Let’s be honest for a moment. Traditional climate action — the marches, the petitions, the protests — isn’t working. Not because the people doing it are wrong, but because the people in power simply aren’t listening. And when the consequences arrive, they’ll blame everyone but themselves.
So where does that leave the rest of us?
I’d argue it leaves us exactly where we need to be: focused on resilience. Not saving the planet in some grand political gesture, but building something real and local that actually helps people survive what’s coming.
What Do I Mean by Resilience?
Community resilience is about preparing for disruption — whether that’s extreme weather, supply chain failures, or social unrest — by working together at a local level. It’s not about bunkers and tinned food (well, not just that). It’s about knowledge, communication, cooperation, and practical skills.
Think of it this way: if the water stopped running tomorrow, would you know where your local water supply comes from? If the internet went down for a month, could your neighbourhood still function? These aren’t doomsday fantasies. We saw glimpses of this fragility during COVID, and the reality is that disruptions like these will keep happening — and they’ll get worse.
The Most Important Resource? Knowledge
The single most valuable thing we can stockpile isn’t food or fuel — it’s knowledge. Knowing how to grow basic crops like potatoes, peas, and beans. Knowing what to do during a flood, a drought, or a fire. Having a disaster recovery plan for your street or your village. These are things that can genuinely save lives.
And the brilliant thing is, most of this knowledge already exists. It’s out there, freely available. We just need to gather it, organise it, and make sure people can access it — even when the usual channels break down.
It's out there, freely available. We just need to gather it, organise it, and make sure people can access it.
That’s why I’m building what I call a knowledge vault. It’s based on a Raspberry Pi — a small, affordable computer about the size of a paperback book — loaded with a complete offline copy of Wikipedia, survival guides, building manuals, and practical how-to databases. It acts as a portable Wi-Fi access point, meaning people nearby can connect to it with their phones or laptops and browse all that information, whether there’s an internet connection or not. Think of it as a tiny, carry-around library for the end of the world. With some entertainment thrown in for good measure. If you want to build one yourself, I’ve written a complete step-by-step guide: Build Your Own Home & Travel Router with a Raspberry Pi 5.
Communication Is Everything
When things go sideways, being able to talk to each other is critical. Not just sharing knowledge beforehand, but real-time, in-the-moment communication.
That means looking into things like CB radios — those classic handheld two-way radios that don’t rely on mobile networks — and mesh networking, a technology where devices talk directly to each other and pass messages along a chain without needing a central server or internet connection. If the grid goes down, these tools still work.
We also have fantastic open-source mapping tools like OpenStreetMap, where communities can add their own local data — marking where key resources are, where water sources exist, where supplies might be found. It’s like Google Maps, but owned by the people who use it.
Start Small, Start Now
I know this all sounds a bit extreme. A bit prepper. But here’s the thing — you don’t have to go full survival mode overnight. Start small. Learn one new practical skill. Grow a few vegetables. Find out where your nearest community emergency plan lives. Talk to a neighbour about what you’d both do if the power went out for a week.
The goal isn’t to prepare for the apocalypse. It’s to build habits, connections, and systems that make your community stronger — whatever happens.
The goal isn't to prepare for the apocalypse. It's to build habits, connections, and systems that make your community stronger — whatever happens.
And yes, we need to be realistic. You can’t save everyone. In a serious crisis, resources are limited, and hard choices will need to be made. Fiction has explored this endlessly — from The Last of Us to 28 Days Later — and while those stories are dramatised, they capture something true about human nature under pressure. People form tribes. They protect their own. That’s not cynicism; it’s survival.
The key is to make those tribes as cooperative and open as possible. Don’t see the next village as the enemy. See them as potential allies. Collaboration between small, prepared communities is far more powerful than any one group going it alone.
A Little Bit Each Day
Do a little bit of advocating for local resilience. Share what you learn with one other person. Contribute to community wikis. Build your own if one doesn’t exist. The act of sharing knowledge and resources is itself an act of resilience.
And if you’re reading this, you’re already interested — so take it one step further. Picture a future that’s less cyberpunk dystopia and more solarpunk — a world where communities thrive through cooperation, sustainability, and ingenuity. Where what could have been Armageddon becomes a new hope instead.
Stay strong. You’re not alone in this. KYAL <3
