Resilience. It’s a pressing topic, but the term is frequently confused with related—yet distinct—concepts of risk reduction or adaptation. Abt hosted a webinar to discuss what resilience really means, how it is relevant to diverse stakeholders, and how to strengthen resilience at local, regional, and national scales. Speakers described how communities and nations experience and recover from impacts to their environment and climate, energy systems, health, and cultures, and how to develop effective resilience-building strategies.
Speakers:
Lorine Giangola, Ph.D., Abt Associate Scientist, Environment & Natural Resources (moderator)
Ambassador John Lange, Senior Fellow for Global Health Diplomacy, United Nations Foundation
Sherry Stout, Engineer, U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL)
Raymond Martinez, Director of the Pueblo de San Ildefonso’s Department of Environmental and Cultural Preservation, and Tribal Risk Assessment Program Manager
Watch the video:
Webinar Questions & Answers:
Insights and Impact
Silo Busting: Integrating Climate Adaptation and Food Security
Climate adaptation. Agriculture. Sustainability. They’re interconnected, but often addressed independently. Abt’s Sarah Kozyn and Lorine Giangola ask what if they combined their work with clients such as Feed the Future and CEADIR to address these issues holistically.
Community Resilience, Centralized Leadership & Multi-Sectoral Collaboration in Pandemic Preparedness & Response
A white paper by the University of Texas’s Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs notes four gaps to address to increase pandemic preparedness and recommends ways to close the gaps. The four areas are:Establishing greater community resilienceStrengthening coordination and leadership in WashingtonChanging rewards to encourage greater interdisciplinary research, education and serviceIncreasing incentives for private sector involvement in pandemic preparedness and response and overall biosecurity. Abt Project Management Officer for Global Health Security James White and Abt Analyst Alinda Lauer wrote the chapter on community resilience and its recommendations. They note: Communities are critical throughout the process, from recognizing and reporting potential outbreaks to rapid containment and control effortsNational governments and international organizations haven’t addressed community needs to combat a pandemic, such as bolstering primary care systems and increasing universal health coverageInternational agencies don’t account for community vulnerabilities, such as poor physical infrastructure, which undermine efforts to cope with the contagion.
How Can We Improve Housing Resilience in the Face of Climate Change?
In this month’s inaugural episode, Colleen Moore and Megan O’Grady discuss how we can address housing needs as we confront the effects of climate change.
U.S. Food Security & Agriculture
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