Building Community Resilience during COVID: Geoff Cape

In a matter of mere days, and in some cases hours, we have experienced unprecedented disruption in how we live, play, work and connect with each other.

It has been challenging for everyone to see how a global pandemic can sweep across borders and hit home right here in Canada with tremendous effects on the every day lives of individual residents. During these extraordinary moments, the most pressing issues that cities and communities face – affordable housing, unemployment, mental health, access to nature to name a few – are intensified.

This kind of disruption signals a realization of our interconnectedness: person-to-person; person-to-place and person-to-planet. We each have a role to play in how our city and natural ecosystems respond to disruption. Across the globe, we are each being asked to take extraordinary actions for community benefit. This may be one the greatest tests in how we succeed in moving forwards collectively.