Resources to Build Resilient Communities
Across the planet and in Minnesota, many communities are already feeling the impacts of climate change. It’s a problem that won’t be solved in our lifetimes. What we can do is learn to build resilient communities who are prepared to adapt to change and live with uncertainty.
You Can Start with Individual Action
An excellent article in YES magazine, “Crash Course in Resilience” suggests three places to start building resilient communities. We’ve added some elements of the “inner Transition” to this list because some (maybe a lot) of the adaptation we need to make will happen within our own minds and hearts.
2018 Transition Longfellow Skillshare Day
Build Skills with Community Skillshares
- Learn to repair things, to grow things, to make things. Learn first aid, solar cooking, chicken or beekeeping. Befriend knowledgeable neighbors and offer to help them in exchange for learning new skills. Take a look at the skillshare events by local Transition groups.
- Improve your interpersonal skills: compassionate listening, conflict resolution, mediation.
- Develop strategies for dealing with difficult emotions – fear, anxiety, grief, confusion. Find ways to ground and center yourself. Find friends who can truly listen to you. Be one of those friends.
- Build your tolerance for uncertainty. Take a bus route you don’t know. Get lost and find your way back. Learn a new language.
Learn to Live Local
- Identify your assets and resources. Do you have the tools you may need in case of emergency? If not, can you borrow from a neighbor? You could help to start a tool library.
- Identify local sources of food, supplies and services. Begin now to shop with them. If global supply chains become unreliable or unavailable, these will be your lifeline.
- Become a producer and enter into mutually beneficial barter relationships with your neighbors. Can you make bread? Kombucha? Jam? Provide eggs? Honey? Maple syrup?
Self-Care and Celebration
- Place greater importance on your health – getting enough sleep, exercise, reducing stress, connecting with nature, pets and friends.
- Strive to become debt free. Not only does this reduce anxiety, it will give you a wider range of options in life. Vicki Robbin’s book, Your Money or Your Life,is a great resource to help you on the journey to debt freedom.
- In her poem, “The Summer Day,” Mary Oliver asked “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” DO THAT! Regardless of where these times take us, this is your one precious life and you can find joy and reward in it.
Resilient Communities Take Group Action
Transition Groups made up of friends and neighbors can be tremendously useful in helping people deal with uncertainty. They can work with neighborhood associations or town councils to identify areas of community concern. They can help with asset mapping. They can host community conversations to help people understand climate impacts and envision a positive future. Transition groups often provide a support network for people experiencing difficult emotions around climate change. These may be called Inner Transition groups or Inner Resilience circles. (Learn more about climate grief on the podcast Mind over Chatter.) Transition US facilitates a national Inner Resilience Network. The Work that Reconnects, by Joanna Macy, is a frequent resource. Contact Transition Twin Cities if you would like to connect with local resource people who can help with this inner work.
Faith communities are perfectly positioned to:
- Create mutual support networks for people who have lost employment or become ill.
- Host swap meets, seed libraries, tool libraries, and other activities that require space.
- Host workshops to help people connect across differences and improve communications skills
- Lead spiritual support groups for people suffering with fear, anxiety or grief.
Local businesses can work to become more resilient themselves, including re-sourcing the materials they use and the products they carry to local producers. See the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, located right here in Minnesota, for resilience examples.
Municipalities are the level of government charged with emergency planning and preparedness efforts. Local governments likely have plans in place – but seldom have they communicated those plans to the general public. How can residents work WITH government to ensure the resilience of their community?
Who Can Help with Outer and Inner Resilience?
This list may not be complete. If there are organizations or companies you would like to see added, please email the webmaster to request consideration for inclusion. Resources found on this website are for informational purposes only and listing does not constitute endorsement. Transition Twin Cities does not receive any financial support from companies listed here.
| Organization | Description | Categories | categories_hfilter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Institute for Local Self-Reliance | ILSR is working to challenge concentrated economic power by fighting corporate control and supporting local business and industry. ISLR is a research institution that partners with local businesses to help them change the ways they handle their waste streams. Contact: Email: info@ilsr.org , Phone: (612) 276-3456 | Big Picture, Economy & Sharing, Resilience | big-picture economy-sharing resilience |
| Ramsey County Community Emergency Response Team | This CERT program through the Ramsey County Sheriff’s office partners community members and emergency services personnel together to coordinate responses to catastrophic disasters. CERT provides a 9-week training course to prepare citizens to assist their neighbors in the event of disaster. Contact: Email: CERT@co.ramsey.mn.us , Phone: (651) 266-7333 | Preparedness, Ramsey County, Resilience | preparedness ramsey-county resilience |
| Minneapolis Office of Emergency Management | Minneapolis’ Office of Emergency Management offers a ton of resources on what to do in the case of emergency or extreme weather, as well as resources to increase personal preparedness and resources for after an emergency such as how to navigate flood insurance. Many of these resources are available in … | Hennepin County, Preparedness, Resilience | hennepin-county preparedness resilience |
| Minnesota Department of Health Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response | The MDH Center for Emergency Preparedness and Response works to establish integrated preparedness, response, and recovery planning at state, local, and tribal levels. Their website has resources on personal/family preparedness, preparedness regarding public health, among other information. Contact: Phone: (651) 201-5700 , Online Contact Form: https://survey.vovici.com/se/56206EE31CB50E82 | Preparedness, Resilience | preparedness resilience |
