Understanding Community Resilience through the Lens of Stakeholder Participation: Empirical Evidence from the Moat System Restoration Project

Abstract

In the milieu of escalating flood occurrences, the concept of community resilience has garnered considerable attention. A series of studies recommend a river restoration approach to encourage the participation of all relevant stakeholders to manage floods to improve community resilience. However, existing studies have not sufficiently unraveled the intricate interplay of drivers shaping such participation. Therefore, using the Moat System Restoration Project in Tianchang City as the empirical conduit, this study elucidates the relationship between the drivers that drive stakeholder participation in river restoration in the context of improving community resilience. The Theory of Planned Behavior was employed to extend additional independent variables such as stakeholder attitudes, priorities, risk perception, trust in government decisions, knowledge, motivation, and intentions. A sample of 473 local residents involved in the Moat System Restoration Project was evaluated by Structural Equation Modelling. The empirical results revealed the salient influence of stakeholder attitudes, knowledge, and priorities on their behavior and risk perception where harnessing perceptions of priority has the potential to significantly improve community resilience. Notably, the study dispelled the presumed influence of trust on risk perception, a revelation that deviates from some existing literature. The findings further demonstrate a strong association between stakeholder motivation and both risk perception and intentions, a relationship underappreciated in previous studies. Theoretically, this study unearths the intricate dynamics of stakeholder participation in river restoration projects, thereby extending the Theory of Planned Behavior to the sphere of stakeholder participation, which adds a critical dimension to the understanding of flood management and community resilience. Practically, this study provides a valuable lens for practitioners as it illuminates pathways to foster stakeholder participation in river restoration initiatives, guiding the development of strategies to foster stakeholder participation in similar projects.