Why is it important to measure resilience?

Measuring resilience is critical to ensure we’re having the right impact; that the action we’re taking really makes people and communities more flood resilient. 

Measurements also help influence policy and spending. By showing evidence that flood resilience investments are needed in a specific location based on our measurements, and presenting resilience building solutions we have a good case for investment.

Additionally, by sharing evidence that resilience has been increased as a result of our work we can garner the support and resources needed to scale and/or replicate the work, making more communities flood resilient.

Despite the benefits of measuring resilience, when the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance started our programme there were no internationally validated methods for measuring disaster resilience available. That’s why we developed the Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities (FRMC), a flood resilience measurement framework and tool for understanding and enhancing community flood resilience.

In the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance we apply the FRMC to measure resilience in the communities we work with to identify resilience gaps and strengths, to co-generate flood resilience enhancing approaches and solutions together with local stakeholders.

By measuring resilience we hope to contribute the evidence needed to increase social, political, and financial investments in flood resilience on all levels.

You can learn more about the Flood Resilience Measurement for Communities, hear from practitioners who have used it, and take the first steps towards applying the approach here.

And you can read about some of what we’ve found applying the FRMC in communities in the blog What we’ve learnt from measuring flood resilience.