People all over the world are starting to see an increase in extreme and volatile weather, record-breaking “natural” disasters, shifting seasons and habitats, species losses, and dwindling resources. (These are all trends that climate-change scientists accurately predicted would occur as a result of high levels of greenhouse gas emissions). This climatological and ecological instability is creating huge economic burdens and heart-breaking social disruption and dislocation, and climate projections show that the situation will almost certainly get worse.
As the costs and consequences of climate change become impossible to ignore, more people are recognizing the need to be more prepared for the challenges we’re likely to face in the short-term and the long-term (from power outages, to food and water shortages, to flooding from storms and sea level rise). A growing number of initiatives are arising that aim to share ways of becoming more resilient—ways to survive and thrive in the face of serious climate-related risks. These efforts are occurring at the household, community, city, regional, and global levels.
Some initiatives are focused on the design of durable, climate-responsive, and disaster-resistant homes and buildings, including dwellings that remain livable when there is no power (for heating/cooling, lighting, etc.); later this year I will post a list of companies that design and manufacturer disaster-resistant homes. 
Other initiatives are focused on personal or local food security; or the decentralization of energy production into localized or on-site power generation; or restoring degraded or contaminated land and habitats; or creating self-sufficient rural homesteads, or self-reliant communities, or strong local economies.
While many of these have been grassroots efforts, the importance of resilience as a key requirement for sustainability is also beginning to be understood at an institutional, policy-making level. For examples, some major cities (e.g., San Francisco, New York, Seattle) see the writing on the wall and are actively trying to figure out how to become more adaptive and make their systems and infrastructure more robust and secure.
These are some noteworthy resilience-related initiatives and information resources:
- Resilience (a program of the Post Carbon Institute)
- Transition U.S. (Transition Towns & other initiatives)
- International Transition Network
RDI explains resilience well: “Resilience is the capacity to bounce back after a disturbance or interruption of some sort. At various levels —individuals, households, communities, and regions — through resilience we can maintain livable conditions in the event of natural disasters, loss of power, or other interruptions in normally available services. Relative to climate change, resilience involves adaptation to the wide range of regional and localized impacts that are expected with a warming planet: more intense storms, greater precipitation, coastal and valley flooding, longer and more severe droughts in some areas, wildfires, melting permafrost, warmer temperatures, and power outages. Resilient design is the intentional design of buildings, landscapes, communities, and regions in response to the these vulnerabilities.”
- Article: “Resilient Design: Smarter Building for a Turbulent Future,” by Alex Wilson, Environmental Building News (BuildingGreen.com), March 2012 (This article is visible to BuildingGreen subscribers; if you’re not a subscriber, you can sign up for a free 30-day trial.)
- “Resilient Design: A checklist of actions” from Environmental Building News (BuildingGreen.com)
The various actions that they suggest are organized into these 12 categories:
1.) Ensure that a home is safe in a storm. 2.) Build to resist or survive rain and flooding. 3.) Build super-insulated envelopes. 4.) Incorporate passive solar design in heating climates. 5.) Minimize cooling loads in cooling climates. 6.) Provide natural cooling. 7.) Maximize daylighting. 8.) Provide backup renewable energy systems. 9.) Plan for water shortages. 10.) Address fire resistance and durability. 11.) Consider resilience at the community scale. 12.) Support local food production.
- Hunt Utilities Group (HUG): a resilient-homes research and development campus in Minnesota. (More info about them here.)
- Mother Earth News, especially its Modern Homesteading section
- Also, check out the many great online resources on Permaculture, which include Grow Permaculture (formerly called the Permaculture Guild) and the Regenerative Design Institute. There are many other local and national permaculture groups and trainings around the world.
Related posts:
- Sustainable Neighborhoods and Communities: Certifications, Developments, Organizations, and Websites
In these times of unnatural disasters—such as BP’s oil-hemorrhaging drill “spill,” as well as extreme weather events caused by increasing climate volatility—more people are seeking ways to reduce their carbon footprint: i.e., their consumption of fossil fuels (petroleum, coal, and natural gas). We are all essentially junkies—or oiloholics—who don’t know how to live without these substances.
The following are key online resources for information on federal, state, and local environmental tax credits, rebates, and other financial incentives. Most of the incentives that are available are for installing energy-efficient equipment or renewable energy (e.g., solar) technologies.
