The Rise of the Professional: Emergency Management and Community Responses to Disasters and Crises

In the wake of COVID-19, forest fires, tsunamis, floods, irregular migration, refugee flows, and wars, disaster social science continues to study, understand, and inform effective functioning of humanitarian action as a part of emergency management services. At the center of the response to disasters are local and national governments, non-governmental organizations, faith-based institutions, international NGOs, emergent disaster response organizations, and stakeholders from the private sector who are part of the process of ensuring community safety. Due to a lack of knowledge and prior working relationships, some organizational activities and contributions may overlap in certain areas, while other disaster spaces remain unaddressed. What does it take to cooperate? What are the advantages and pitfalls of joining forces, and how do the logistics and resourcing work out in reality? This session focuses on qualitative and qualitative research, implementation strategies, and best practices for emergency management services that use and evaluate disaster risk reduction strategies in the areas of disaster resilience and livelihood security. It also asks what is the role of government and non-government entities in the future management of emergency events? What defines a professional emergency manager? Moreover, this session will explore theories, models, techniques, best practices, and tools that can inform practices and public policy development for community responses during the mitigation, preparedness, response, and/or recovery phases of disasters.