Community resilience curriculum: Lessons from the Xeťólacw Community School
This toolkit outlines key elements of the program as it was implemented at the Xeťólacw Community School, Lil’wat Nation: hazard mapping and risk assessment; community resilience assessment and youth strategies developed (personal/household, school and community levels).
Below are some of the examples of positive disaster resilience changes that happened as part of this program:
The Xeťólacw Community School created a School Safety Committee with an intent to work on the emergency plan for the school to address priority hazards identified as part of the workshop: floods, fires and the development of school lock-down procedures.
The workshop strengthened connections between the school, the Fire Department and the community leaders in emergency planning.
As part of the workshop, the youth sorted emergency supply bins stored at the school that had not been opened for over five years, itemized the inventory, identified what was missing or was needed.
The youth identified the need for a secondary access road/a new evacuation route in a case of a wildfire.
In 2017, the participants of the Preparing our Home program won a global competition for their work to understand hazards and develop a school curriculum by integrating Indigenous Knowledge for increasing community resilience. The winners of the Global Competition for Youth-led projects on Floods and Droughts were announced at the Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction in Cancun, Mexico. This brochure captures key lessons learned over the past 3 years in Liľwat Nation.
Click on this link to see the complete brochure: Preparing-our-Home-brochure
See the award winning video about Lil’wat youth and the hazards they identify in their home community: