Community Resilience Actions

When we designed Resilient-C we did so with the goal of helping communities across the country learn from each other's experiences. To this end, our research team has collected hundreds of community planning actions that the communities on the platform have explored or implemented to address earthquakes and coastal hazards. Each of these actions is classified by category, long-term planning strategy, and their stage of implmentation. Where the source documents are available online, we also link directly to these source documents.

What Constitutes an Action?

For the purposes of the Resilient-C platform, an action is any decision or effort undertaken solely by, or in cooperation with, a specific community that aims to reduce coastal hazard risks within that community for one or more of the five coastal hazards included on the platform (i.e., coastal and riverine flooding, earthquakes, tsunamis, and contaminant spills).

To be considered an action, an effort must:

Take time, money, or other resourcs (e.g., technology) to complete.
Contribute directly to hazard risk reduction.
Address one or more of the five hazards targeted by the Resilient-C platform.

What is Not Considered an Action?

Our team has identified several criteria for what does not constitute an action, including:

Actions taken by other governments, university research teams, or non-governmental organizations that do not include a reasonable degree of participation on the part of the identified community.
Actions that exclusively address hazards not targeted by the Resilient-C platform (e.g., wildfire, drought).
Proposed or suggested actions, actions listed as future priorities, or actions in draft form at the time of publishing.
Basic hazard identification (i.e., listing hazards in a table).

How are Actions Classified?

Once a member of our team identifies an action, they record that information into our dataset and classify the action in three ways: 1) action category, 2) long-term strategy, and 3) implementation stage. Descriptions for each of these categories are described below:

Action Categories
We categorize actions into eight categories based on what the action seeks to accomplish and the mechanism that is used to implement the action. In general actions are assigned a single category, but a second category may be assigned if that category can be confidently and independently applied to the action.
Code	Action Category
LU	Land-Use Regulations Any policy, plan, or decision regarding land-use, including, but not limited to, land-use changes, land management, and development.
CG	Construction Guidelines The development, application, testing, or enforcement of building materials, codes, and engineering design standards.
DM	Damage Mitigation The application of physical protections and/or barriers intended to make a place safer from a hazard.
TC	Technical Studies The one-time or ongoing completion of a detailed investigation or analysis of a subject.
EP	Emergency Preparedness Steps taken to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including tools and equipment for monitoring, forecasting, and early warning systems.
CB	Capacity Building The development of human, social, or institutional resources.
FI	Finance and Insurance The allocation of financial resources, support, or insurance policies designated to address coastal hazard risk reduction or disaster relief without the designation of a specific strategy.
PP	Policy and Planning Policy, planning, and legislative actions that do not fit one of the other categories or are broad in their application.

Long-Term Strategies
Where actions imply a long-term resilience-building strategies, we categorize those actions into one of eight long-term strategies. In general actions are assigned a single strategy, but a second strategy may be assigned if that strategy can be confidently and independently applied to the action.
Code	Long-Term Strategy
P	Protect A reactive or proactive strategy to prevent hazards and their impacts to people, property, and/or infrastructure through structural mechanisms.
R	Retreat Any strategic decision to withdraw, relocate, or abandon public or private assets at risk of being impacted by coastal hazards.
M	Accommodate An adaptive strategy that allows continued occupation of hazardous areas through changes made to human activities and/or buildings and infrastructure to be more resilient to coastal hazards. Accommodation strategies may allow hazards to occur but reduce their impacts.
V	Avoid Any strategy that ensures new development does not take place in areas subject to coastal hazards or where the risk is low but will increase over time.
N	Do Nothing The acceptance of additional risk, whether by intention, omission, or lack of resources. Also referred to as "business as usual."
O	Offence An "attack" strategy that involves intentional development in areas at risk of coastal hazards, often through land reclamation. Also referred to as "advancing the line."
NS	Not Specified When a long-term planning action is suggested or encouraged, but no specific strategies or techniques are included for guidance.
NA	Not Applicable Action does not constitute a long-term planning strategy.

Implementation Stage
Finally, we categorize actions by their stage of implementation by exploring whether the actions are groundwork setting up future actions or tangible actions designed to address coastal hazard risks.
Code	Action Stage
	Groundwork Preliminary steps that inform and prepare stakeholders for action, but do not constitute actual changes in policy, programs, or delivery services.
	Implementation Tangible actions taken to alter institutions, policies, programs, built environments, or mandates in response to experienced or potential risks.