+ Tell me more about resilience planning?

Resilience planning is the process of developing tools, strategies, and actions to reduce long-term vulnerability and exposure to current and future shocks and stressors. It examines social, economic, and natural conditions and takes action to minimize vulnerabilities in these areas so a community is prepared for both natural and economic shocks, stressors, and changing conditions. It is applicable to the community, economic, health and social, housing, infrastructure, and watershed and natural resource sectors and is critical to each sector’s long-term viability. Resilience planning is different from hazard mitigation and emergency management in that -- in addition to applying plans, tools, and strategies to reduce risks and respond to current and future shocks and stressors -- it also examines the underlying causes (e.g. weakened infrastructure, lack of affordable housing, high long-term unemployment, etc.) and relationships between and across all sectors to improve community response, recovery, mitigation, and adaptation.

Consider asking the following questions during planning:

• Are you updating a specific plan (e.g., a Comprehensive Plan)?
  
• Are you developing a new plan (e.g., a pre-disaster recovery plan)? Are you developing a high-level resilience framework?
• What laws, policies, and guidelines are guiding or informing your planning efforts?
• Are there any recent State legislative requirements that will dictate your planning focus?
• Who are you accountable to and what aspects of resilience relate to their interests and needs?
• Do you have support from the necessary leadership to complete the planning process?

To further define the scope of your planning efforts, consider three specific criteria:

• Geographic Boundaries: Determine the geographic area in which your planning process will apply. For example, consider whether or not you are going to focus solely on a municipal boundary, on a broader county or regional area, or using a watershed boundary.
• Governance: Determine the agencies or entities responsible for managing or governing in the geographic area defined above. Consider who else needs to be involved in the planning process (see Step 1, Activity 3), or what additional partnerships may need to be established or strengthened to implement resilience strategies for your determined planning area.
• Planning time frame: Consider and define the general time horizon that you are planning for. Are you considering shocks and stressors to your community that may happen in 10, 20, 50, or 100 years? When will updates need to be made within those time frames?

+ Why do you need to do it?

The development of resilience strategies is not a one-size-fits-all process. As such, there are many reasons including:

• To preserve Colorado’s high quality of life and natural heritage, state agencies, local governments, community organizations, and the private sector must take coordinated steps to ensure Colorado communities remain healthy, vibrant, and strong.
• Resilience planning at all levels results in improved safety, health, and adaptive capacity of communities across the state.
• At the local level, resilience planning helps build a common understanding and vision of resilience tailored to the unique context of a community. By establishing baseline conditions and analyzing current and potentially changing conditions for your community, the better a community will be able to plan for, be prepared to respond to, and recover from, future shocks and stressors.
• State and Federal policies are increasingly calling for more proactive local resilience and pre-disaster recovery planning action.
• Planning now for the shocks and stressors of the future will also help you access funding and assistance to support the health, well-being, and vibrancy of your community far into the future.

+ What does it require?

Resilience planning requires strategic input, buy-in, and support from local, regional, state, and federal public and private partners. It also requires a multi-disciplinary, locally-driven, and cross-sectoral approach. It requires a strong core planning team, and equitable, effective, and regular community engagement. Lastly, it requires buy-in from the community and municipal leadership.

+ How long does it take?

Developing and implementing a resilience plan is a long-term process and it does not end when you publish your plan(s). Generally speaking, the development of a specific plan (e.g., a pre-disaster recovery plan or a climate change adaptation plan) can take anywhere between 6-24 months. Yet the timeline for developing a general community resilience framework may take between 3-6 months. Plan updates (e.g., a Comprehensive Plan) can generally take 6-14 months depending on the community, plan, and allotted time frame. The timeline of your project may also be determined based on specific grant requirements. Resilience planning requires that your plans, policies, and projects are consistently updated as your community and social, economic, and environmental change over time.

+ Who are some examples of potential advisory committee members?

Potential advisory committee members may include:

• Municipal staff and/or leaders (department directors, managers, or staff);
• Emergency response or health care workers;
• Utility managers;
• Community board or association members (e.g. health board, regional board, corporation board);
• Natural resource managers (e.g. watershed managers, forestry experts, etc.);
• University professors, scientists, or graduate researchers;
• Faith groups;
• Engaged youth;
• Business representatives (e.g. individual businesses or Chamber of Commerce representatives);
• Non-governmental organizations;
• Non-profit organizations;
• Community institutions (e.g. hospitals, schools, etc.)
• Community leaders (e.g. Town Council members);
• Community development and planning groups;
• Community service representatives (e.g. Rotary Club); and,
• State or federal agency representatives.