Resilience is a meaningful, measurable trait of communities

Community resilience can be quantified using available data to inform policy decisions. Identifying vulnerable or deprived communities in New Zealand is straightforward because social, cultural and economic indicators are correlated. Communities that score lower on the resilience index have lower income, lower levels of educational achievement and lower levels of employment. However, that is just the first step. Resilience is also a matter of perspective, which means engaging with people in communities affected by policy decisions. When resilience is viewed as multi-dimensional, success in the formal and informal economies is linked to social resilience. However, social resilience cannot flourish in the absence of other resources.