Becoming a Resilient Community: How a Disaster-prone Community Survives an Abrasion

Abstract

Bedono Village, a village in Demak Regency, Indonesia, is a village severely affected by abrasion. The past 20 years have witnessed the drowning of hamlets due to abrasion, namely the hamlets of Morosari and Senik, and every year the height of the land decreases by 10 cm. As a result, the residents of Bedono Village had to adapt in various ways. The people of Bedono Village have shown resilience and adapted to these new conditions by raising their houses, changing jobs, and founding social organizations. Every resident of Bedono Village has a reserve fund that must be prepared in case of renovation and job changes. This research aims to explain the resilience strategy applied by the residents of Bedono Village in facing abrasion in their area. This research uses a descriptive qualitative method and data are collected using several techniques. Interviews, observation, documentation, and literature study are methods used to obtain information. The initial results show that there is a pattern of societal adaptation amid an environmental disaster. Furthermore, work orientation in the socio-economic community has changed, from the agricultural sector to fishermen and fishponds. Moreover, continuous abrasion results in a decreasing population of the community.