We had a wonderful evening bringing together Resilience Institute members, partners, and friends for our 2025 Winter Resilience Networking Event at the Boise State University Alumni and Friends Center on Thursday, December 11. The event was filled with energy, meaningful conversations, and new connections across sectors, all centered on strengthening resilience in communities across Idaho.
Throughout the evening, attendees participated in interactive, hands-on activities designed to spark fresh ideas and encourage collaboration. Together, we explored how partnerships can support disaster readiness, natural resource stewardship, community well-being, economic vitality, and the networks that connect Idaho’s communities.
Conversations also highlighted shared challenges and uncovered opportunities for the Institute to collaborate more deeply and drive real impact statewide.
Here is a summary of the activity results, highlighting common themes and connections across topics:
1. Core Commonalities Across All Themes
Despite being organized by sector, the responses consistently return to a shared set of underlying patterns.
A. People and Relationships Are the Primary Asset
Across every theme, people emerge as the foundation of resilience:
- “Good people,” “generous community,” “high volunteerism,” “people are passionate,” and “community willingness to step up” appear repeatedly
- Informal systems, including neighbors helping neighbors, storytellers, local trust, and intergenerational knowledge, are seen as strengths across disaster response, social resilience, and economic resilience
Intersection:
Social resilience is not a standalone category. It underpins disaster preparedness, wildfire response, economic stability, and stewardship of natural resources.
B. Fragmentation Is the Dominant Constraint
Equally consistent is the sense that resilience is undermined by fragmentation, including:
- Lack of unified messaging
- Funding competition and uncertain grant cycles
- Siloed agencies and uncoordinated economic development resources
- Conflicts between long-term residents and newcomers
- Bureaucracy misaligned with community realities
Intersection:
The problem is rarely lack of ideas or effort. It is a lack of alignment, coordination, and shared direction across systems.
C. Growth Is Both an Opportunity and a Stressor
Growth-related tensions cut across Healthy Communities, Natural Resources, Economic Resilience, and Wildfire Resilience:
- Housing shortages, land constraints, and development in hazardous areas
- Infrastructure not keeping pace with population growth
- Recreation-driven economies creating extractive pressures with little reinvestment
- Increased wildfire risk, insurance instability, and WUI exposure
Intersection:
Growth, climate risk, housing, insurance, and land use are deeply interconnected and cannot be addressed in isolation.
D. Education, Storytelling, and Agency Are Leverage Points
Repeated opportunities point toward capacity-building rather than top-down solutions:
- Education at the K–12, workforce, and internship levels
- Storytelling and shared narratives
- Engaging, educating, and empowering to build agency
- Youth engagement and intergenerational partnerships
Intersection:
Resilience is framed not just as infrastructure or policy, but as learning, meaning-making, and empowerment over time.
The event was filled with a warm holiday atmosphere, with attendees showing off their favorite Christmas sweaters (prizes were awarded for the best ugly sweaters!), enjoying delicious food, and engaging in lively conversations.
We were especially honored to welcome our Guest of Honor, Lindsey Harris, whose leadership and dedication to regional collaboration and community resilience continue to inspire meaningful work across Idaho.
Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the evening such a success, and to our sponsors (HDR, Perpetua Resources, and The Great Idaho Show) for their generous support.
We’re excited to build on the ideas and connections that emerged and to continue shaping the next chapter of the Institute’s community-driven resilience work together!