Climate change is increasing flood risk across the UK. As floods become more frequent and intense, communities are increasingly encouraged to become resilient and “live with water”. Yet in some flood-prone areas, residents are rejecting these calls, concerned that resilience is less about helping communities and more about transferring responsibility from institutions to citizens.
Resilience is often considered to be a positive idea. It suggests that people can adapt to uncertainty, to prepare for disruption, and recover quickly when floods strike. But my research suggests many communities are deeply uncomfortable with this messaging. Some reject it altogether.
