Engaging all Societal Sectors to Build Resilience

It is often stated that we are the most connected, yet loneliest generation. We hold in our hands a device that has access to the entire knowledge base of our species, the ability to call anyone on the planet and to send and receive information across all mediums. Yet we don’t know our neighbours, we are increasingly less tied to our communities and our sense of identity is less linked to place. It is the time of the individual, when the world needs the community.

Across the literature in multiple social sciences, there is a reasonably regularly occurring thread of the importance of human relationships, the value found only at in-person situations. We know there are physiological responses to the presence of another human, ones that do not present in online interactions. We are biologically wired to be together, in each other’s presence. We’re a tribal species who like the wolf, may be capable of survival as an individual, but to thrive requires a team.

The champion. Every community requires someone to step up and start, to initiate the first enabling environment, to announce the activation context and to organize the initial in-person gathering. Whether that is the local EM representative, a concerned voice in the chamber of commerce or a not for profit volunteer who sees an increasing demand for their services. I have seen a few examples in my research in Canada, a number of communities that have created a non-governing, non-decision making space where response is discussed. Often best described with the question: “What does it look like when X happens in our community, how will it affect you, your operations and what do you think we can do about it?”. A place for all four sectors of society to discuss the real impacts of certain events and as a team, consider what they could do, realize existing resources and coordinate assistance. 

In the words of a stalwart in the field, Damon Coppola, “In a resilient community, EM is the redundancy”, not the primary response vehicle - that’s the community.