Strengthening Community Resilience: Connecting Online and Offline Networks
Project Description
A Team of researchers from The University of Texas at Austin explored how Texas communities responded during the 2021 winter storm. The study revealed that a unique communication approach called the Hybrid Hyperlocal Community of Practice (HCoP) significantly assisted residents in navigating the challenges during the cascading disaster that resulted in the loss of many infrastructure services, among other things.
The communicative process emerged among residents coping with critical infrastructure
failures, such as massive power and water outages. Through qualitative interviews, the study reveals how these HCoPs facilitated community resilience by fostering mutual engagement, sharing repertoires, and negotiating joint enterprises during the cascading winter storm.
This study contributes to disaster resilience literature by demonstrating communities’ ability to adapt and function using innovative communication practices.
Goals
Cascading disasters are multiple disasters that happen one after another and are interconnected, posing unique challenges. They increase infrastructural vulnerabilities and
disrupt the ability from communities to adapt, like maintaining infrastructure. The 2021 Texas winter storm showed these problems by causing widespread power and water outages during extreme weather. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic made these issues worse.
The study underscores the urgent need to understand how communities develop resilience when faced with cascading failures. This is especially important regarding communication strategies. These communication strategies should blend online and offline platforms as they can help to maintain connectivity and support collective action in times of crisis. Addressing this research gap is crucial for enhancing disaster preparedness and response strategies tailored to complex, cascading disaster scenarios in the future.
Research Questions
- How do local residents develop their community resilience through both online and offline communicative practices during a cascading disaster?
- How do local residents’ resilience tactics communicatively enact a hybrid community of practice through mutual engagement, shared repertoire, and negotiation of a joint enterprise?
To download the slides, please click here.
For the most recent updates on this project, check out the following blog posts.
Unpacking the Readability and Compliance of Boil-Water Notices Across Communication Platforms
To ensure public safety, should water utilities prioritize message clarity, compliance with regulatory requirements, or both? But can they really accomplish both those objectives? The mandatory language requirements for emergency water notifications were established...
Strengthening Community Resilience: Connecting Online and Offline Networks
An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Texas at Austin (including TIPI researchers) explored how Texas communities responded during the 2021 winter storm.
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