1. A principles-based approach

ISO 22372 is built on six infrastructure resilience principles that the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) developed in 2022 and expanded upon in its 2023 implementation handbook.

The principles are:

  • clear accountabilities and shared responsibilities;
  • proactive protection;
  • environmental integration;
  • social engagement;
  • adaptive transformation; and
  • continuous learning.

These are “place-based principles”, enabling the ISO 22372 framework to be tailored to different national, organisational and sectoral contexts, Varga explained.

They reflect the fact that resilience-building is not only a technical challenge – it requires coordination among institutions, communities and environmental systems, too.

The social engagement principle is particularly significant, according to Varga, who highlighted the public’s role in managing demand on infrastructure, preparing for disruption and responding to it. For instance, consumers can help utility firms to tackle outages more effectively by deferring consumption or reducing discretionary usage when supplies in the vicinity are disrupted.

“This principle builds on communities’ literacy about resilience,” she said. “[This is about] building their preparedness and empathy.”

2. Treating whole systems rather than individual assets 

Rather than focusing solely on physical assets, ISO 22372 recognises infrastructure as complex, interconnected systems of resources, people and services that help to keep society functioning.

Varga noted that disruption affecting one key asset can ripple quickly across sectors, causing widespread socioeconomic harm.

Resilience therefore needs to be managed across whole systems – the traditional asset-by-asset approach is ineffective by comparison.

3. From managing risk to building resilience

The standard defines resilience as the ability to absorb disruption and adapt to it. This contrasts with traditional risk management, which focuses on identifying threats and mitigating the consequences of failure.

ISO 22372 aims to ensure that whole systems can continue operating under stress. It encourages a forward-looking (“ex ante”) approach to building resilience that assesses current capabilities and anticipates emerging risks, rather than analysing past events.

4. Targeting resilience net gain 

The concept of resilience net gain is another key feature of ISO 22372. This requires infrastructure owners to invest in ensuring that new developments or major adaptations to existing assets make the wider system more resilient.

Once an infrastructure system has been exposed to a hazard, the risk of further disruption tends to increase. The recovery process should therefore go beyond restoring the status quo, Varga told the forum. It should enable the system to “bounce forward” – that is, emerge from a shock stronger and more adaptable.

How the ICE helped to shape ISO 22372

The ICE served as an official liaison organisation in the standard’s development process. It was represented on the working group by David Smith, co-lead of the ICE’s Resilience Community. This enabled its members to offer their expert input while ISO 22372 was being drafted. 

The new standard “promotes collaboration, moving from silo-type thinking to a more joined-up approach across sectors”, Smith said.

“We need resilience and adaptation to be central in infrastructure decision-making,” he added. “This ISO can give infrastructure practitioners the mandate to do just so, leading to resilience net gain for communities everywhere.” 

Smith said that the standard “involved input from many stakeholders and experts from countries around the world. Our input ensured that engineers were a key part of the ISO’s development in alignment with the ICE’s focus on championing infrastructure resilience.” 

ISO 22372 complements the forthcoming ICE-sponsored PAS 3090 standard on climate adaptation pathways for infrastructure systems, which is being drafted by the British Standards Institution. This standard will set out a flexible approach to applying adaptation measures over time. To learn more more about PAS 3090, read the ICE’s explainer.

The practical application of resilience principles

The session also heard from Dr Abhilash Panda, deputy chief of intergovernmental processes, inter-agency coordination and partnerships at the UNDRR. He played a key role in developing both its principles for resilient infrastructure and ISO 22372.

Panda described how the UNDRR has worked in Costa Rica with the UN Office for Project Services to apply the principles to post-disaster reconstruction procurement.

Rather than rebuilding in haste using conventional approaches, the national government has introduced resilience screening into reconstruction approvals to ensure that new infrastructure will perform better when the next shock occurs. This approach is designed to avoid restoring systemic vulnerabilities that have already contributed to failures.

Panda stressed that improving resilience during emergencies can be a challenge, noting that governments often face a “very critical timeline” as communities seek to rebuild homes and restore utilities. While resilience checks can delay this process slightly, they ensure that “what’s being put in place is actually going for the longer term”.

Get involved

The ICE Resilience Community holds three forums a year to discuss ways to make infrastructure systems more resilient. Covering topics ranging from climate adaptation finance to sustainable drainage systems, these sessions highlight best practice in integrating resilience and nature in the planning, delivery and maintenance of infrastructure. For information about future forums, email billie.donovan@ice.org.uk.

  • Billie Donovan is climate knowledge specialist at the ICE 

  • Image credit: Shutterstock/Boyloso