The local factors: The initiative of a well-informed and experienced community into the inclusive community-fire resilience plan

Abstract

The unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 has informed cities to enhance capacity building of local communities and disaster preparedness. However, an effective plan requires knowledge of a well-informed and experienced community in association with specific factors. In this study, we proposed a new perspective to look into the local factors: community-based planning, well-informed and experienced community, the inclusion of the local community in decision making, taking action on disaster preparedness, and local democracy in dealing with the community's issues. Thus, the well-informed community members were involved in a participatory event applying the Geographical Information System (GIS) to facilitate knowledge exchange, assess risks, and locate the most vulnerable in the benefits of initiative fire prevention plan for the Meuntoom community, Chiang Mai province, Thailand. The results reveal both vulnerability and capacity that we later used to integrate into the community initiative plan. This research contributes by helping the community address what needs to be improved and which sectors need to work together. The overall results have highlighted opportunities to engage local communities and their knowledge in community-resilient plans, indicating that the outcome to be useful as a starting point for initiative plans for other incoming issues.