The Research Behind Resilient-C

We developed the Resilient-C platform as part of an ongoing body of research into coastal hazard vulnerability and resilience-building efforts in Canada. This research has informed our selection of vulnerability indicators, the approach we take to measure similarity, and how we present information to platform users. Our understanding of Canadian hazards vulnerability and resilience has strengthened over the past several years as we have expanded the platform from British Columbia to include each of the three Maritime Provinces. We hope the platform can help connect communities across the country in resilience-building networks, helping each another learn from their experiences.

Identifying Similar Communities

Vulnerability Indicators

We have identified a set of 25 quantitative and qualitative indicators to measure the similarity between communities. The indicators we selected have been shaped by the academic literature, ongoing coastal hazards planning and implementation trends, and feedback from our stakeholders and users.

Each of these indicators addresses a specific aspect of the community's hazard vulnerability profile. We break the indicators into economic, social, built environment, natural environment, and institutional capitals. We break each capital down into five dimensions, assessing each community by size, spatial structure, composition, integration, and change. You can learn more about the indicators we have selected on the platform's vulnerability indicators page.

The Hazard Vulnerability Similarity Index

The Resilient-C platform makes use of the Hazard Vulnerability Similarity Index (HVSI) to determine which communities share similarities across the 25 indicators. Dr. Stephanie Chang and her colleagues first described the HVSI in a 2015 paper entitled, Using vulnerability indicators to develop resilience networks: a similarity approach. You can learn more about the HVSI and how we measure similarity by reviewing our published journal articles.

Community Resilience-Building Actions

The main goal behind the development of Resilient-C was to help communities across the country learn from each other's experiences. To this end, our research team has collected hundreds of community planning actions that our platform communities have explored or implemented to address earthquakes and coastal hazards. We have classified each action by category, long-term planning strategy, and the stage of implementation. Where the source documents are available online, we have also included links directly to these documents.