‘Thick and Rich’ is more than Pasta Sauce
In this post I’d like to highlight why ‘thick and rich’ understanding of communities is essential to support community resilience.
Doing deep qualitative work for community resilience is essential because it allows for a comprehensive, nuanced understanding of the lived experiences, needs, and aspirations of the community. Unlike quantitative methods that focus on numbers and generalised data, qualitative research delves into the human aspects of resilience, offering insights that are rich, complex, and deeply rooted in the local context.
Communities are not monolithic. They are diverse in terms of culture, history, values, and challenges. A deep qualitative approach—through interviews, observation, conversations and storytelling—gives space for individuals within the community to express their experiences, values, and perspectives. This allows for a more holistic understanding of their resilience. It acknowledges that resilience is not just about bouncing back from disasters, but about how communities adapt, transform, and thrive in the face of challenges, often drawing from their experiences, social networks, and local knowledge.
One of the key reasons to engage in qualitative work is that it uncovers the underlying factors that contribute to or hinder resilience. For example, a community might face recurring floods, but through qualitative research, you may discover that beyond the immediate threat of water, there are deep-seated issues related to governance, power dynamics, or social inequalities. These deeper issues are often missed in more superficial, quantitative studies. By focusing on individual and collective narratives, qualitative work sheds light on the social, emotional, and cultural dimensions of resilience, offering a fuller picture of how communities adapt and survive.
Moreover, deep qualitative work builds relationships of trust and collaboration between researchers and the community. By engaging with community members in open, empathetic conversations, you create opportunities for mutual learning and shared understanding. This process is not one-sided; it is about giving voice to people who may not typically have the platform to speak about their experiences. This approach empowers communities, making them active participants in the resilience-building process rather than subjects of study. When communities feel heard and understood, they are more likely to invest in and take ownership of the strategies and solutions that emerge.
Another crucial benefit of qualitative work is its ability to uncover local knowledge and innovative practices that can be essential to resilience. Many communities, especially in rural or marginalised areas, have developed their own adaptive strategies over generations. These local practices—whether they involve sustainable farming techniques, resource sharing, or dispute resolution—are often overlooked in mainstream understanding but are vital to resilience. Deep qualitative work helps to document and preserve this knowledge, while also allowing us to identify opportunities for scaling or integrating these strategies and/or their principles, into larger resilience frameworks.
Additionally, qualitative research is flexible, allowing for an adaptive and responsive approach. As you engage with a communities, new insights may emerge that shift the direction of your inquiry or highlight areas previously unseen. This responsiveness is critical for working in dynamic and complex environments, where resilience is constantly being tested by shifting social, economic, and environmental pressures.
In sum, deep qualitative work is integral to understanding and supporting community resilience because it allows you to connect with the community on a human level, recognise and document local knowledge, uncover deeper structural issues, and build trust and collaboration. This method emphasises the value of listening to people, empowering them to contribute to their own resilience and ensuring that any interventions are rooted in the community’s unique context. By fostering this deeper connection, qualitative work plays a crucial role in creating more sustainable and adaptive communities.
