What is the RDRP About?

The Rural Disaster Resilience Project (RDRP), launched in 2009 will strengthen the community disaster management and health system capabilities of rural, remote, and coastal communities (RRC) through community-based action research that informs and influences policy and practice.

The RDRP will achieve this through:

• Knowledge exchange and dissemination
• Community-based and collaborative action research
• Capacity building
• Development & piloting of an integrated resilience risk assessment & management framework
• Development of accessible, relevant tools and curriculum

Why is the Project Important?

Disaster Resilience - the ability to survive and thrive in the face of uncertainty - is the foundation of rural life. It is also the cornerstone of effective emergency management across all phases of a disaster from preparedness through response and recovery. There is much to learn about resilience from RRC communities; their resilience is one of Canada’s biggest assets. At the same time, the emergency planning capacity of RRC is often constrained by a lack of resources and access to user-friendly risk mitigation planning tools and processes.

This community-centered research project is designed to capitalize on and learn from RRCs’ expertise and knowledge while testing a unique approach to planning. The Project will promote the transformational capacity of RRC communities by encouraging them to enhance their disaster resilience in the face of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive (CBRNE) and all-hazard threats - including infectious disease outbreaks and disasters resulting from climate change.

Project Outcomes

Completion of our project will result in five measurable outcomes:

• Knowledge synthesis of existing research findings/evidence
• Knowledge generation - the creation of new knowledge by asking new questions
• Planning tools and curriculum development
• Knowledge exchange through enhanced communications and networking
• Policy uptake of RDRP research findings

The project will design, develop (or adapt) and deliver a suite of tools including community resiliency indicators and training materials for community First Responders and First Receivers, including volunteers assisting with Emergency Management planning, preparedness, response and recovery.

These will include:

• Risk assessment, communication, and amanagement framework for community and organizational planning and response preparedness processes (a planning framework)
• A set of Rural Disaster Resiliency Indicators - the Rural Resilience Index (RRI)
• Training curricula, tools, and website (dual language for some of the reports and products)
• 'Virtual community of practice' (VCoP) - a platform for knowledge exchange amongst RRC communities featuring online operational protocols and resources to anticipate risks and build disaster resilience
• Distribution and implementation strategies for decision makers