Building Community Resilience via Developing Community Capital toward Sustainability: Experiences from a Hakka Settlement in Taiwan

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Aug 26;18(17):9012. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18179012.

Abstract

Developing community capital is widely viewed as a way to address community resilience-related issues toward sustainability. Based on a Taiwanese, peri-urban, Hakka settlement, this article presents findings on the practical factors in the development of community capital via farm-to-table and community care, and their implications for a resilient, healthy community. It shows that community capital arising from the pond farming, pond education, and community service systems can interact to support its diversity and linkability. The pond-based social network is identified as the key to mitigating the impacts of community challenges regarding food safety concerns, environmental degradation, and aging population. It argues that the pond-based food landscape, communal network, and a borderless campus can enhance community capital as well as play significant parts in achieving community sustainability by promoting residents' health and well-being.

Keywords: community capital; community care; food landscape; health; resilience; well-being.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Social Capital*
  • Taiwan