Individual and community resilience in natural disaster risks and pandemics (covid-19): risk and crisis communication
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Individual and community resilience in natural disaster risks and pandemics (covid‑19): risk and crisis communication Panagiotis V. Katsikopoulos1 Received: 16 July 2020 / Accepted: 25 August 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Civil Protection and disaster risk specific agencies legally responsible to enhance individual and community resilience, still utilize in their risk and crisis communication efforts, the “deficit model” even though its basic assumption and approach have been criticized. Recent studies indicate that information seeking behavior is not necessarily a measure of enhanced individual preparedness. A qualitative change from “blindly” following directions to practicing emergency planning and becoming your own disaster risk manager is required. For pandemics, the challenge is even more complicated due to their unique characteristics. Community based exercises (CBEx), a framework concept encompassing a variety of interactive activities, have recently started being utilized to develop resilience amongst citizens. Existing models of resilience can pinpoint to the required knowledge, skills and attitude. Research in the factors influencing behavioral change could offer new understanding of the interplay between cognitive and demographic drivers/factors of resilience. Such knowledge could be utilized for setting targeted objectives, developing appropriate activities and the corresponding training for the CBEx facilitators. Despite the importance of preparation, the current covid-19 crisis indicates that high levels of adaptive resilience can be displayed even in the absence of any risk communication effort beforehand by utilizing a pre-existing collective understanding of the system situation. Keywords COVID-19 · Corona virus · Risk and crisis communication · Resilience · Community based exercises · Crisis management
* Panagiotis V. Katsikopoulos [email protected]; [email protected] 1
General Secretariat for Civil Protection/Ministry of Citizen Protection, 37‑39 Kifisias Ave., 15123 Marousi, Greece
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P. V. Katsikopoulos
One of the fundamental principles of emergency planning, that every student has been taught, is that it takes place in an environment of apathy, even resistance, and with limited resources (FEMA 2006). This is even more valid for risk communication also termed “public preparedness education” in the emergency management field. Governments and citizens (both faced with limited resources and attention) tend to consider prudent to focus on “frequently” occurring disaster risks at the national and/or local level, as these risks are naturally presumed to be of the highest priority (Wilkinson et al. 2017). It is an issue of risk assessment and management. The 34 countries participating in the Union Civil Protection Mechanism regularly submit to the European Commission (EC) their national risk assessment. In the latest report available (European Commission 2017), one finds listed as priority risk along earthquakes, flo
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