Onyeagoziri, O.J., Shaw, C. & Ryan, T., 2021, 'A system dynamics approach for understanding community resilience to disaster risk', Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies 13(1), a1037. https://doi.org/10.4102/jamba.v13i1.1037

The Western Cape of South Africa is a dynamic province that is disaster-prone, in particular
the vulnerable urban communities in and around its environs. Such communities are more
vulnerable to wildfire, flooding, drought, pandemic and other natural and human-made
disasters because of poverty and, consequently, poor living conditions such as overcrowding
and non-understanding of community resilience. The inability of these communities to
understand community resilience and withstand adversities affects the sustainability of
initiatives to develop them. This study aims to identify the mechanisms influencing the level
of understanding of community resilience in a vulnerable community and to contribute to the
understanding of community resilience to disaster risk. Fieldwork was conducted in an
informal settlement in the Western Cape. The research study was conducted in two cycles of
data collection and analysis (cycle 1 and cycle 2). Data in the form of observation notes,
document analysis and interviews were analysed using grounded theory principles. Ten
inter-related variables or mechanisms emerged from the analysis. The theoretical model
consists of four reinforcing (R) feedback loops (R1, R2, R3 and R4), respectively, which explain
how the understanding of community resilience in the informal settlement maps on to the
relative achievement systems archetype. Negative reinforcing behaviour would explain the
lack of understanding of community resilience, while positive reinforcing behaviour indicates
how an understanding of community resilience develops. In addition, the variable with the
leverage to improve the mechanisms influencing the understanding of community resilience
was found to be the ‘level of public education and public awareness’ of community resilience.
The theory of how these variables behave in context was represented as a qualitative system
dynamics model. Onyeagoziri, O.J., Shaw, C. & Ryan, T., 2021, 'A system dynamics approach for understanding community resilience to disaster risk', Jàmbá: Journal of Disaster Risk Studies 13(1), a1037. doi.org