Resilience hubs are critical community assets that proactively support community residents every day and play a special support role in climate disasters and recovery. Hubs generally act as trusted community centers in “blue skies” and have a more robust role to play during disruptions, activating to provide additional resources — from cell phone charging to information sharing to disaster sanitation. The CO2 Foundation is funding the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) to conduct interviews and produce videos that share the story of resilience hubs on Maui and Hawai’i, and highlight how a network of resilience hubs island-wide, supported unusually well at the state level, is essential to communities thriving amidst changing climate conditions.

Resilience hubs help minimize the impact of extreme weather events such as extreme heat, fires, floods, and hurricanes, which can devastate communities long after the events themselves. They mitigate risks and create safe and resilient futures for diverse community members, particularly those that are often disproportionately impacted by extreme weather events. Resilience hubs advance environmental justice principles: they are designed to equitably enhance community resilience and serve as a way to build local community power and leadership; community-managed facilities help foster greater social cohesion and increase the effectiveness of community-centered institutions and programs.

Although resilience hubs are gaining nationwide recognition, opportunities to share knowledge and guidance on these critical community assets remain scarce. Sharing lessons learned is important, of course, to develop stronger programs, as well as advocate for funding and other resourcing of these powerful community assets. The films will spotlight the importance of taking initial steps to develop resilience hubs, rather than waiting until there are fully developed plans and funding to begin work. Moreover, they will stress the necessity of anchoring support for hubs within communities and neighborhoods rather than tethering them to specific political figures or administrations.

While resilience hubs throughout Hawai’i experience unique challenges due to their location on the most isolated island chain in the world, they also offer universally applicable lessons; short films provide an accessible and effective way to communicate lessons learned. These films are intended to assist in collaboration and networking among a range of local partners working on resilience hubs, including NGOs, community-based organizations, and government agencies. The USDN Resilience Hub program recognizes the challenge of repairing fractured trust between community members and local governments. While films can’t mend this eroded trust, they possess the unique ability to shed light on ways to foster reconnection and repair.

Via its network of cities and counties across North America, USDN supports local governments and community-based organizations across a variety of contexts. As USDN’s primary audience is its members, this film series shows the critical role local governments play in supporting this work consistently as extreme weather threatens ever more communities. By sharing the results and takeaways of resilience hub implementation in Hawai’i with local government sustainability practitioners, including at its annual meeting, USDN aims to leverage the connections of its network to inspire progress in other regions. To reach well beyond this core audience, the films will be featured at COP29 as part of the Race to Resilience implementation platform.

There is a high demand for coaching and direct support on resilience hubs; given the limited staff capacity at USDN, this set of short films is a tool that can help close this gap, offering resilience hub initiatives greater confidence and increasing shared wisdom while reducing the need for extensive, individualized support. Additionally, as hubs gain prominence, and attract attention, there’s a potential for increased visitors or disaster tourism. Such influxes might strain the hubs’ resources, disrupting their operations. Providing an immersive and informative experience without necessitating physical visits, this video series aims to alleviate strain on the hubs, allowing them to concentrate on serving their communities without disruptions from external tours.