A Guide to Growing Climate Resilience from the Inside Out

Content note: This article explores ideas of preparedness in response to climate crisis. We’d like to start by acknowledging that billions of people around the world are already experiencing the impacts of climate disaster and do not have the capacity or access to resources that would allow for this type of planning. 

Climate disasters, planetary boundaries, and global tipping points — each week, we seem to pass yet another threshold that’s either irreversible, or reversible only with such a colossal amount of effort and collaboration that it feels impossible. 

When engaging with these subjects, it’s typical to experience a level of anxiety. However, mental health professionals note that climate anxiety isn’t anxiety at all. Rather, it’s an appropriate physiological response to the clear scientific evidence of climate breakdown we’re now regularly faced with. 

While information is power, the scale of these challenges can feel overwhelming to confront. 

That is why figuring out what we need to regulate during times of stress is crucial. Regulating can often mean disengaging (temporarily) with the work, and spending time doing something that brings your joy to refill your cup — socialising with friends, spending time in nature, disconnecting from social media, crafting, or exercising.  

No, these activities won’t fix things on a larger scale. Self-care is not the solution to climate crisis. But it is an important step in building a foundation of personal resilience — ensuring you’re able to engage with difficult news, and granting you the capacity to problem solve in an adaptable way. 

Understanding your contribution in times of difficulty can be a source of empowerment and purpose.

What is resilience, anyway? 

Resilience is defined as the ability of a person, system or organisation to adjust to or recover readily from illness, adversity, crisis, disruptive process, or major life changes. 

In the context of climate crisis, resilience is about learning how to take in new information, to be prepared, but also able to adapt in the face of inevitable environmental shifts.  

Rather than diving into detailed action plans and endless supply lists — which are tasks so immense they potentially fry your nervous system (and your bank balance) before you can make any meaningful progress — we grow our climate resilience from the inside, out. 

First up, we’re going to get philosophical.  

Rather than being pointless or woo-woo, a proactive, philosophical approach is crucial for fostering an adaptable mindset to withstand those rolling pieces of climate news. 

Consider what your role in all of this might be.  

How might you serve your family, your community, and the planet more generally? How might you make a positive social impact with the skills and knowledge at your disposal? What are your values? What motivates you? What sort of person do you want to be?  

Reflect on this vision. No doubt, it will change over time. But it will provide you with a center point to return to in the inevitable moments of overwhelm.  

Understanding your contribution in times of difficulty can be a source of empowerment and purpose. Once you have this clarity you can more readily seek out similarly-minded others. Those who are on your wavelength and share your values.  

Solidarity is a form of resilience, too. Your climate community doesn’t need to arrive fully informed in order to be engaged and supportive. 

Then, we connect. 

If you live in an area with an existing tight-knit community, or one that is prone to climate risks, you might find your neighbours are open to connecting and planning for collective climate resilience in your neighbourhood.  

If not, there are plenty of other ways to become part of a resilient community.  

Many cities offer training on emergency preparedness and climate adaption, and have the opportunity to participate in town hall meetings and local government planning sessions. Most areas also have local volunteer initiatives that allow you to care for your community directly, through actions like tree planting and beach cleanups, which allows for connection with others who share your values.  

If activity-based or in-person community building isn’t feasible for you, it’s entirely possible to build the resilient climate community you need with people from all pockets of your life — including online. 

As regular exposure to climate news becomes the norm, more people are thinking about these topics, seeking an outlet for their own ‘climate anxiety,’ and encouragement on how to engage proactively with ideas that feel overwhelming.  

Solidarity is a form of resilience, too. Your climate community doesn’t need to arrive fully informed in order to be engaged and supportive. 

We don’t need to have perfect answers to any of these hard questions. We ask them so they aren’t likely to catch us by surprise in the future.  

Once you have a sense of your role, an idea of how to regulate in times of overwhelm, and have made a start on community building, you’ll feel more prepared to create a plan.  

Creating a plan is going to look different depending on where and how you live. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to climate crisis planning and preparedness. Rather, you have a chance to make a realistic plan that is exactly right for you and your circumstances. 

