On Monday, November 4th, the Hazard and Climate Resilience Institute presented a workshop at the annual West Central Mountains Economic Summit titled: Strengthening Community Resilience and Vitality in Valley County: Developing a Customized Resilience Assessment and Strategy.
This pre-assessment workshop officially kicks off the resilience assessment process for Valley County and the broader West Central Mountains region. This regional assessment is a remodeling of the Kamiah Resilience Assessment and hopes to become a polished framework for similar efforts in the future in other rural communities.
The work is primarily conducted through the VIP Building Resilient Communities course at Boise State University, led by HCRI Director, Dr. Brittany Brand, Research Associate Kyle Peterson, and HCRI Post-doc Zac Provant. This semester’s team of students – consisting of Prithila Purkayastha, Mike Maxfield, Patience Estes, Devon Casper, and Jacob Ruther – acted as small-group facilitators, guiding participants through discussions of regional challenges and solutions.Â
Throughout the Spring 2025 semester, the team will conduct cross-sector focus groups on topics including Sustainable Economy, Natural Stewardship, Disaster Management, Built Environment, and more. The final outcomes of the regional assessment will include a solutions-focused workshop and a prioritized action list (Resilience Strategy) tied to resources and student-led projects to support efforts.
To learn more, please visit the project webpage.