The logistics role in community resilience: a case example of a community based social partnership in Greece

The various organisations included in social partnerships jointly address gaps in their society and community. Some social partnerships are planned from the top, other, grass-root partnerships are deeply rooted in their communities. Such grass-root, community based partnerships are based on the principles of self-organisation, yet logistically, this can bring many challenges. This study therefore focuses on the logistical aspects of a community based social partnership in Greece, and the contribution of this partnership to community resilience. In such a context, logistical activities are performed by the membership base of various non-governmental organisations in a manner of “collective action” rather than the commercial sector. Interestingly, community resilience refers to a capacity for collective action, hence organising logistical activities in this fashion ultimately contributes to community resilience.
This study focuses on self-organisation, and a resultant community based social partnership (CBSP) in Greece, with members from the private, public and civic sectors, in the midst of a financial crisis. In the context of logistics, a conceptual model has been developed linking the partnership with self-organisation, social capital building, and community resilience. The partnership has been analysed both in terms of its process related dynamic properties and measured outcomes. Research method was based on both formal and informal interviews, written communication with various members of the partnership and secondary data analysis. Topics included operational organisation and process description of the actions, information regarding the logistics of the various actions, such as transportation, warehousing and distribution of in kind donations; accountability; relationships between partners; links to social capital attributes. Community impact to social assets, health and well-being has been shown. Measured outcomes include numbers of collected and disseminated food and medicine and provision of health services.