The best way to measure a household's resilience? Ask those who live there | Lindsey Jones

A new study challenges the traditional assumption that experts are best placed to evaluate how well people could cope with and adapt to an emergency

The concept of "resilience" is taking development and humanitarian sectors by storm. Huge amounts of finance are being channelled into "resilience-building" activities, aimed at supporting people and communities to deal more effectively with climate extremes, financial shocks and the many other risks that threaten lives and livelihoods.

Given the pressure on NGOs, governments and donors to demonstrate value for money and support the right people and activities, the race is on to find the best ways of measuring resilience.