Striving for Sustainability by Bringing Preparation and Recovery to the Forefront

by Claire Bonilla

Last week the BCLC, held a unique forum bringing together constituents from the public, private sector and academia to tussle with the challenges and opportunities associated with recovery efforts associated with the California wildfires.  Through the course of sharing research, economic assessments, best practices and local/state concerns, it became, not surprisingly, clear the need for a framework for collaboration/communication across public and private sector entities involved, not just in recovery efforts but also around preparation. 

The past few years has seen continued momentum around coordinated response efforts – the staffing of private sector liaisons in government, inter-government and non-government organizations, the growth in corporate citizenship response arms in the private sector; and increased momentum around organizational self-sufficiency through the proliferation of Business Continuity Management. We need to continue to increase the scope of these cross-coordinating efforts to elevate our focus on the preparation and recovery phases of crisis management, building stronger public and private sector partnerships targeted at prevention, mitigation and seizing continual opportunities for economic innovation and renewal.

The forum served a worthy purpose in raising the awareness and identifying areas of opportunity. I encourage participants and non-participants alike not to wait for a top down collaboration framework for preparation and recovery, but to begin at your individual/grass roots level, establishing these partnerships relevant to your own community, while at the same time escalating needs to the next level for such collaborative efforts. 

We all play a role in a thriving community, building our own local plans is a key step in continued sustainability.

Claire Bonilla works for Microsoft as Senior Director of Disaster Management.

Comments

[Kitty @ BCLC]

Tom and Robert, thanks so much for your comments and compliments. In your opinion, how can BCLC be of the most help to chambers and companies on this idea of "preparing for recovery"?

[Robert K. Leonard, CEO, Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce, Rice Fire 2007]

The BCLC San Diego conference was inspirational. Our Board voted five days following the conference to actively increase our collaborative plan for the future of the businesses and individuals within the community we serve.

We look upward to the BCLC conference participants for assistance based on their broader experiences, to provide evaluations of alternative approaches, and information on the scale and scope of various possible solutions. We want to work with others to innovate solutions to our size community.

We want the members of our community to be prepared to take advantage of opportunities for an improved future, better sustain ourselves during, and recover quicker following disasters.
We will continue to work hard with our residents, businesses, local service districts, county, state, and Federal officials. We will expand our working relationships today, tomorrow, and into the future with the help of BCLC and you.

[Tom Serio]

You can take either of two positions when it comes to disasters: proactive or reactive.
To be reactive is to let the disaster happen and pick up the pieces later on, with no thought or effort towards preparation. Typically, this is the worst position to be in, usually with significant impact to communities (re: people, businesses, infrastructure) and where recovery is long and arduous.
A proactive approach includes preparation, awareness, education, resiliency and forethought. And now it needs to include foresight for the long term recovery efforts.
The BCLC forum in San Diego brought together people who want to not only learn from past disaster events, but learn how to be more proactive and also determine how to support long term recovery efforts long before the next disaster hits. The BCLC has given us the forum and wants to partner with private businesses, governments, disaster specialists and communities to bring these to the forefront.
Long term recovery is a necessity, in light of past disasters where communities are having difficulty in rebuilding and repopulating. But it will require a change in thinking; that relief is not recovery, and resources must be parsed across the relief and recovery stratums for both to work effectively.
I’m looking forward to assisting in the research efforts and being a part of a program that will help people well beyond my immediate reach.

[Stephen Jordan]

Two points:

1) I think San Diego's response really underscored the critical importance of local and state preparedness, and

2) We are really moving into thinking about sustainability as a key part of the disaster recovery process -- one of the things that really struck me from the San Diego meeting was how much folks were concerned about building back in ways so that when the next major wildfires happen, there is even less of an impact.

Disaster response should be all about mitigating the impact of the disaster and accelerating the recovery process.