Building Community Resilience to Emergencies in Vulnerable Populations

Abstract

This project was completed as part of the 2018-2019 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with Ramsey County. Ramsey County knows little about social assets or vulnerabilities to emergencies among many demographic groups in the community that would potentially increase or reduce their resiliency in the face of natural and human-created disasters. Ramsey County project lead Karma Kumlin-Diers worked with a team of students in PA 8081: Planning and Public Policy Capstone, taught by Dr. Dan Milz, to identify indicators of social vulnerability and resiliency specific to the identified communities of Ramsey County; use data collected to inform internal and external processes related to outreach, communication, and collaboration in working with vulnerable communities; and provide a template for effectively engaging with vulnerable communities. The students' final report and presentation are available.