Community resilience is the ability of a community to recover from a disaster or persist sustainably in the face of a new, ongoing threat. While government resiliency projects often focus mostly on disaster-preparedness, true resiliency comes not only from infrastructure and communication strategies, but from social cohesion and connectedness.
We will not make the changes necessary to prevent the most dire impacts of climate change if we do not have relationships with our neighbors, or respect and care for the plants and animals that share this planet, and upon whom we are utterly dependent.
And we will not survive the climate chaos that has already been unleashed unless we find a way to overcome the "me first" individual bootstraps approach upon which our society is based. That is why Major Market's emphasis on sustainability, community engagement, and social and physical health is such an important aspect of their vision, and why this solarization project matters for tribal health and resiliency as we begin to feel the stability of the climate we have relied on for all human history shake beneath our feet.
Social connectedness is integral to a community’s ability to obtain resources, communicate in times of crisis, address threats to health and safety, and recover from adversity. This social connectedness helps communities expand access to resources for all community members, including the most at-risk.
Watch the video below to understand how Major Market and this solar project can help to Zuni develop the resilience to thrive.