A 10-Step Process for Local Holistic Recovery

1. Get organized. At this stage a community makes a commitment to sustainability by designating appropriate responsibility for the recovery, delegating it to an individual or entity—new or existing—and setting up measures for integrating sustainability into ongoing disaster recovery and other community processes, as necessary. One way to do this would be to appoint a “sustainability liaison” to the planning and decisionmaking body or the recovery team. The person in this role would be an advocate for considering the principles of sustainability at each step of the process as well as knowledgeable about and supportive of all those principles: environment, social equity, consideration of the future, economic development, quality of life, and disaster resilience.

2. Involve the public. Participatory processes are an essential aspect of sustainability involving the inclusion of all the stakeholders in recovery and in creating the vision of what the community should be like after the recovery is complete. A community that seeks sustainability must be committed to such involvement and, at this point, the community begins to design public participation into all phases of its recovery. There are many techniques from which to choose, from the traditional public hearings and town meetings to lectures, planning charettes, workshops, call-in radio shows, and community-based events like fairs and festivals. To fulfill the goal of social equity, communities should pay particular attention to reaching out to those people who may have been historically excluded from conventional “public notice” techniques because of language differences, cultural constraints, temporal or spatial barriers to attending meetings, or other factors. The opportunities for participation should be publicized through a variety of media, including flyers, posters, local newspapers, local television stations, and the Internet.

3. Coordinate with other agencies, departments, and groups. To mastermind a holistic recovery, a community must expand representation on the recovery team to include those who can contribute expertise regarding each of the principles of sustainability. They could be in-house staffers, local experts, representatives from state or federal agencies, or consultants. Depending on the situation, social services personnel, environmental specialists, engineers, economic development directors, parks or wildlife department personnel, the business community, or social services personnel all might be included. Formal and informal ties need to be developed with every conceivable private entity; non-profit group; neighborhood coalition; church; state, local, federal, and regional agency; and others. This will increase the diversity of ideas and potential solutions, provide a ready-made labor pool (which will be needed when implementation begins), and make problem-solving more imaginative. It also will strengthen local capacity within and across groups and areas of expertise.

4. Identify post-disaster problems. During this step, the recovery team begins to systematically consider ways in which it can build sustainability as it plans for and manages the recovery. The team can start by simply listing all the disaster-caused situations that need to be remedied in the course of recovery. (Some possibilities are listed across the top of the matrix.)

For each problem situation, information should be gathered to gain a full picture. This is a broad exercise that likely will include many sub-steps spread over a wide array of issues, for example:

• Obtaining expert analysis of local economic trends, costs of rebuilding, and opportunities for economic growth, before and after the disaster;
• Mapping an environmentally sensitive area;
• Assessing the community’s present and future vulnerability to hazards and disasters;
• Pinpointing social inequity and its impacts within the community, before and after the disaster;
• Determining what quality of life concerns are important to local residents, before and after the disaster.

Obviously it is preferable to have this information in hand before a disaster, rather than having to gather it afterward, when the situation is confused, and time and resources are at a premium. This step will culminate in a list of problem situations, accompanied by supporting information.

Principles of Sustainability and Some Options for Applying Them
1. Maintain and enhance quality of life Options: Make housing available/affordable/better Provide education opportunities Ensure mobility Provide health and other services Provide employment opportunities Provide for recreation Maintain safe/healthy environs Have opportunities for civic engagement
2. Enhance Economic vitality Options: Support area redevelopment and revitalization Attract/retain businesses Attract/retain work force Rebuild for economic functionality Develop/redevelop recreational, historic, tourist attractions
3. Ensure social and intergenerational equity Options: Preserve/conserve natural, cultures, historical resources Adopt a longer-term focus for all planning Avoid/remedy disproportionate impacts on groups Consider future generations’ quality of life Value diversity Preserve social connections in and among groups
4. Enhance environmental quality Options: Preserve/conserve/restore natural resources Protect open space Manage stormwater Prevent/remediate pollution
5. Incorporate disaster resilience/mitigation Options: Make buildings and infrastructure damage-resistant Avoid development in hazardous areas Manage stormwater Protect natural areas Promote and obtain hazard and other insurance
6. Use a participatory process Options: Incorporate with all of the other principles

5. Evaluate the problems and identify opportunities. The implications of sustainability become clear during this step. The recovery team evaluates each of the problems identified in Step 4 in light of the six principles of sustainability to see where there are opportunities during recovery to enhance community sustainability and move toward the community’s vision of its future rather than returning to the status quo. The list of options in the box (and listed on the left side of the matrix) can be used to stimulate thinking about sustainable approaches a locality can use to address each postdisaster problem. One or more approaches should be designated as possibilities for each problem, focusing on those that are applicable to the community’s situation, needs, and concerns. Note that this is not an exhaustive list and also that some options apply to more than one principle.

