Community Adaptation to the Hebei-Spirit Oil Spill

This presentation examines the range of community responses that include initial responses, early social impact, compensation, conflicts, and fishing and tourism effects after the Hebei-Spirit oil spill in December 2007 in Korea. The analysis of responses focuses on the role of external networks in surviving the environmental crisis, and the capabilities of communities to absorb external resources and knowledge provided by their external networks.  The findings reveal that self-reliance and decentralization emphasized in community-based management may not work well when adaptation and innovation are necessary to survive and thrive after environmental disasters such as the oil spill.