Community resilience at the intersection of economic, social, and environmental capital

Abstract

Resilience describes the system’s ability to respond to changes, shocks, and disruptions in its operating environment. The resilience of human systems is characterized by learning from shocks and transforming as to be better able to survive future disruptions. Resilience is a key concept in describing the survival of communities, since in the modern global world several shocks and disruptions threaten the livelihoods of communities.

This thesis focuses on defining community resilience at the intersection of economic, social, and environmental capital. The aim is to consider how the combined effects of the three capitals can create resilient communities, how compromise solutions to balance the capitals can be made, and how decision-making affects resilience. This thesis is conducted as a literature review purposed to form a concise overview of the current literature on community resilience and social choice theory.

In this thesis, community resilience is conceptualized by how well the economic, social, and environmental capitals of the community are developed. In strongly resilient communities all three of the capitals are well-developed, and most importantly, the capitals are balanced. Balancing community capitals can be difficult, since individuals can have differing preferences and values regarding community development. Resilient decision-making requires deliberate effort and long-term commitment due to its crucial role in determining both current and future resilience.

The results of this thesis can be used to guide community development to build resilience to different disruptions. This thesis highlights the need for additional research on the topic due to its novelty in the academic literature. The measurement and more precise definition of economic, social, and environmental capitals in the context of community resilience is crucial for future progress on the field.