A Connected Community Approach: Citizens and Formal Institutions Working Together to Build Community-Centred Resilience

Blake Poland, Anne Gloger, Garrett T. Morgan, Norene Lach, Suzanne F. Jackson, Rylan Urban and Imara Rolston
Additional contact information
Blake Poland: Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 3M7, Canada
Anne Gloger: Centre for Connected Communities, Toronto, ON M1E 2S2, Canada
Garrett T. Morgan: Department of Geography & Planning, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3G3, Canada
Norene Lach: Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 3M7, Canada
Suzanne F. Jackson: Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 3M7, Canada
Rylan Urban: Institute for Management & Innovation, University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6, Canada
Imara Rolston: Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 3M7, Canada

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 19, 1-17

Abstract: Urban resilience research is recognizing the need to complement a mainstream preoccupation with “hard” infrastructure (electrical grid, storm sewers, etc.) with attention to the “soft” (social) infrastructure issues that include the increased visibility of and role for civil society, moving from (top-down, paternalistic) government to (participatory) governance. Analyses of past shock events invariably point to the need for more concerted efforts in building effective governance and networked relations between civil society groupings and formal institutions before, during, and after crisis. However, the literature contains little advice on how to go about this. In this paper, we advance a Connected Community Approach (CCA) to building community resilience with a specific focus on the relationship between community and formal institutions. In the literature review that informs this work, we assess the current, limited models for connecting communities to formal institutions, as well as the emerging role of community-based organizations in this work, and we offer our own assessment of some of the key tensions, lacunae, and trends in the community resilience field. Principally, we explore the potential of the CCA model, as spearheaded by the East Scarborough Storefront and the Centre for Connected Communities in Toronto, Canada, as a promising approach for building the relational space between civil society and the state that is so often called for in the literature. The paper concludes with future directions for research and practice.

Keywords: resilience; community resilience; community development; public health; connected communities approach; emergency preparedness; governance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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