Today we speak to Rob Wheeler, the Ecovillage Resilience Project partner for The Farm Ecovillage and Education Center. In addition to his work locally, Rob has participated actively in the UN’s primary conferences and processes on climate and sustainable development for the past 25 years. He is the North American Representative on the Facilitating Group for Action for Sustainable Development which works with the UN on the Global Week of Action for achieving the SDGs. Rob serves on the Advisory Council for Ecosystem Restoration Communities and is the Founder and CEO of Sustainably Wise - which will be a web portal that will assist all interested people and stakeholder groups to help achieve the SDGs and to transition as rapidly as possible to a fully sustainable world. Rob is the Global Ecovillage Network’s main representative in the United Nations and a newly elected board member.

Dive deeper by exploring the Resilience Attributes mentioned by Rob:

• Diversity

  
  





• habitat diversity

  
  



• food production/crops diversity

  
  



• livelihood diversity

  
  



• diversity of perspectives 

  
  

• Redundancy

  
  





• multiple reinforcing options

  
  



• backup alternatives for responding to shocks

  
  

• Connectivity & Modularity

  
  





• connections with other ecovillages (shared learning/resources)

  
  



• connections with surrounding communities (sharing information/resources)

  
  



• landscape connectivity e.g., ecological corridors

  
  



• connectivity that promotes recovery after disturbances/shocks

  
  



• modularity to buffer disturbances (disease spread/economic impacts)

  
  

• Inclusivity and equity

  
  





• degrees of equity

  
  



• how to gauge levels of trust

  
  



• evidence of collective action

  
  



• fair opportunities

  
  



• reciprocity/exchange for mutual benefit

  
  

• Adaptive learning & decision making

  
  





• monitoring change

  
  



• experimentation

  
  



• processes for learning 

  
  



• evidence-based strategies

  
  



• polycentric governance

  
  

• inhibiting top-down approaches

  
  

  Learn more about them at: https://ecovillage.org/resilience-tracker-tool-release/

  
  

  
  

  
  

  Join us as we explore the ways in which many forms of nurturing resilience are being developed. Find more at: ⁠ecovillage.org/ecovillage-resilience-podcast⁠⁠