What we’re about
This group is for people who recognise that our communities need to become more connected, resilient, prepared, and self-sufficient.
After everything we've all been through the past couple of years, which has left so many people feeling disoriented, powerless, and anxious about the future, let's work together to restore a sense of hope, purpose, and control over our lives. There is so much we can be doing, we just need to get really organised.
So to start, we acknowledge the hazards and vulnerabilities that may impact us and our communities, and then we focus on local solutions.
We live in an increasingly complex and unpredictable world. As the frequency of natural and man-made hazards continues to rise, it is crucial that we focus more attention on the vulnerabilities built into our critical infrastructure and global supply chains. Severe disruptions in one sector can lead to cascading failures in others, with catastrophic results. Crossing our fingers and hoping that a low probability but high impact event (like an intense solar flare, EMP or cyber attack on the grid) won’t ever occur seems like an awfully big gamble when we consider the stakes.
Being prepared on an individual or family level for a large-scale disruption or disaster is not enough. We need to work with our neighbours and communities to become more connected and organised so that together we can:
- mitigate the effects of disasters
- increase our preparedness
- respond to and recover from emergencies
- build long-term community resilience and capacity.
So how can we increase resilience at the local level to be better prepared for disruptions and shocks?
By working together on practical, grassroots initiatives focused on:
- local food production (community supported agriculture; community food gardens; kitchen gardens; food rescue)
- water security (rainwater harvesting; water recycling)
- local energy (community microgrids)
- emergency communications (ham radio; wireless emergency mesh networks)
- mutual aid groups (assistance for seniors; snow removal)
- mitigation and preparedness measures (natural flood management; Map Your Neighbourhood groups)
- response and recovery teams (search and rescue; community emergency response teams; animal disaster rescue groups; storm clean up crews)
And if a disaster never strikes your community, you will still benefit from making stronger connections with neighbours, learning new skills, and becoming more invested in your local community, along with countless other benefits.
Get connected > get organised > thrive together.
If you've already got an idea for a community resilience project in your neighbourhood, please post it here - https://www.thrivespring.com/community-projects - where you can request volunteers, resources, donations, partners, sponsors and fundraisers.
