CUORE - Cultures of response: A cross cultural comparison of resilience to storms in the Penghu archipelago and the East Frisian Islands

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The concept of resilience is of great scientific and political significance in current times where socio ecological systems (SES) increasingly face the unpredictability and severity of natural disasters. The recently emerging concept of response diversity offers the unique opportunity to empirically investigate the dynamic, cultural and multidimensional nature of resilience. In fact, through response diversity it is possible to analyse how different components of an SES respond to stressors such as natural disasters and how these components interact on different levels and scales for creating new pathways and opportunities for adaptation. The project "CUORE – Cultures of response" analyses the cultural and dynamic nature of resilience by empirically and comparatively applying the concept of response diversity in two case studies: the Penghu archipelago (Taiwan) and the East Frisian Islands (Germany). More specifically, both case studies will be analysed with regard to resilience to storms, a common challenge in times of climate change that the islands increasingly face and have to deal with. The investigation of the culturally different case studies will be carried-out in parallel and with the same theoretical and methodological approach. The findings of the two case studies will continuously be monitored and integrated in order to reflect on the research process, identify convergences and divergences in the cultural forms of resilience and to cooperatively design the research steps to be taken. The team, composed by the three applicants and two PhDs will: 1) develop and apply a common theoretical framework, 2) analyse the response diversity to storms in the two case studies across different social and temporal scales (individual, collective and institutional; past, present and future), and 3) quantitatively explore behavioural structures in responding to storms by identifying main cultural variables that influence resilience. The cross-cultural approach of CUORE will finally result in an in-depth understanding of the cultural embeddedness of resilience, based on which a set of indicators and response scenarios will be developed. The indicators will hold the potential to be applied by local and national policy makers that aim at developing effective measures for improving the social preparedness for and resilience to natural disasters. Overall, the contribution of CUORE to the current discussion on resilience is threefold: a) from a theoretical point of view, the introduction of response diversity to empirically investigate resilience, b) from a methodological point of view, the triangulation and fruitful combination of culturally sensitive qualitative and quantitative data, c) from an operational point of view, the transfer of the project’s findings to the policy context.