| The American Red Cross Minnesota Region | The Red Cross works with volunteers to prepare Minnesotans for disasters as well as respond with disaster relief when crisis does strike. Red Cross seeks to strengthen communities by improving community preparedness. Contact: Phone for General Inquiry: (612) 871-7676 , Phone to get help: (612) 871-7676 | Preparedness, Resilience | preparedness resilience |
| Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC Twin Cities) | LISC Twin Cities works to build community resilience by supporting projects to revitalize communities and bring greater economic opportunity to residents. LISC provides capital, strategy, and know how to its community partners. Contact: Email: Twincities@lisc.org , Phone: (651) 649-1109 | Big Picture, Economy & Sharing, Resilience | big-picture economy-sharing resilience |
| Metropolitan Council Resilience Plan | The Metropolitan has its Resilience Plan available on this site which includes a lot of information as well as resources for understanding resilience across all sectors. | Resilience | resilience |
| Alliance for Sustainability Resilient Cities Workshops | The Alliance for Sustainability hosts Resilient Cities workshops once or twice a year where community volunteers and elected leaders convene to discuss resilience in the Twin Cities. Check out this website for more information about upcoming workshops, as well as agendas, notes, and documents from past workshops. Contact: Email: sean@afors.org … | Resilience | resilience |
| Saint Paul Climate Action Planning | As part of the city’s dedication to reducing the impacts of climate change through policy and action, the City of Saint Paul has released drafts of several plans for climate action related to resilience, energy, and building. The drafts for these plans are hosted on the website for the St. … | Climate, Climate Action, County/City Plans, Ramsey County, Resilience | climate climate-action county-city-plans ramsey-county resilience |
| Washington County 2040 Comprehensive Plan: Resilience and Sustainability | Washington County’s 2040 plan includes this section addressing resilience and sustainability in future county operations and outlines a path towards achieving specific goals for resilience and sustainability. | Climate, Climate Action, County/City Plans, Resilience, Washington County | climate climate-action county-city-plans resilience washington-county |
| Thrive MSP 2040 | Thrive MSP 2040 is the Metropolitan Council’s long term plan covering all seven metro counties and addressing issues that transcend any one neighborhood, city, or county. The plan covers topics including land use, energy, transportation, housing, and natural resources. | Anoka County, Carver County, Climate Policy, County/City Plans, Dakota County, Energy Policy, Hennepin County, Metro-Wide Resource, Ramsey County, Resilience, Scott County, Washington County | anoka-county carver-county climate-policy county-city-plans dakota-county energy-policy hennepin-county metro-wide-resource ramsey-county resilience scott-county washington-county climate energy |
| Metropolitan Council Local Planning Handbook | The Met Council has produced a Local Planning Handbook to help communities update their local comprehensive plans in the areas of land use, transportation, water resources, parks and trails, housing, energy infrastructure, resilience, health, economy and social connection. See the workbook at https://metrocouncil.org/Handbook/Plan-Elements/Resilience.aspx | Climate Policy, County/City Plans, Energy Policy, Food Systems, Housing, Land Use, Metro-Wide Resource, Policy & Advocacy, Preparedness, Resilience, Transportation, Waste Reduction, Water Protection | climate-policy county-city-plans energy-policy food-systems affordable-sustainable-housing land-use metro-wide-resource policy-advocacy preparedness resilience transportation wastereduction water-protection climate energy food boost-natural-systems |
| Post Carbon Institute | The Post Carbon Institute is a national level partner organization of Transition US. It promotes energy literacy, connects the dots between energy and the economy, and provides a reality check on the stories we’re being told about the energy systems we rely on. | Big Picture, Climate, Climate Information, Economy & Sharing, Energy, Energy Policy, Resilience | big-picture climate climate-information economy-sharing energy energy-policy resilience |
| Six Foundations for Building Community Resilience | Efforts to build community resilience often focus on growing the capacity to “bounce back” from disruptions, like those caused by climate change. But climate change is not the only crisis we face, nor is preparing for disruption the only way to build resilience. Truly robust community resilience should do more. It should engage … | Books/Videos, Preparedness, Resilience | books-videos preparedness resilience |
| Inner Resilience Network | A national working group for Inner Resilience has begun a google group to encourage discussion on topics of inner resilience, including supporting ourselves and each other, exploring the role of ‘Inner Transition’ in the wider Transition Movement, and building national-level projects to support this heart-and-soul work. | Inner Resilience, Resilience | inner-resilience resilience |
| EcoSattva Training | The ecological breakdown unfolds all around us and many of its compounding effects cannot be stopped much less reversed. We don’t know what is to come, what humanity is capable of and how the Earth will respond, but we are living at a pivotal time, an edge. Dharma wisdom along … | Inner Resilience, Resilience | inner-resilience resilience |
| Strong Towns | The Strong Towns approach is a radically new way of thinking about the way we build our world. We believe that in order to truly thrive, our cities and towns must stop valuing efficiency and start valuing resilience, stop fearing change and start embracing a process of continuous adaptation, stop … | Resilience | resilience |
| Resilient Communities Project of CURA | The Resilient Communities Project connects local government agencies in Minnesota with the University of Minnesota faculty and students to advance community resilience and student learning through collaborative, course-based projects. | Resilience | resilience |
| 100 Resilient Cities Report | The Rockefeller Foundation supported the work of Chief Resilience Officers and member cities within the 100 Resilient Cities Network. Learn more about their work in this report. | Resilience | resilience |
| Transition Longfellow Preparedness Emails | Be Prepared It is easier to make the right decisions when the worst happens if you have planned ahead. Transition Longfellow created an Emergency Preparedness Challenge providing weekly emails for 35 weeks to help members create their own preparedness plan and get resources in place. Transition Longfellow gave permission for … | Preparedness, Resilience | preparedness resilience |
