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could experience power outages all over the city leaving residents without use of critical communication devices. For this reason the NeighbourHub features two pedal charging stations that allow users to back their bike into the structure to generate power. LED lights glow to indicate how many Watts of energy are being generated by the user, and possibly the friends or neighbours racing beside them. Power is stored within multiple 12 volt batteries to charge cell phones and the embedded radio, which will be crucial to obtain information during disaster situations when wireless networks are down. Vancouver’s abundance of fresh, drinkable water (in the form of rain) is captured via the structure’s large surface area that acts two-fold as shelter. The rainwater is then filtered by charcoal and UV filters to meet municipal regulations and is funneled into a 1500 gallon cistern which, if full, has the ability to provide one litre of water a day to 3,000 residents for the 72 hours following a disaster . Residents can fill their water bottles, and watch the water collection gauge move, giving them a sense of water availability. A community board serves asa platform for sharing information, whether weekly neighbourhood

events or critial skill and equipment-sharing during disaster response and recovery.

CO-CREATING RESILIENCE

Our multidisciplinary team has approached the Neighbourhub project by identifying local assets across sectors that could inform our design. We defined resilience as a population’s ability to develop regenerative solutions to challenges, being both structurally adaptable and socially responsive [3]. By delving deeper into the literature on resilience and previous examples of disaster response and recovery, we have found that the most successful technological projects are those that include and empower the local community members [4]. We have learned that a community’s ability to effectively bounce back from shocks depends on a range of decisions and environmental factors, including efforts to improve social cohesion, and create networks that connect people with institutions [5]. In particular, we understand that Vancouver requires stronger social support networks to ensure the population’s wellbeing when other systems fail. It is anticipated that following a natural disaster Vancouver will be left with

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limited, if any, access to clean drinking water or power for what could be months [6]. It wasmade apparent to us that Vancouver needs a way to stock up on the resources that could be lost, and most importantly start the conversation around preparedness [7].

To start developing our solution, we turned to experts. We have consulted over a dozen specialists and City of Vancouver staff with expertise in planning, energy production, water collection, and clean technology. Each meeting brought new ideas, questions and knowledge that enabled us to refine our design. For example, Katie McPherson, Vancouver’s Chief Resilience Officer, emphasized that each community faces unique resilience challenges; therefore, our design needs to be adaptable to different neighbourhoods. As a team we are working to develop a proposal for the City of Vancouver that thoughtfully aligns with the upcoming Resilient City Strategy, and supports the existing Healthy City, Rain City and Renewable City Strategies and the Greenest City Action Plan.

In order to create a design that meets the needs of the Vancouver population, we have sought public participation in the design process. We