Building inclusive and resilient societies in unpredictable times

The authors contend that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed fragilities caused by a global economic focus on productivity over resilience, disproportionately impacting informal workers and vulnerable regions. They advocate for post-pandemic stimulus packages to prioritize inclusive governance by empowering grassroots organizations, diversifying concentrated food, energy, and finance value chains, and recognizing the interdependence of human and planetary wellbeing.

• The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted systemic fragilities resulting from a global economic structure focused on top-down productivity and efficiency rather than social inclusion and resilience, with an estimated 1.6 billion informal workers losing up to 80% of their income.
• Grassroots and locally rooted organizations are essential for crisis response and long-term resilience because they possess the trusted relationships and contextual knowledge needed to assess vulnerabilities and direct support effectively.
• To build a resilient future, the authors propose three pillars for investment: strengthening inclusive governance via grassroots organizations, diversifying and localizing concentrated value chains in food, energy, and finance, and establishing a relationship with nature that recognizes the link between human and planetary wellbeing.
• Transitioning from centralized, fossil fuel-dependent energy systems to decentralized renewable energy networks is identified as a way to increase resilience benefits.

APA

Patel, S., & Nel, D. (2020). Building inclusive and resilient societies in unpredictable times. Global Resilience Partnership. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/building-inclusive-and-resilient-societies-in-unpredictable-times/

Chicago

Patel, Sheela, and Deon Nel. Building inclusive and resilient societies in unpredictable times. Global Resilience Partnership, 2020. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/building-inclusive-and-resilient-societies-in-unpredictable-times/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |last1=Patel |first1=Sheela |last2=Nel |first2=Deon |title=Building inclusive and resilient societies in unpredictable times |publisher=Global Resilience Partnership |date=19 October 2020 |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/building-inclusive-and-resilient-societies-in-unpredictable-times/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{patel2020building, author = {Patel, Sheela and Nel, Deon}, title = {{Building inclusive and resilient societies in unpredictable times}}, publisher = {Global Resilience Partnership}, year = {2020}, month = oct, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/building-inclusive-and-resilient-societies-in-unpredictable-times/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }