02 adjustment action is not only disaster prevention, but also focuses on the practice and sustainability of daily life.

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(Eric Li / tr. by Phil Newell)

Rural communities are experiencing the impact of climate change, so they must also begin to take corresponding adaptation actions, starting from two aspects: one is to reduce the impact of disasters and to develop resilience from disasters; the other is to regard the crisis in the face of disasters as an opportunity for community / industry transformation and redevelopment.

However, due to the different climate change faced by each community, there are many aspects that the community needs to adjust, such as the construction of disaster prevention hardware, industrial adjustment, lifestyle adjustment and so on. Although the government does not have a policy directly under the name of "adjustment", it is gradually looking for adaptation plans in the business of various ministries that can mitigate climate change while involving the community.

Adjustment action is not only disaster prevention, but also focuses on the practice and sustainability of daily life.

The so-called climate adjustment plan seems to be a very big concept, but in fact, it can also start on a very small scale. The EPA's "low-carbon sustainable home" program aims to save energy and reduce carbon, encourage communities to promote green landscaping measures such as green roofs and build ecological pools, and guide the setting up of Rain Water recycling equipment, solar photovoltaic and green transportation systems, which can not only protect the environment but also beautify the neighborhood.

For example, in Jinhuali, southern district of Tainan City, Rain Water is intercepted to cultivate flower seedlings, combined with ecological ponds to raise fish, turn excreta into fertilizer and nourish plants, create community flower beds, and form a low-carbon community with the characteristics of "symbiosis of fish and flowers."

Jinhuali Fish Flower symbiotic Flower bed in the South District of Tainan City (photo source: Jinhuali Changhe City Facebook fan page)

In places close to mountains or woodlands, the Forestry Bureau of the Council of Agriculture continued the National Afforestation Program more than a decade ago to promote the "Forestry Sustainable multiple guidance Program", with the goal of reducing the loss of forest land caused by deforestation and transforming the sustainable underforest economy. Such as encouraging seedling cultivation and afforestation, and developing new economic products under the forest, such as Lentinus edodes, beekeeping and so on. In the sixth article in this series, the Dawu tribe in Wutai Township, Pingtung County has developed a local characteristic industry of raising chickens under the forest and planting mountain angelica.

However, in some places that are often faced with actual floods and landslides, it may not be urgent to carry out the above adjustment actions. The "disaster Prevention Community" program of the soil and Water Conservation Bureau of the Council of Agriculture and the Water Conservancy Department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs provides guidance to community residents to simulate disaster conditions, hoping that they can participate in disaster response and post-disaster recovery work and defend their homes.

Through the consolidation of the above policy plans, it can be found that the so-called adjustment actions are not only "disaster prevention", but also include the establishment of a low-carbon lifestyle, or the sustainable transformation of the symbiosis of industry and the natural environment. Even the "independent disaster prevention community" plan, which seems to be most directly related to "disaster prevention", emphasizes the creativity and sustainability of disaster prevention in practice.

There may be some cognitive gaps when the government transforms its existing policies as a plan for "adjustment action". For example, some residents who promote disaster prevention communities will ask, "disaster prevention is disaster prevention. Can there be any creativity or sustainability?" In this paragraph, we will take the operation of "independent disaster prevention community" as an example to illustrate some contradictions that may arise with local communities when the logic changes to give consideration to "sustainable innovation" when the policy originally aimed at "disaster prevention".

The change of disaster response thinking: from hardware Engineering to resilient Community

In the early days, the way for the government to deal with potential disasters was to prevent disasters by strengthening hardware construction. However, after all, the protection of engineering has its limit. with the emergence of extreme weather more and more frequently, the government and academic circles have gradually changed from the engineering thinking of "disaster prevention" to the tenacious thinking of "symbiosis with disasters". Emphasis is placed on the cultivation of social resilience after the impact of disasters.

The concept of "independent disaster prevention community" has also changed from the early personal cultivation of "disaster prevention commissioners" to the goal of mobilizing the residents of the whole community.

The promotion mode of independent disaster prevention community, working in the village.