A new measure created by researchers at The University of Manchester which shows how community resilience differs across England, and how policymakers can target support to neighbourhoods that need it most, has been positively received in Westminster.
In an article published by the University’s policy engagement unit, Policy@Manchester, Christine Camacho and Dr Luke Munford define community resilience as “how well a place can cope with, and recover from, events like natural disasters, health emergencies, or economic crises.”
Prior to their work, no published measure of community resilience in England existed, despite it being a key aim of national and local policymakers.
However, using 44 indicators covering five key policy areas, the academics have developed a Community Resilience Index (CRI) to measure the resilience of local authorities across the country.
Researchers have developed a tool to measure local community resilience (Credit: iStock.com/coldsnowstorm)
“Understanding a community’s capacity to cope, adapt and transform in the face of adversity is critically important to create a more resilient country,” Christine Camacho explains.
“The Community Resilience Index we developed offers an invaluable insight into the social, economic and environmental factors that can hold communities back making them less able to overcome unexpected challenges.”
At a regional level, London had the highest average CRI score (95.2), and Yorkshire and the Humber had the lowest (75.2). Overall, northern regions had lower average CRI scores compared to the Midlands and South, although the South West is well down the league table.
Steve Race, MP for Exeter and Chair of the South West All Party Parliamentary Group, describes the CRI as providing “a fascinating and useful model” to assess resilience across the country.
“I’m disappointed but not surprised that our wider region is at the lower end of the index for resilience,” he says. “The CRI helps MPs and others to better understand what our resilience currently looks like, which enables us to better understand how to improve it.”
Dr Luke Munford believes that the Community Resilience Index can play a pivotal role in addressing the persistent health inequalities that negatively impact some communities in England.
“The CRI provides a framework that could be used to explore associations between community resilience and health outcomes,” he says. “We hope that policymakers take advantage of this opportunity to enhance understanding of how resilient communities foster better health and wellbeing, providing insights for targeted public health interventions and policies that are data-driven and effectively targeted.”
The index is specifically designed to aid key decisions on funding, infrastructure investments and public services.
This is an aspect praised by Tan Dhesi, MP for Slough and Chair of the South East All Party Parliamentary Group, who believes it can help his region tackle pressing policy challenges including flooding, deprivation and infrastructure investment.
"I welcome this research from The University of Manchester, introducing the first measure of community resilience across England,” he says. “Tools like the Community Resilience Index are useful for policymakers, including those of us at the South East APPG, to inform our efforts to make the region a better place to live, work and do business."
‘A landscape of need: mapping community resilience in England’ by Christine Camacho and Dr Luke Munford is free to read on the Policy@Manchester website.