The Barcelona Provincial Council International Relations Directorate and the organisation Resilience Earth present a publication on international patterns of territorial resilience in relation to the province of Barcelona.
The new publication “Els patrons internacionals de la resiliència territorial: una aproximació a la província de Barcelona” (International patterns of territorial resistance: An approach to the province of Barcelona), available online and in Catalan for free, takes an in-depth look at territorial resilience and different application patterns from around the world at the local level, as well as being a unique opportunity to learn about experiences and success stories from other regions of the world.
The word “resilience” is more important than ever in Europe and globally, in the wake of the war in Ukraine and the various crises resulting from it, such as the refugee crisis and rising gas prices. These crises come on the tail of the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, from which we are only now emerging.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic, not a day goes by that we do not hear about resilience, a concept that has become ubiquitous and to which the European Union attaches particular importance. In fact, the main tool of its NextGenerationEU fund is called the “Recovery and Resilience Facility”, and it has put this concept at the heart of Member States’ recovery plans.
In our province, even before the COVID-19 crisis, some municipalities, with the support of Barcelona Provincial Council, had already started to make urban resilience plans, especially in terms of public space to cope with natural disasters such as floods, heat waves, etc. However, the pandemic has made it clear that these plans must go further and address other situations that can impact on territories, such as a global health crisis with serious repercussions in other areas.
This publication aims to provide a clear overview of the concept of resilience and what it means to be a resilient territory: how to recognise resilience’s DNA is and how to implement it in a territory such as the province of Barcelona, made up of 311 municipalities of different sizes and with diverse needs.
The publication, which is available from the Provincial Council Bookshop, has been promoted by the Barcelona Provincial Council International Relations Directorate and the organisation Resilience Earth.