Building Community Resilience and Adaptation to Climate Change: Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction in the Coastal Regions of Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Abir, T.M.; Das, T., and Ferdous, F., 2024. Building community resilience and adaptation to climate change: Integrating disaster risk reduction in the coastal regions of Bangladesh. Journal of Coastal Research, 40(4), 792–802. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. Building community resilience is very significant in reducing climate shocks and disaster risk. There is some insufficiency in community resiliency among coastal communities of Bangladesh, so they are still suffering from disastrous events like cyclones, floods, riverbank erosion, heavy rain, salinity, and tidal surges. So, this study critically examined the impacts of disasters on coastal communities and how they can build their resilience to reduce disaster risk. This study emphasizes the local adaptation strategies for risk reduction and the barriers faced by the local coastal community that hinder disaster resilience. The study was conducted from November 2022 to March 2023. A mixed-method research approach was utilized to assess the situation. In order to gauge the resilience of the community, the study focused on social, economic, infrastructure, and institutional dimensions based on different established climate disaster resilience indexes and frameworks. Key informant interview and face-to-face interview methods were used for data collection. Findings showed that the main barrier to sustainable adaptation and community resilience is the poor socioeconomic conditions of the community in the study area. Lower rates of quality education, limited livelihood opportunities, lack of other resources, and repeated disastrous events cause poor socioeconomic situations for those communities. The results show that the area is highly dependent on agriculture and fishing, so there needs to be special consideration given to disaster tolerance cultivation. In addition, the collaboration of locally grounded adaptation solutions and technological solutions should be emphasized for sustainable adaptation and will be necessary to ensure sustainable livelihoods. The study suggests that policymakers prioritize social and institutional support in building community resilience to reduce disaster risk.