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How Can Local Governance Systems Strengthen Community Resilience? A Social-Ecological Systems Approach

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  • Elizabeth Carabine

    (Overseas Development Institute, UK)

  • Emily Wilkinson

    (Overseas Development Institute, UK)

Abstract

At their core, donor-funded climate and disaster resilience programmes provide goods and services to help build assets and minimise the impact of shocks and stresses on people’s lives and livelihoods. Little is known, however, about the way local risk governance systems and the broader institutional arrangements, in which they are embedded, mediate people’s access to these services and therefore lead to improved resilience. Drawing on Social-Ecological Systems theory, we explore those characteristics of risk governance systems believed to be more favourable for building resilience at the community level in different developing country contexts. These include: diversity; polycentricism and connectivity; decentralisation and flexibility; participation and community engagement; and, learning and innovation. This review paper proposes a conceptual framework and assesses the evidence linking risk governance and access to the services needed to build resilient outcomes, drawing particularly on evidence from the Sahel and Horn of Africa. In doing so, we can start to understand where the entry points might be for strengthening resilience and the conditions needed for community-level initiatives to be brought to scale from the bottom up.

Suggested Citation

  • Elizabeth Carabine & Emily Wilkinson, 2016. "How Can Local Governance Systems Strengthen Community Resilience? A Social-Ecological Systems Approach," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(4), pages 62-73.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:poango:v4:y:2016:i:4:p:62-73
    DOI: 10.17645/pag.v4i4.746
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Thomas Tanner & David Lewis & David Wrathall & Robin Bronen & Nick Cradock-Henry & Saleemul Huq & Chris Lawless & Raphael Nawrotzki & Vivek Prasad & Md. Ashiqur Rahman & Ryan Alaniz & Katherine King &, 2015. "Livelihood resilience in the face of climate change," Nature Climate Change, Nature, vol. 5(1), pages 23-26, January.
    2. Virinder Sharma & Victor Orindi & Ced Hesse & James Pattison & Simon Anderson, 2014. "Supporting local climate adaptation planning and implementation through local governance and decentralised finance provision," Development in Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 579-590, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Huynh, Cong Minh, 2025. "Climate Shocks, Local Governance Quality, and Household Economic Resilience: Micro-Level Evidence from Vietnam," MPRA Paper 127322, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Naim Kapucu & Abdul-Akeem Sadiq, 2016. "Disaster Policies and Governance: Promoting Community Resilience," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 4(4), pages 58-61.
    3. Mrudhula Koshy & David Smith, 2024. "Community resilience implications for institutional response under uncertainty: Cases of the floods in Wayanad, India and the earthquake in Port‐au‐Prince, Haiti," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 1412-1427, April.
    4. Lina Seduikyte & Indre Grazuleviciute-Vileniske & Aušra Mlinkauskienė & Eglė Januškienė, 2025. "Fostering Resilient Communities Through the Interaction of Heritage, Policy, and Participation: Insights from a Lithuanian Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-30, April.

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