This step results in a list of possible ways to combine remedying a disaster-caused problem and addressing an “unsustainable” situation. Each idea represents a way to further one or more aspects of sustainability, without regard (at this point) to cost or feasibility. The list is simply a series of specific things that, ideally, the community would like to do. For example, suppose the community has experienced a flood that, among other impacts, has seriously damaged a neighborhood of low-income houses along a polluted stream. One item identified during this step might be: “Expand stormwater management system to better handle street drainage and reduce streambank erosion” (thereby repairing flood-damaged infrastructure, improving livability by reducing street flooding, minimizing future flood damage by enlarging the carrying capacity of the stormwater system, and improving environmental quality by preserving soil and riparian vegetation from erosion). Another item might be: “Incorporate seismic-resistant features and insulation into damaged housing during repair” (thereby improving livability by making the houses warmer and cooler according to the time of year and less expensive to heat or cool, improving disaster resilience by strengthening the housing against earthquakes, and protecting environmental quality by reducing energy consumption). The team tries to consolidate multiple sustainability principles into each possibility it lists.

6. Set goals. During this step the recovery team agrees on what realistically can be done. The team pares down the list of possibilities identified in Step 5 to those measures preferred by most of the stakeholders and most consonant with local needs and situations, public support, cost-effectiveness, availability of technical expertise, other community goals, local regulations, and other factors. A range of possibilities is developed and prioritized in case some cannot be implemented. These final choices become the recovery goals—positive statements of what the community intends to accomplish. By this point it will become clear that the goals established for a holistic recovery are broader and have more far-reaching implications than those for simply returning to the status quo.

This step will result in an agreed-upon set of actions that have reasonable applicability to the community. (It should be noted that in practice, Steps 4, 5, and 6 likely will overlap.)

7. Develop strategies for implementation. Working with the list of goals developed in Step 6, the recovery team reviews the tools, financial support, and expertise available to achieve each of them. For each goal, an implementation strategy is be developed that describes

• What is to be accomplished;
• The lead agency/entity and what it will provide or prepare;
• Partnerships that will enhance effectiveness;
• Ways to obtain technical expertise and advice;
• Official local action needed (passage or amendment of zoning or subdivision ordinances, adoption of building codes, etc.); and
• Funding methods.

This will produce a “package” associated with each community goal that outlines what is needed to achieve that goal. This step weeds out the possibilities that are not feasible for whatever reason and results in a set of strategies that realistically can be implemented.

8. Plan for action. During this step the recovery team drafts a complete plan for holistic recovery activities that fits into the recovery plan or becomes part of the community’s comprehensive plan. Like other plans, it should include

• a budget;
• details for obtaining funding;
• a schedule for team meetings, public participation, data collection, report writing, on-the-ground action;
• a monitoring and review process; and
• provision for public review and comment.

This plan should be coordinated with existing comprehensive, development, capital improvement, drainage, transportation, housing, and recreation plans and programs. After public and agency/entity review, the plan should be revised and finalized.

9. Get agreement on the plan for action. Depending on the circumstances, the state, county, and/or local government may formally adopt or approve a holistic recovery plan or otherwise officially incorporate it into the recovery or comprehensive plan. During this stage, the local community should obtain agreement from federal and state agencies as appropriate. It might also enter into memoranda of understanding with other partners. The agreement of other stakeholders, especially historically excluded groups, should be obtained.

10. Implement, evaluate, and revise. This final step ensures that the community maximizes the opportunities that began as a disaster. Having the persons and entities responsible for implementation of various aspects of the recovery actually involved in the decisionmaking during all the earlier steps helps ensure that the goals and activities agreed upon are actually carried out.

As recovery proceeds, it will be clear that some goals and strategies need to be modified. A formal monitoring process helps identify what changes are needed. It also can help keep certain initiatives from simply being abandoned when an unforeseen obstacle is reached. Wherever possible, stakeholders should participate in reviews (at least annually) and help develop indicators of progress.

Some Tools for Community Sustainability

Local redevelopment authority Economic incentives Loans for businesses Housing authority Insurance Capital improvements Low interest subsidy loans Revolving loan funds Public investment Redistricting Subdivision regulations Building codes Special ordinances Tax incentives Transfer of development rights Easements Land purchase Voluntary agreements Planning Habitat protection Riparian buffers

Filter strips and vegetative buffers Soil conservation and management Ecosystem restoration Zoning and rezoning Public education and awareness campaigns and events Special protection of critical facilities, utilities, and networks Preserve and create public spaces Limit public investment in hazardous areas Relocation out of hazardous areas Preservation of natural floodplain, coastal, wetland, and other functions Private-public partnerships and networks Ombudspersons Targeted workshops Community festivals and other activities

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