Resilient Bayview Project
In Mark Roseland’s chapter on governing sustainable communities,
he emphasizes the importance of participatory governance that includes the
voices of all stakeholders and the necessity of community based efforts.
Much of the chapter focuses on providing advice to both citizens interested in becoming
involved in sustainability efforts as well as to local governments that strive
for just sustainability for all their residents.
Even after reading the chapter, many of subtle nuances of the various ideas were lost on me, as all of them focused on communicating community opinion to integrate change. However, after a little research I found the Resilient Bayview Project, a initiative centralized in the Bayview area of San Francisco that seems to illustrate almost all of Roseland’s sage advice and is succeeding in forming a resilient community via holistic local efforts.
Even after reading the chapter, many of subtle nuances of the various ideas were lost on me, as all of them focused on communicating community opinion to integrate change. However, after a little research I found the Resilient Bayview Project, a initiative centralized in the Bayview area of San Francisco that seems to illustrate almost all of Roseland’s sage advice and is succeeding in forming a resilient community via holistic local efforts.
Lashon Walker- a member of the Resilient Bayview Project
The Resilient Bayview Project is
a community-led planning effort that aims to plan, develop and implement a
Resilience Action Plan that will prepare the community for major environmental
catastrophes (mainly earthquakes). This effort brings together neighborhood
leaders, city agencies and all additional stakeholders from local families,
immigrant communities, senior citizens, small businesses to local non-profits.
The congregation of stakeholders meets monthly with the goal to find ways to
protect the region’s most vulnerable citizens in case of emergencies by
training residents on evacuation techniques, setting up support lines,
distributing emergency kits, and providing additional information concerning
emergency response.
The project has been designed by the community and is staffed by community volunteers in order to protect the community. This seems to be a perfect example of Roseland’s prescription on how to involve residents to govern sustainable communities by using both visioning and implementation charrettes and consensus-based decision making. The Resilient Bayview Project also goes a step further in engaging in community sustainability and resilience by training at-risk youth to secure foundation’s of senior citizen housing, an effort paid for by grant money and serving to protect seniors, construct more durable housing, and provide at-risk youth with skills, income, and purpose, all at the same time. These are the types of plans that only active community members could innovate, communicate, and plan, because they involve a deep knowledge about what each region needs, and also the resources that they can access. Many sustainability initiatives also require trust, which can be built much quicker through community members and local organizations than by government agencies. Also, as we learned in community based social marketing, being a part of a change organization often ensures that you put forth more effort and are much more likely to strive to see the initiative succeed than if it was solely a governmental measure.
The project has been designed by the community and is staffed by community volunteers in order to protect the community. This seems to be a perfect example of Roseland’s prescription on how to involve residents to govern sustainable communities by using both visioning and implementation charrettes and consensus-based decision making. The Resilient Bayview Project also goes a step further in engaging in community sustainability and resilience by training at-risk youth to secure foundation’s of senior citizen housing, an effort paid for by grant money and serving to protect seniors, construct more durable housing, and provide at-risk youth with skills, income, and purpose, all at the same time. These are the types of plans that only active community members could innovate, communicate, and plan, because they involve a deep knowledge about what each region needs, and also the resources that they can access. Many sustainability initiatives also require trust, which can be built much quicker through community members and local organizations than by government agencies. Also, as we learned in community based social marketing, being a part of a change organization often ensures that you put forth more effort and are much more likely to strive to see the initiative succeed than if it was solely a governmental measure.
Dan Homsey speaking about the Neighborhood Empowerment Network from the government point of view
To leave with you with a final thought from the leader of the
Resilent Bayview Project, “We aren’t going
anywhere. We know that if we work together before a major
catastrophe, we will be able to work together during a major
catastrophe.”
What other communities that you know about have
succeeded in community resilience projects such as this one? Which of the
other types of governance strategies that Roseland mentioned would work best
for similar initiatives?
Sources:
1. Roseland, Mark. Toward Sustainable
Communities. 2012.
2. How One California Community Prepares fot hte
Worst.
http://www.governing.com/news/headlines/gov-how-one-san-francisco-city-prepares-for-the-worst.html
That's a great example you found Jackie. Especially because the area is pretty downtrodden. What a great way to engage and bring together different community groups, solve real problems, and empower young people.
ReplyDeleteThese community-level efforts are definitely going to be specific to the area in which they are housed. This is a great example, but I'm not sure you can directly compare it to what Bloomington has to offer. The types of issues that Bayview is going to deal with (earthquakes) is a lot different than the potential major catastrophes in Bloomington. The probability of a major catastrophe occurring (and the potential impact of such a catastrophe) is smaller in the Midwest -- we have tornados and cold in the midwest, so perhaps such a large-scale effort such as this isn't necessary or a smart allocation of resources. This is not to say that these types of communities are present in Bloomington surrounding different topics.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really cool example of a city taking its future into its own hands! One thing it made me wonder is weather cities that have been struck by natural disasters are doing anything similar. For example, is there more community level planning going on in New Orleans after Katrina? For the most part our country has a very reactionary approach to natural disasters. FEMA only comes into action after the fact, its not a preemptive organization. So, how can we change policy to promote planning more like the example you show?
ReplyDeleteBefore this NPR talk, I had't much though about resilience in the focus of sustainability. But now it seems that everything I have read/seen in the news lately has big roots in sustainability. I think resilience plans like this are a great example about how sustainability can be extremely successful at the community level. As pointed out by some other commenters, this obviously has to be a process unique to each community. Seems like a great way to empower the community members. Involving them in the process of creating the plan might give them a better sense of community pride.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. It really nice to see a community coming together on their own and thinking about the what-ifs in life. Disasters happen all the time that devastate a community, and it could've been better if the community had actions in place to deal with these situations. This is part of the reason I love libraries so much - they often are hubs of information and safety in times of crisis (for example during Hurricane Sandy, they were open and helping people find each other, and giving people information and a place of comfort). But not all libraries have the space and resources to be these kind of resource hubs in times of crisis. That's why this project is awesome! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed what Lashon had to say in the video about the project, that just having the conversations and starting making connections between people and businesses that don't normally work together is really encouraging and helpful for the community. Obviously they want to get some results, plans, and actions out of the dialogue process, but that first step of just bringing everyone to the table is integral to getting the most effective, creative, and fair plans. I agree that this is idea of resilience and especially disaster planning is an emerging, and to me a little unexpected, bed of a lot of sustainability planning! It's exciting to see it already in play!
ReplyDeleteThese local level governance ideas make me think of the approach championed by SPEA's own Elinor Ostrom. Hopefully, I am not taking too much liberties, but generally she believed that local governance entities may be more adept at handling certain situations. I think the resilience movement would be one of those situations. Local groups would probably be better equipped to prepare their communities for such problems. Locals will know the community's preferences and the best places for people to meet. They will have more information about the community and be more informed than using a top-down, centralized government approach.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of a community coming together before a catastrophic event in preparation for a natural (or human) disaster, but I also feel as though hindsight is 20/20. How often do we hear 'that would never happen here?' Forums and governmental procedures can only go so far. I think it would take a huge societal shift to prioritize emergency preparedness.
ReplyDelete