Community Engagement in the CDEM context

Best Practice Guide [BPG 4/10]

The ability of a community to cope with an emergency is based to a large extent on the measures it takes before the emergency occurs be they in risk reduction and mitigation or readiness and planning. However, getting communities to participate in actions that enhance preparedness and create resilience to disasters has proven to be a significant challenge to the civil defence emergency management sector.

This Best Practice Guideline has been developed to assist in this process. It provides a guide of the best practice to the process through which communities can be engaged and be involved in civil defence emergency management in their area. It is not a prescriptive document but it shows the process that should be used and indicates important considerations that need to be taken into account. It assumes that those leading the engagement process have the appropriate character and competencies required to lead and facilitate the engagement.

Download the complete guide (.pdf 2mb))