ABSTRACT
The initiatives and actors captured by the case studies, representing varied spheres in the four thematic sections, are embedded in a complex adaptive system, engaged as they are in a continuous and synergistic interface. This concluding chapter uses the case study of drought management in Maharashtra, India, which involved a range of stakeholders at varying levels over the past 50 years. The case studies in the book identify community engagement and ownership, the collaboration and integration of key stakeholders, and the limitations of institutional frameworks and arrangements that currently guide disaster resilience policy and action, as the key challenges encountered while facilitating disaster resilience. The chapter explores the possibilities in addressing these challenges by drawing from the theoretical perspectives of integrative public leadership, critical new institutionalism, and comparative-realisation focused approaches to social justice. It concludes with proposals for the reorientation of disaster resilience leadership that would facilitate grassroots leadership, the integration of key stakeholders around values of public good and social justice, the contextualisation of institutional arrangements by drawing from all forms of knowledge, and the bridging together of formal and informal institutions to enhance community engagement and ownership of grassroots initiatives to build disaster resilience.
