How can you incorporate public engagement and participation in strategic disaster preparedness planning?

1 Why public engagement and participation matter

Public engagement and participation are essential for effective strategic disaster preparedness planning as they can enhance the legitimacy and accountability of your plans by involving those affected. Additionally, public engagement can improve the quality and relevance of your plans by tapping into local knowledge, needs, and preferences. Furthermore, it can increase the public's awareness and understanding of potential hazards and how to prepare and respond. Moreover, public engagement can foster trust and collaboration among the public and public administration agencies as well as build resilience and capacity to cope with and recover from disasters.

2 How to design public engagement and participation processes

Designing effective public engagement and participation processes requires considering several key factors, such as the purpose and scope of your engagement goals, the level and type of engagement that is feasible for your context and stakeholders, the methods and tools you will use to communicate or empower the public, the resources and capacities necessary to support your activities, and the evaluation and feedback mechanisms you will use to measure and improve outcomes.

3 How to use public affairs frameworks and models

Public affairs frameworks and models can be used to guide and structure public engagement and participation processes. The IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation, for instance, defines five levels of engagement and participation, from informing to empowering, with corresponding promises, techniques, and outcomes. The OECD Principles on Open Government provide standards and recommendations for transparency, accountability, participation, and innovation in public governance. The UNISDR Framework for Engaging Stakeholders in Disaster Risk Reduction identifies the main stakeholder groups and their roles in disaster risk reduction, as well as a four-step process for engaging them. Lastly, the FEMA Whole Community Approach to Emergency Management emphasizes engaging and empowering all segments of the community in disaster preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation.

4 How to overcome challenges and barriers

Public engagement and participation in strategic disaster preparedness planning can be hindered by a lack of interest, awareness, or trust among the public or some segments of the community, as well as a lack of time, resources, or skills among the public administration professionals or the public. Furthermore, there may be a lack of coordination, collaboration, or alignment among the public administration agencies or partners. To address these challenges and barriers, you need to adopt strategies such as using multiple and diverse methods and channels to reach out to and involve the public, providing clear and timely information and education to the public, building relationships with the public and partners through honest communication, allocating adequate and flexible resources to support engagement and participation activities, and monitoring and evaluating the engagement and participation processes and outcomes. Doing so can help improve your plans.

5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?