In my last post, I announced that I would be speaking as part of the public-private partnerships track at Global Risk Forum‘s 4th Conference on Community Resiliency. I am pleased to report that the conference was a successful event that led to stimulating discussion about anti-disaster strategies and other topics. The main topic of the conference was “Building the Critical Infrastructure for Resiliency”. The panels featured a wide range of qualified professionals from engineers to risk managers to business continuity professionals to sociologists, all brought together to answer the central question: what makes communities resilient?
There are many ideas about how to address this important issue. A key component is building a culture of resiliency in which issues of sustainability and resilience are a familiar topic of discussion within communities before a hazardous event occurs. Habits take a long time to form and it is essential that individuals and organizations think about preparedness in advance. The messaging may take time to permeate the community and it may also take a while to establish the best form for adoption. One interesting comment brought by Keith Shaw, a Professor of Politics at North Umbria University in Newcastle, UK, is that the word ‘sustainability’ is viewed negatively by lower-income communities in northern England and Scotland, but that the term ‘resilience’ did not meet with the same resistance. Certainly it is important to frame the argument in terms that are acceptable to communities.
Resilience is a broad-reaching goal that requires action from the private and public sectors. It needs to be addressed on multiple levels including grassroots, national, and international. Because disasters tend to transcend national borders, it is at the international level that policy must be established. Making resilience a priority is essential for establishing the follow-up to the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), which is a 10-year plan to make the world safer from natural hazards including climate change. Disasters have a way of washing away the hard-earned progress of economic development. It is for this reason that in addition to the creation of HFA2 for 2015-2025, resilience should be a priority in the next round of Millennium Development Goals released by the United Nations.
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On a final note, I would like to thank my hosts for the event, Global Risk Forum and Virginia Tech as well as endorsing partner, the National Academy of Sciences, and my own sponsoring company, DRI International. Davos, Switzerland is a terrific venue for a conference. The mountain vistas provide ample inspiration for coming up with creative ideas and new strategies. It was an honor to be a part of this excellent event and I look forward to staying in touch with my fellow presenters and conference participants.
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