Institutional Support for Combining Multiple Knowledge Systems in Planning for Community Resilience to Natural and Anthropogenic Hazards

Abstract

A given community may be considered as a system of systems (i.e., socio- economic networks and supporting physical infrastructure); if there is failure in one part, it is likely that the entire system will be disrupted. Planning and preparations for and response to natural, human-made and technological hazards often competes with other community priorities. Resilience planning challenges actors relevant to the decision-making process across knowledge systems relevant to the community which span the technical/scientific (e.g., transport networks, utilities), faith-based, NGO, local government, and media, among other sectors. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a six-step process that provides a practical and flexible approach to help community actors to jointly set priorities and allocate resources to manage risks facing the community. This process helps com- munities think through and plan for their social and economic needs, their hazard risks, and recovery of the built environment by encouraging co-production of knowledge and solutions throughout the resilience planning. This chapter overviews that six-step process and illustrates the first three steps using a case study example in Colorado, USA. The NIST “Economic Decision Guide for Infrastructure Systems” (EDG) is also introduced, as its seven-step process helps the collaborative resilience planning team in a community decide among possible resilience planning alterna- tives, including market and non-market values. It also introduces the importance of including the co-benefits that accrue to the community as a product of planning for resilience, even when a disaster has not yet occurred.