Work with communities to raise risk awareness, increase preparedness and resilience
Overview
This standard is about working with communities to raise awareness of risks, increase preparedness, and strengthen resilience. The aim is for communities to be well-informed and better able to mitigate risks and respond effectively to emergencies. It focuses on engaging stakeholders to develop a shared understanding of risks, improve communication and trust, and enhance local capabilities.
It includes working collaboratively with the voluntary and community sector, embedding resilience activities within existing community structures, and delivering locally appropriate and sustainable programmes.
The standard also covers monitoring the impact of interventions, ensuring accountability to communities, and promoting continuous improvement.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- apply governance processes to review or audit the organisation’s approach and capabilities for engaging communities in preparedness and resilience
- apply relevant legislation, duties, and guidance to define responsibilities and priorities for improving risk awareness, preparedness and resilience for those at risk
- evaluate existing relationships and engagement programmes with partners, stakeholders, communities and the public
- review and update strategies for partnership, engagement, and accountability in risk awareness and resilience
- support the voluntary and community sector to engage in resilience at all levels and in all phases
- develop a shared understanding of vulnerabilities, risk knowledge, networks, assets, and potential unmet needs in emergencies for both individual and groups
- work collaboratively to strengthen communication channels between at-risk communities, responders, and policymakers
- communicate risk information in accessible ways that enable and motivate communities’ resilience activity
- work collaboratively to develop, test and validate community capabilities
- gather and share information to enhance organisational response, continuity, and recovery arrangements
- engage communities in monitoring, evaluating and improving the impact of resilience interventions
- undertake continuing professional development and share evidence-based good practice with partners and wider stakeholders
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- the benefits of empowering communities to improve resilience and reduce reliance on emergency responders
- the role and responsibilities of stakeholders in community resilience
- relevant legislation, policies, guidance, and good practice for risk awareness, preparedness, and resilience
- the concept of risk, associated terms and how they are used in relevant sectors
- the role of trust and factors that affect the legitimacy of organisations working with and on behalf of the public
- the potential impacts of emergencies on communities and vulnerable people
- methods for integrating local and technical knowledge to improve risk understanding
- available prevention and preparedness options and barriers to their implementation
- how social and behavioural science applies to risk awareness, preparedness, and behaviour change in risk contexts
- how to establish and maintain communication channels and media relations that can be utilised during emergencies
- how to adapt communication to meet the needs of individuals
- accessible methods for illustrating hazards, threats, risks, impacts and consequences
- types of communities and factors that influence community identity and sense of belonging
- principles of community development, engagement, and participatory methods
- cultural competences for inclusive and effective engagement
- benefits of integrating resilience activities into existing community structures and engagement programmes
- methods for monitoring and evaluating the impact of public and community interventions and the processes for ensuring accountability
- the role of reflective practice in evaluating performance, identifying areas for improvement and professional development
Scope/range
Scope Performance
Scope Knowledge
Values
Behaviours
Skills
Glossary
Community
A place-based or identity-based group of people who come together through their social ties and common interests to take collective action. By leveraging their shared assets and engaging in decision-making processes, communities can achieve outcomes that individuals alone cannot.
Community resilience
Community resilience is an adaptive process that enables both communities and individual members to develop, mobilize, organize, and deploy shared capabilities for mutual benefit. Community resilience relies on positive social interaction, diversity, knowledge, and appropriate inputs from supporting organizations. Resilient communities can anticipate, mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disruptions, while continuously adapting and thriving in the face of change. Note a strong community is a prerequisite for community resilience. True communities tend to be resilient. However, they will benefit from external support to anticipate and deal with risks that they may be unaware of.
Participatory Approaches
Methods that actively involve individuals, vulnerable groups, and communities in defining issues, developing shared understanding, designing, implementing and evaluating resilience intervention. Participatory approaches ensure that diverse perspectives and needs are considered, leading to more inclusive and effective resilience strategies.
Public awareness
Broad, often government-led campaigns that provide general advice to the public. These initiatives aim to increase awareness and promote generic actions, they may lack the specificity needed to address unique community needs.