Planning for the Unplannable: Building a Resilient Community

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ASPA as an organization.

By Renée Cardarelle
August 1, 2025

While the idea of resilience is nice, it isn’t something most public administrators spend a lot of time thinking about. After all, their days are filled with more immediate needs such as managing staff and budgets and dealing with the public. Some might even argue it isn’t their role to worry about this type of strategic planning and that it should be left for elected officials to sort out as they are setting goals. However, in times of crisis, community resilience can make all the difference between an effective response and a muddled one. So what do resilient communities look like and what can public administrators do to help build one?

Unlike crisis management, resilience isn’t just about an action plan. It is about healthy and functional community systems which enable unified and proactive responses to the unexpected. The goal is not to anticipate exactly what will happen but to think about what might be needed should the unexpected happen.

For example, the communities along the Red River which borders Minnesota and North Dakota all had emergency plans in place to deal with flooding, including sandbag materials, a system for gathering volunteers to help with flood control and emergency notifications. However, in 1997, when the river rose over fifty-four feet and overwhelmed their flood prevention systems, the entire cities of Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota had to be evacuated, over 50,000 people. In addition, the water drained slowly, keeping people away from their homes for weeks. This type of unanticipated emergency is when resilience is most needed.

Public administrators, especially those in small communities, can play a vital role in setting up the systems needed to create resilience. Key components to consider are developing effective communication systems which engage all parts of the community, including staff, residents and visitors, understanding the physical structure of a community and planning for the psychological ramifications of a crisis. This includes identifying the most vulnerable members of the community and thinking about what it will take to keep them safe. Developing the systems which will help during a crisis before they are needed is a key step in building resilience.

Communicating to the public can be difficult during the best of times, but during a crisis it can be especially challenging. Resilient communities will feed the public regular information before the unexpected happens so they know how to access the systems they might need during a crisis. It also means thinking through what information is necessary. Does the community have the right signage to help people find what they need during a crisis? Will visitors to the community know where they should go? Who will help the isolated elderly, the homeless, the impoverished? The better communication systems reach all parts of the community, the more resilient a community becomes.

Understanding the physical attributes of a community is another important step which can help build resilience. Where might traffic choke points happen? Which infrastructure pieces are most vulnerable? What can be done if there is a massive failure of key infrastructure? Often times, disaster management teams have already assessed many of these systems and have well-developed responses in place. However, a resilient community will ensure these plans are actively reviewed and well known by more than just the one person in charge of the plan. This might include regular conversations about how these limitations might be impacted by the unexpected and how staff and the larger community can be informed about them.

Another action a community can take to build resilience is to consider how to handle the psychological ramifications of a disaster, which can ripple through a community for years after the actual event. In Grand Forks, there are still people who experience stress and anxiety every time the flood walls go up. How a community comes together to take care of each other in the aftermath of an unexpected crisis is vital and should involve more than just the immediate physical needs of the community. For example, in East Grand Forks, Minnesota, once the flood waters receded and people began returning home, the community came together to hold conversations about what was important to community members, not just what was needed. This gathering of community helped people process their loss and look toward the future.

Planning for community resilience is not about sitting down and running through disaster scenarios, although that is important for communities to do. Rather, it is a mindset which looks at the vulnerable parts of a community and considers how to strengthen them so that when disaster does happen, the systems needed to respond are in place.

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Author: Renée Cardarelle has a PhD in Management and Public Service from Hamline University with a focus on public participation in the governing process. In addition to her work in academia, Renée has also worked in the nonprofit sector and in grassroots organizing for more than twenty years.

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