Here is the essay describing how preparedness and resilience are complimentary. This writing has been submitted to the Register Guard, June 2
July 15, New blog for Mother Earth News - Enhanced version - preparedness, resilience, sustainability.
Preparedness and Resilience Complement Each Other
Two words, preparedness and resilience, have gained a lot of interest in recent years. They are closely related but seldom identified as complementary.
Preparedness refers to being ready when disruption to normal life occurs. Disruptions and disasters can be natural or human caused, likely both, such as floods, fires, power failure and earthquakes. Other disasters can include chemical spills, draught, terrorism, dam failure, social/economic malfunction and more. Climate change is a disruption wild card.
Mainstream preparedness can include stashing food and water at home and having a go bag for emergency exit for self or family. Mutual assistance plans with neighbors can deepen the effectiveness of preparedness by opening up many new opportunities to make common cause with others.
The City of Eugene has several programs that can help residents prepare for disruption and disaster with their neighbors. Map Your Neighborhood, is a program with step by step “how to” literature. Its a great way to connect with nearby neighbors. Even Neighborhood Watch can boost preparedness. CERT Training offers instruction for light search and rescue, medical triage, community preparedness and more.
Resilient lifestyles, homes and neighborhoods can take preparedness strategies to a higher level.
Resilient lifestyles create smaller eco footprints. Overconsumption of energy and resources is a big part of human caused disruption and can make natural disasters worse. Using less energy and resources reduces human caused disruption.
A resilient lifestyle could mean more people sharing a home and would rely far less on cars. It would have a diet more based on plants. A resilient lifestyle would make more time available for participation in community affairs.
Prepared and resilient properties would produce useful amounts of food, energy and water on site, making it less vulnerable to disruption. It would have features such as grass to garden, fruit and nut trees, significant rain water collection, passive and active solar energy, an ADU and more.
Prepared and resilient neighborhoods would produce more diverse important needs at a larger scale. Its a place where neighbors actively look out for each other. Neighborhood Watch and Mapping Your Neighborhood can not only look after property and preparedness, but once neighbors meet they can make more ambitious plans to reduce eco footprints, build community, share skills, resources plus be prepared and resilient.
A high level of residential cooperation may sound beyond reach, but ask people who live at East Blair Housing Coop in Eugene, N Street Co-housing in Davis, California or a number of locations in Eugene where two or three properties have removed fences or a single “intentional” house that accommodates five or ten people. Common to all these arrangements is a comparatively high level of mutual assistance, familiarity and cohesion; essential for preparedness and resilience.
These unique social bright lights are not magic. They all take intention and work to start and keep the power flowing, but the benefits are many. Among these places, there is car sharing, cooperative garden space, tool share, child care, elder care, skill share. N Street had a zoning change so they could build a community house. East Blair turned a 10 car parking lot into a social green space with edible landscaping, picnic table and a fire pit. Taking down fences creates community. Exciting ideas can hatch in a shared kitchen. `
Neighborhood associations are a natural partner for preparedness and resilience. Several in Eugene already have preparedness committees. They would empower themselves to add resilience to their agendas. Imagine schools, faith organizations, businesses, non profits, social media groups all encouraging their members to coordinate and cooperate to build prepared and resilient lifestyles, homes and neighborhoods.
Resilience is not the final destination, rather its sustainability, a condition where a society lives within its ecological boundaries. At the present time, we are far from that. A sustainable society and economy will greatly reduce the conditions that are already increasing the likelihood of disruptions and disasters. We have many allies and assets at home and in the community to work with.
Preparedness is gaining traction near and far as a personal and community concern. It can be the point of departure for making our homes, neighborhoods and society more safe, secure, resilient and sustainable.
Join us! Site tours of resilient properties. Suburban site, June 12; Cooperative site, June 19. Details at www.suburbanpermaculture.org Video, home with many resilient features - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsO4K1gG2Ao
Jan Spencer
Eugene
July 15, New blog for Mother Earth News - Enhanced version - preparedness, resilience, sustainability.
Preparedness and Resilience Complement Each Other
Two words, preparedness and resilience, have gained a lot of interest in recent years. They are closely related but seldom identified as complementary.
Preparedness refers to being ready when disruption to normal life occurs. Disruptions and disasters can be natural or human caused, likely both, such as floods, fires, power failure and earthquakes. Other disasters can include chemical spills, draught, terrorism, dam failure, social/economic malfunction and more. Climate change is a disruption wild card.
Mainstream preparedness can include stashing food and water at home and having a go bag for emergency exit for self or family. Mutual assistance plans with neighbors can deepen the effectiveness of preparedness by opening up many new opportunities to make common cause with others.
The City of Eugene has several programs that can help residents prepare for disruption and disaster with their neighbors. Map Your Neighborhood, is a program with step by step “how to” literature. Its a great way to connect with nearby neighbors. Even Neighborhood Watch can boost preparedness. CERT Training offers instruction for light search and rescue, medical triage, community preparedness and more.
Resilient lifestyles, homes and neighborhoods can take preparedness strategies to a higher level.
Resilient lifestyles create smaller eco footprints. Overconsumption of energy and resources is a big part of human caused disruption and can make natural disasters worse. Using less energy and resources reduces human caused disruption.
A resilient lifestyle could mean more people sharing a home and would rely far less on cars. It would have a diet more based on plants. A resilient lifestyle would make more time available for participation in community affairs.
Prepared and resilient properties would produce useful amounts of food, energy and water on site, making it less vulnerable to disruption. It would have features such as grass to garden, fruit and nut trees, significant rain water collection, passive and active solar energy, an ADU and more.
Prepared and resilient neighborhoods would produce more diverse important needs at a larger scale. Its a place where neighbors actively look out for each other. Neighborhood Watch and Mapping Your Neighborhood can not only look after property and preparedness, but once neighbors meet they can make more ambitious plans to reduce eco footprints, build community, share skills, resources plus be prepared and resilient.
A high level of residential cooperation may sound beyond reach, but ask people who live at East Blair Housing Coop in Eugene, N Street Co-housing in Davis, California or a number of locations in Eugene where two or three properties have removed fences or a single “intentional” house that accommodates five or ten people. Common to all these arrangements is a comparatively high level of mutual assistance, familiarity and cohesion; essential for preparedness and resilience.
These unique social bright lights are not magic. They all take intention and work to start and keep the power flowing, but the benefits are many. Among these places, there is car sharing, cooperative garden space, tool share, child care, elder care, skill share. N Street had a zoning change so they could build a community house. East Blair turned a 10 car parking lot into a social green space with edible landscaping, picnic table and a fire pit. Taking down fences creates community. Exciting ideas can hatch in a shared kitchen. `
Neighborhood associations are a natural partner for preparedness and resilience. Several in Eugene already have preparedness committees. They would empower themselves to add resilience to their agendas. Imagine schools, faith organizations, businesses, non profits, social media groups all encouraging their members to coordinate and cooperate to build prepared and resilient lifestyles, homes and neighborhoods.
Resilience is not the final destination, rather its sustainability, a condition where a society lives within its ecological boundaries. At the present time, we are far from that. A sustainable society and economy will greatly reduce the conditions that are already increasing the likelihood of disruptions and disasters. We have many allies and assets at home and in the community to work with.
Preparedness is gaining traction near and far as a personal and community concern. It can be the point of departure for making our homes, neighborhoods and society more safe, secure, resilient and sustainable.
Join us! Site tours of resilient properties. Suburban site, June 12; Cooperative site, June 19. Details at www.suburbanpermaculture.org Video, home with many resilient features - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsO4K1gG2Ao
Jan Spencer
Eugene