support in a disaster context, (iii) more support and resources for mitigation activities are needed, and (iv) while supports exist for AIP and in a disaster situation, the older residents may not utilize such supports. In addition to informing age-friendly DRR programmes and research, these findings inform AIP practices, policies, and research relevant to rural coastal communities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planning for Resilience in Rural Communities)
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Review

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26 pages, 1271 KiB  
Review
Using the Community Engagement Framework to Understand and Assess EJ-Related Research Efforts
by Dana H. Z. Williamson
Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2809; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052809 - 28 Feb 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4208
Abstract
Within an environmental justice frame, capacity-building has been an important component of efforts to address health disparities at the policy, system, and environment levels. While the literature is replete with studies that discuss the necessity of collective action as a means to generate [...] Read more.
Within an environmental justice frame, capacity-building has been an important component of efforts to address health disparities at the policy, system, and environment levels. While the literature is replete with studies that discuss the necessity of collective action as a means to generate power to overcome inequities, limited attention has been given to the structure of these efforts to build capacity and challenge environmental injustices. This study applies the community engagement continuum as a framework for understanding the scope of capacity-building strategies and the manner in which research investigators engage with their intended target community. Paired teams of independent analysts screened articles for relevance (n = 8452), identified records for content abstraction (n = 163), and characterized relevant studies (n = 58). Many articles discussed community engagement as being either collaborative or shared leadership (n = 32, 55.2%). While the most commonly used capacity-building strategies were organizing/social action (58.6%) and CBPR (50%), few studies were able to make an environmental impact (n = 23; 39.7%), and fewer had a direct legislative policy-related outcome (n = 13; 22.4%). This review identifies levels of collaborative involvement and strategic approaches used for strengthening community capacity in efforts of making transformative policy, systems, and environmental change. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Planning for Resilience in Rural Communities)
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