Testing indicators of resilience for rural communities

Abstract

ABSTRACT The resilience of rural communities is a concern, both in itself and for its effects on the agricultural sector. This article investigates the possibility of using official statistics to measure community resilience. Specifically, it tests the possibility of identifying resilience thresholds for key indicators. Using community workshops to investigate the drivers of resilience among residents of four rural communities in New Zealand, the analysis compared self-reported ratings against indicators from official data sources. The self-reported ratings of overall community resilience tended to be more influenced by economic and institutional drivers than social, cultural, or environmental drivers. In addition, the overall self-reported resilience ratings tended to match estimations of resilience based on official statistics. By showing it is possible to identify resilience thresholds for these indicators, the research provides a method for improving quantification of community resilience and offers estimates of the extent of resilience at a given point in time.