The aim here is not to further overwhelm yourself — or to transform into some sort of super survivalist or off-grid prepper (unless that’s your goal, in which case hats off to you!) — but for each of us to work towards an achievable, increased level of resilience and preparedness that will allow us to come together and support one another when climate disaster or difficulties do arise. 

Ready? Here we go… 

1. Consider the scary stuff:

What are the major threats to the area you live in at any given time of year? Are you in a bushfire-prone area? Do you live on a flood-plain? Are you on a coast where hurricanes and cyclones commonly land? Do you live in a drought-affected area? What happens in the event of a snow-in or power-outage? Could you be impacted by mass migrations of people and animals having to leave their homes?  

These topics can feel scary to think about in depth, which is where our self and community care come in.  

This is the knowledge-is-power step in building resilience. Understanding the risks will allow you to feel mentally prepared. 

2. Know the variables for your situation:

Who is in your family or household, and who are you responsible for? Do any of these people (or pets) have special needs that need to be considered? How well set up is your home for extreme weather events? Do you have enough food, water and essentials (toilet paper!) stored in the event you can’t leave your home for a while? Where might you go in the event of a climate-related disaster — temporarily or permanently? 

This step is the one most likely to feel overwhelming, because there is a lot to consider. But the variables are not the plan. We don’t need to have perfect answers to any of these hard questions. We ask them so they aren’t likely to catch us by surprise in the future.  

3. Create the plan:

Sure, this could look like a detailed plan of action in the event of every imaginable climate disaster. But most of us don’t have the capacity to create something like that — or to continuously revise it in the face of ever-changing circumstances.  

Instead, planning can be a simple, achievable list of the top 5 most important things for your household to work through in order to feel more resilient and prepared. 

If you’ve considered the variables of your situation, you’ll have an idea of what belongs in this list. It may include tasks such as: 

• Jobs around your yard, like securing wobbly old fences, trampolines, or loose and dangerous branches from trees on your property, in the event of high winds, hurricanes or tornadoes. 

• Sorting out a reliable alternative water source on your premises – a water tank for those with the funds and space, or even a stash of clean bottled water. We use at least 3.8 liters (one gallon) of water per person per day, and a minimum 3-day supply is recommended for potential emergencies. 

• Ensuring you have a supply of long-life food items, and – if you have the capacity – learning to grow your own produce. Important to have a supplementary food supply, sure. But growing and sharing food is also a way of caring for your community when grocery prices increase, or supply chains are disrupted. 

• Arranging for shade and cooling around your home ahead of peak summer heat, or insultation and warming for your home ahead of deep winter cold. 

• Coming up with a basic emergency plan for your household, family members and community in the event of communication outages during an emergency – Who picks kids up from school? Is there anyone who lives alone that needs to be checked on or brought supplies? Where does everybody meet? 

• And, of course, packing a go-bag. This is one of those preparedness items that can too easily become an endless rabbit hole and lead you to never ticking it off your list (ahem… me). Keep it super simple to start. One bag with water, non-perishable snacks, first aid kit, ID, medications and prescriptions, torch, radio, extra batteries, some cash, and a change of clothes. Then, if you decide you do want to climb down into that prepping rabbit hole, at least you’ve got the basics ready to go! 

Remember, these are only suggestions, and having all the above on one list would be too much for most of us. Your own list should be specific to the priorities of you and your household, and it can change depending on the time of year, and the variables of your situation. 

Safety comes from resilience. 

These days, to some degree, most of us are plugged in and exposed to the latest developments of our ever-changing climate. Yes, sometimes we need to practise self-care and take a step back but avoiding climate information in the long term is no longer realistic, or useful.  

Rather than ignoring climate news and science to cultivate a feeling of safety, an authentic sense of safety can come from being informed, being engaged, and thinking critically. Because safety really means having the capacity to respond.  

Engaging with these subjects can feel scary, but it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. By growing our resilience from the inside out, we’re creating nervous systems that have the ability to be aware and adaptable, which is exactly what our climate and communities need.