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Observation is too-often treated as a preliminary step in community resilience: something done before action – data gathered, workshops run, participation formalised. Yet in practice, observation is not a precursor to community resilience – it’s one of its foundations. To observe well is to take seriously the everyday life of place and landscape, to recognise that resilience is lived here and to understand that voices are not only spoken, but enacted through daily practices, rhythms, silences and relationships.

This means observation is not passive. It is an ethical, political and relational act. It shapes whose knowledge is recognised, whose experiences are centred and how understanding is always developed. When done well, observation enables “thick and rich” understandings of communities and landscapes, creating the conditions for meaningful participation and for voices – particularly those often marginalised – to be heard beyond that spoken.

Observing the Everyday Life of Place and Landscape

Communities are not abstractions. They are lived realities embedded in specific places, shaped by landscapes, infrastructures, histories and routines. Observation allows practitioners to move beyond surface narratives and into the everyday life of a place: how people move through space, where they gather, how they use land and resources and how social relationships are expressed in ordinary moments.

This everyday life is where resilience is continually negotiated. It appears in how people adapt to seasonal change, respond to environmental pressures, share resources, care for one another and maintain cultural practices. They are also the locations of inequalities and the contexts within which they occur.

These forms of resilience are rarely visible in formal meetings or captured through surveys alone. They are embedded in walking routes, informal economies, shared spaces and the interactions of what in my world are called ‘everyday life’.

With observations, landscapes are no longer just physical settings, but social – ecological systems rich with memory, identity and knowledge. Observing how people relate to their environment – what they protect, what they modify, what they avoid – can reveal values that may never be explicitly stated but are central to community life.

Thick and Rich Understanding as Methodology

A methodology based on “thick and rich” understanding recognises that complexity cannot be reduced without losing something. Observation, sustained over time, allows practitioners to notice nuance, contradiction and change. It supports an approach that values depth over speed and context over generalisation.

Thick observation involves paying attention not only to what happens, but to how and why it happens in particular ways. It notices patterns and their disruptions, formal structures and informal practices, power dynamics and quiet acts of resistance. It recognises that communities are not homogeneous and that resilience is unevenly distributed.

This kind of understanding challenges extractive forms of research and engagement. Rather than entering a community to quickly identify problems and solutions, observation-based methodologies invite practitioners to slow down, to learn before acting and to remain open to being changed by what they encounter. This shift is critical in resilience work, where poorly grounded interventions can undermine existing strengths or reinforce inequalities.

Rich observation also creates space for uncertainty. It allows practitioners to resist premature conclusions and to hold multiple interpretations at once. In doing so, it mirrors the lived complexity of communities themselves. Resilience, after all, is not a fixed outcome but an ongoing process shaped by changing conditions and relationships. Observation helps keep this process visible.

Observation and Participation

Participation is often framed in terms of inclusion: who is invited to the table, who attends meetings, who fills out surveys. Observation expands this understanding by recognising participation that already exists within communities. It reveals who is active, who is excluded, and how decisions are made informally as well as formally.

Through observation, practitioners can identify barriers to participation that may not be openly discussed – timing, location, language, social norms, or historical distrust. They can also recognise forms of participation that do not align with institutional expectations but are nonetheless meaningful: mutual aid networks, informal leadership, everyday acts of care.

By grounding participation strategies in observed realities rather than assumptions, community resilience work becomes more accessible and equitable. Observation helps ensure that engagement processes align with how people actually live their lives, rather than requiring communities to adapt to externally imposed structures.

Importantly, observation also requires reflexivity. Practitioners must observe themselves within the process: how their presence shapes interactions, whose voices they gravitate towards and what they may be missing. This self-awareness strengthens participation by reducing the risk of reinforcing existing power imbalances.

Ensuring Voices Are Heard

We know that not all voices are equally audible. Some are loud and confident, others quiet or expressed indirectly. Observation allows practitioners to notice whose perspectives dominate and whose are marginalised and to understand the reasons behind this imbalance.

But we also should remember that voices are expressed in more ways than speech. They appear in actions, absences, body language and the use of space. Observation helps capture these forms of expression, particularly for those who may feel unsafe, unwelcome, or unheard in formal settings. It enables a more inclusive understanding of community perspectives.

By building trust over time, observation-based approaches create conditions where people may feel more comfortable sharing their experiences. When communities see that practitioners are willing to listen before acting and to learn without judgment, engagement deepens. Voices are not simply collected; they are respected. This is foundational for ‘community-led’.

This has direct implications for resilience outcomes. When interventions are informed by observed realities and grounded in lived experience, they are more likely to be relevant, supported and sustained. Communities are more willing to engage when they recognise themselves in the process and see their knowledge reflected in decisions.

Observation as an Ethical Commitment

At its core, observation in community resilience is an ethical precursor to ‘community-led’. It acknowledges that communities are experts in their own lives and that resilience cannot be imposed from outside. But observation asks us to be present, patient and attentive – to take time seriously as an investment in community-led resilience.

Why ‘Thick and Rich’ Matters

In an era of urgency, where communities face accelerating social, economic and environmental pressures, and too much community resilience is framed by and driven by project timeframes, the temptation is to act quickly. Observation reminds us that speed can come at the cost of understanding. By investing in thick and rich observation, forms of community resilience become not only more effective, but more just.

Observation matters because it anchors resilience in place, honours everyday life, supports meaningful participation and ensures that voices are genuinely heard. It transforms community engagement from a transactional process into a relational one, where learning flows both ways and resilience is co-created rather than prescribed.