The contribution of experience-scapes to the creation of resilient communities

The increasing concentration of people in urban environments in an era of globalisation means that social, economic, and environmental resources for living and working are under pressure. Urban communities experience increased stress levels due to inadequate and overburdened infrastructure and services, challenges due to ethnic and cultural diversity, socio-economic inequalities as well as the impact of environmental degradation. For these communities to build resilience under these circumstances therefore requires a multipronged approach.
The underlying question this project will answer is: “What are the key characteristics of experiencescapes that contribute to resilience-building in communities?” The project will dive into the identification of building blocks of experiencescapes and roles of relevant actors that can support communities in building resilience. Within the context of a multidisciplinary approach, this project applies a range of qualitative research methods, such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, participant observation, storytelling techniques, life stories, as well as various biometric quantitative methods, available through the experience lab of BUas.
The outcome of the project will enable practitioners and researchers alike in various sectors to understand what and how they can contribute to creating an environment in which people can meaningfully interact in a way that builds resilience in communities. This outcome is communicated not only through academic publications and conference contributions, but also through public reports and a handbook for practitioners and students. These reports and handbooks support identification and application of building blocks of experiencescapes that support building resilience in communities. Finally, the knowledge generated in the project will contribute to the development of curricula of various educational programmes at Breda University of Applied Sciences by expanding the scope of experience design into the area of people-to-people relationships.

Eindrapportage

Experiencescapes that help build resilience in communities involve the consideration of various aspects of physical as well as social spaces, ranging from the level of the individual to the wider community beyond the limits of the communities at hand. While research into the building of resilience has focused on the area of natural disasters with an eye of how communities can react to stress situations, this project has made use of a comparative case study approach to extract the details and aspects that enable communities to build resilience in a more pro-active and long-term perspective. Next to the importance of rituals, the inherent recognizability and relatability of the physical and social space are aspects that so far have received little attention in the field of resilience literature as well ‘doing good for yourself and others’ as well as the importance of the wider community (outside the limits of the immediate case studies) for the building of resilience. The diverse nature and increasing speed of socio-economic transformation in urban environments, appears to require communities to be open and hospitable for both existing and new community members in such ways that their physical and social space act as bridge builders to integrate past and present experiences into a ‘new’ dynamic and resilient community space.
In order to achieve these insights, innovative methods such as a Delphi study involving academics and involved practitioners have also revealed how the lack of clear definition(s) of resilience and community can be refined to fit a specific research context which encompasses insights from both areas of expertise. This has helped us understand how ritualized experiences in a well-designed welcoming physical space allow members to share and engage in a way that allows them to retain a feeling of autonomy and independence, while at the same time immersing themselves into the realm of the community at their ‘own’ speed and depth. It is this nature of ‘empowered autonomy’ based on the concept of hospitality, that appears to create the space in which communities manage to reach out to wider society, a wider society which can add to the level of resilience in times of crisis and stress for a community.