Institute for Resilient Communities
The Institute for Resilient Communities (IRC) is dedicated to providing tools that enhance resilience in communities locally and globally. Our goal is to minimize the impact associated with sudden or long-term changes induced by human actions or nature. To achieve this goal, the IRC combines science, technology, education, and outreach and involves academic and educational institutions as well as communities in an international, multi-disciplinary, and multi-cultural context.
The Institute for Resilient Communities provides a framework for research, education, and community involvement to minimize the physical and psychological impact of future disruptive events and developments. It provides a forum for dialogue among researchers, educators, decision makers, and communities locally and globally.
As an example, the 2011 events at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan highlighted the unmet need to enhance resilience to radiological and nuclear accidents. The incident and associated large releases of radioactive materials had and continue to have an enormous societal and economic impact on Japan and globally. Although no casualties and health effects have been and likely will be attributable directly to radiation, these events have manifold and substantial impact on local communities and have provoked ongoing anxiety and concerns around the world.
Initially, we have established partnerships locally at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of California, Berkeley, the City of Berkeley, and the Lawrence Hall of Science. We have also established partnerships in Japan with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo, and Koriyama City. We envision including other institutions and communities in the near future.
