The power of connection: Navigating the constraints of community engagement for disaster risk reduction

• Published in: International journal of disaster risk reduction 2022-01, Vol.68, p.102699, Article 102699
• Main Authors: Satizábal, Paula, Cornes, Isabel, de Lourdes Melo Zurita, María, Cook, Brian R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Australia; Community engagement; Connectors; Disaster risk reduction; Emergency management; Relationships
• ISSN: 2212-4209; 2212-4209
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102699

Community engagement for disaster risk reduction has become central to participatory emergency management. In neoliberal contexts, publics are increasingly portrayed as responsible for preparing and responding to disasters, while at the same time and contradictorily, they are engaged by the state to encourage compliance with top-down policies and directives. This is happening while incremental budget cuts reinforce the operationalisation of community engagement as information dissemination and service delivery. In this paper we scrutinize the ways in which community engagement for disaster risk reduction has been governed and translated into practice in Australia, focusing on the experiences of the practitioners and community representatives doing community engagement in a peri-urban and multi-hazard area of Victoria. We identify and discuss the role of connectors—individuals fostering connections within and among state-led emergency services, local government, and publics—in negotiating change and building relationships. Our analysis shows how the political economy of state-led emergency management hinders the efforts of connectors, contributing to disconnection between publics, community representatives, and emergency agencies. In navigating the bureaucratic, temporal, and financial constraints of state-led community engagement, the emergency sector is missing opportunities to listen, learn, and work with connectors. The result is missed opportunities to build meaningful connections with publics for disaster risk reduction. •Effective community engagement is critical for disaster risk reduction.•Connectors build key relationships between state, private, and community sectors.•State-led community engagement often constrains and hinders connectors.•Connectors creatively navigate the time-financial constraints of state-led approaches.•It is critical that the work of connectors is recognised and supported.