The Role of Local Communities in Emergency Preparedness

On 10 October at 14:30 CEST, join us to learn about the role and contributions of local communities in the response and recovery from natural disasters.

The contributions of local communities have played a vital role in the response and recovery phases of past disasters. These contributions have included actions such as carrying out search and rescue and aiding evacuations after the Tohoku Tsunami of 2011, fire extinction management during the Swedish wildfires of 2018, and self-organizing relief efforts to deliver food and supplies after the recent wildfires in Maui, Hawaii. Such actions are not only a testament to the inherent sources of resilience that citizens constitute, but they remind us of the importance of collective action.

However, preparedness is an important element in ensuring that effective response and recovery actions can take place. This webinar will focus on this aspect, and will give the floor to three practitioners to discuss their initiatives to engage their local community and enhance preparedness.

Marita Hoel Fossen, Managing Director of the Trondheim Red Cross, will discuss the outcomes of a preparedness exercise in Trondheim, which aimed to enhance the awareness of the local community to the risks that quick clay landslides pose through the involvement of local organizations, schools, and the Trondheim Red Cross’ Preparedness Guard initiative.

Lieke Rijkx, from the Chemelot Industrial Site and Emmeline Roeloffs from the Safety Region of South Limburg will discuss their citizen ambassador network, which was established with the aim of facilitating
information sharing related to actions that can be taken in the event of a chemical spill.

Public organizations, private companies, researchers, and first responders will find this webinar informative as the speakers discuss the challenges and opportunities that their initiatives have presented.