The Economics of Community Resilience Planning - Beyond Benefit-Cost Analysis

Presented by Dr. Jennifer Helgeson
There are methods of evaluation that move beyond traditional benefit-cost valuation to address the economic, social, and environmental dimensions of resilience and sustainability planning, especially in the built environment. Yet, these tend to be aimed at expert users and do not provide comprehensive tools that are relevant or accessible to community-level practitioners. This presentation will review recent advancements in developmental and environmental economics, disaster risk management, social sciences, and sustainability science that address critical gaps. It will highlight a set of key issues and emerging methodological considerations for improving the socio-economic evaluation of interventions and investments that involve both resilient solutions and sustainable development as primary or secondary objectives.