This presentation introduces an innovative method for assessing resilience in mountain regions, developed through the Resilience Assessment Benchmarking and Impact Toolkit (RABIT). Piloted in Uganda’s Mount Elgon region, RABIT applies a structured framework to evaluate community resilience across nine key attributes, including robustness, self-organization, learning, and adaptability. Unlike traditional approaches, which often rely on fragmented indicators or static assessments, RABIT integrates systems thinking, participatory methods, and ICT-enhanced data visualization to provide a comprehensive, dynamic resilience profile.

A key innovation of RABIT lies in its ability to benchmark resilience as a baseline and to be used as an impact assessment tool for development interventions, including climate change adaptation strategies. This method combines qualitative and quantitative insights, engaging local stakeholders through focus groups, mapping, and feedback loops to capture context-specific vulnerabilities and strengths. The findings from Mount Elgon highlight the importance of redundancy, institutional networks, and knowledge-sharing mechanisms in sustaining mountain livelihoods under environmental stressors.

By presenting this novel framework, we aim to demonstrate how RABIT can be applied to other mountain regions facing climate and socio-economic challenges. The methodology offers valuable insights for researchers, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to enhance resilience-building strategies in vulnerable highland communities.