These are the ingredients of what professional local government managers call “civic capital” — it’s a measure of what make some communities better able than others to solve tough social, political, environmental and economic challenges.

Here in Nashville, more than 5,000 local government professionals recently descended upon the City for the 105th annual International City/County Management conference, the premier annual gathering of professional local government managers. They met with their peers to discuss the difficult issues facing their own cities and counties and learn what solutions have worked.

Civic capital is crucial to recovery

Civic capital is particularly important in the wake of environmental disasters. Communities across Tennessee and the U.S. have encountered an increasing number of disasters over the past few years — particularly wildfires, floods and mass shootings, among others. This increase in crises has many local officials looking for new ways to improve their preparedness and resiliency strategies.

Effective preparedness depends on more than simple planning for who talks to whom when the time comes. It also depends on a community’s civic capital for working together to solve problems year-round, and how that capacity can be tapped during times of crisis.

In communities with strong civic capital, residents, businesses, nonprofits and other stakeholders work more collaboratively to develop solutions to problems that are not only effective and long-lasting, but also inclusive of everyone in their implementation. This means communication channels are always open and people are ready to lend a hand. Dealing with disasters, therefore, is simply another way for these communities to apply their collective spirit and brainpower.

In these times, persistent public challenges face both local communities and our nation. As trust declines in the federal government, cities and counties are playing greater roles in addressing national issues such as climate change, health, education, immigration and emergency preparedness.

The best communities are resilient

The most valuable lessons community leaders learn come from the experiences of others. There are countless examples of communities that show a high degree of civic capital and innovation as measured by the National Civic League’s Civic Index and celebrated at the annual All-America City awards and ICMA’s annual awards for excellence and service. These communities have shown their ability to translate ongoing community strengths into resiliency.

One such community is Longmont, Colorado. In 2013, Longmont experienced “flooding of biblical proportions,” and was able to recover quickly partly because of the strength of its neighborhood associations and collaborative work of business and community groups.

Nonetheless, the city discovered during its preparation and recovery that some segments of its population were not well-connected with government communications and services, particularly low-income and Spanish-speaking residents. As a result, the community has now invested special efforts in connecting these residents, not only for emergency services, but for all community activities.

Hampton, Virginia, another exemplary city, based its resiliency planning on a foundation of trust established through years of community engagement in city finances and other operations. Faced with periodic flooding as a coastal city, Hampton has done extensive outreach to involve various parts of the community in resiliency planning, recognizing that flooding impacts different neighborhoods differently and that neighborhoods vary in terms of their needs and assets.

The crux of the challenge

As Abraham Lincoln once said, “Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail. Without public sentiment, nothing can succeed.”

This is the crux of the challenge local governments face in these turbulent times—engaging the public and building the collective strength of each local community to withstand crises in the moment and improve the quality of life long-term.

Reprinted, with permission, from the Tennesseean