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Water insecurity is a big threat and a defining global challenge that causes social dilemma in the society. Analyzing all the previous chapters in this volume, this final chapter will discuss water use and its consequence of social dilemma, the key lessons and observations that trigger water insecurity, major challenges and success factors toward water insecurity, and how water insecurity can be minimized through the involvement of community people, and improvement of social stability in the form of common understanding. This chapter also emphasizes the linkage between local and national levels by the development of Integrated Water Resource Management both in quantity and quality aspects.

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This chapter illustrates local responses to disaster and highlights the potential role of three community-based society organizations (CBSOs) – women’s groups, youth groups, and religious groups – as risk communicators in Bandung, Indonesia. A framework is modeled for CBSOs’ risk communication process in bridging the gap between the local government and the community. A set of indicators in social, economic, and institutional resilience activities (SIERA), with a scope of 45 disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities covering three different disaster periods was developed to characterize the process of the delivery of risk information by these CBSOs through their activities at subdistrict and ward levels. The data were collected through a questionnaire survey method using the SIERA approach. Each CBSO leader in a ward was surveyed about their perceptions of these 45 ongoing SIERA activities and their risk information source and dissemination process. Statistical analysis was applied to determine the relationship between variables such as periods of disaster and types of SIERA activities and its attributing factors (location, population, and dynamic of organizations in their locale) in finding variations of risk communication activity that may function for communities. Five risk communication processes of the CBSOs are identified; when their perceptions and ongoing activities are compared, activities such as dissemination of disaster risk information, conveying early warnings to their peers, and involvement of the local government have been carried out by these CBSOs. This indicates that CBSOs’ activities already have a certain degree of risk communication embedded in the communities. The results confirm that these CBSOs, through their social networks, can become active agents of change and bridge the communication gap between government and community. Thus, CBSOs’ risk communication provides the opportunity to contribute to the overall resilience-building and disaster risk reduction as part of people-centered actions and local responses to disasters.

Multi-risk environments pose challenges for rural and coastal communities in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly with regard to disaster risk management and climate change adaptation strategies. While much research has been published on disaster response and recovery for specific climate-related hazards in the region, such as cyclones, floods and droughts, there is a growing need for insight into how communities respond, recover and adapt to the multiple, intersecting risks posed by environmental, societal and economic change. This chapter frames the body of new research presented in this book from the perspective of multi-risk environments, paying particular attention to concepts central to the disaster response and recovery cycle, and rejecting the notion of a distinct boundary between climate and society. Further, this introductory chapter foregrounds the importance of cultural values, power relations, Indigenous knowledge systems, local networks and community-based adaptive capacities when considering resilience, recovery and adaptation to climate-induced disasters at the community and household level. Overviews of the research presented in this book demonstrate a diverse range of responses and adaptive strategies at the local level in case studies from Solomon Islands, Fiji, Cambodia and Samoa, as well as implications for policy, planning and management.