Today, the tendency of changes in natural and climatic conditions, the intensification of seismic and heliophysics processes is observed, which is also expressed in an increase in the frequency and scale of disasters, the development of natural disasters into man-made and vice versa. The danger of transboundary transfer of pollutants and hazardous substances in various media is increasing. The number of sources and reserves of natural drinking water is decreasing. From these trends, the expediency of the systematic development of the system for monitoring and forecasting emergency situations follows, which implies, in particular, the following (Boin et al., 2016; Jerolleman & Kiefer, 2016):
- Microseismic zoning and earthquake-resistant construction in hazardous areas should be carried out at an accelerated pace. The health care system and bioengineering science will increase readiness to combat foci of exotic infections, improve technologies for the manufacture and testing of vaccines and antidotes. Environmental protection zones for water sources will be formed on the territories, and water reservoirs will be built.
- The creation of a geographically distributed system for alerting the population about the occurrence of natural disasters should be completed, comprehensive monitoring systems for entities within communities should be created, their instrumental and analytical base should be significantly strengthened, which contributes to the formation of a full-fledged territorial forecast.
- The development of the system of teaching the population to act in case of disasters characteristic of the regions will continue. Through organized forms, a greater amount of knowledge and practical skills in the field of safety and protection of the population will be received by heads of municipal authorities.
In this regard, there is an increasing need to revise the existing priorities in the activities of state organizations included in the system for the prevention and elimination of the consequences of natural and man-made emergencies, from the managerial attitude towards the elimination of consequences to the attitude towards prevention of their occurrence. In turn, this step is impossible without realizing that the protection of the population is, first of all, scientifically grounded management of social processes based on the principles of concreteness and information sufficiency. The development of management technologies aimed at socially solving the problems of protecting the population and territories from emergencies requires, at least, the entire complex of knowledge about the laws of social development, phenomena, a methodology for collecting and analyzing sociological information, as well as developing and implementing specific procedures for organization of civil protection process management.
In order to increase the level of the safety culture of the population, as an element of national culture, the potential of moral and psychological impact on society will be systematically increased through traditions, works of literature and cinema, the media, club, and computer means of communication. The volunteer fire and rescue units that are being created will also be used as centers for promoting a safe lifestyle. It should be taken into account that, with regard to the information expansion in computer networks, there is a serious threat of widespread dissemination of unreliable, socially dangerous, provocative information. Moreover, it is necessary to constantly analyze the trends and dynamics of the development of the socio-economic situation around the object of man-made danger and in the territory located in the immediate vicinity of its location. First of all, it is needed to monitor phenomena and processes associated with the stability and safety of the object and are a kind of social background that determines the socio-psychological state of personnel, the material and spiritual foundations of their behavior and life in general, to exclude the negative influence of human factor in disasters.
It is necessary to consistently form a policy in the field of information culture, and the state regulatory bodies on emergency situations will have to develop and implement preventive and operational technologies for information support of measures to prevent and eliminate emergencies. At the same time, one should take into account the national and religious characteristics of the population, strengthening public confidence. Moreover, the expert system for social monitoring of the civil protection system involves the creation of organizational conditions for continuous monitoring, regular analysis, and assessment of information about the state and changes in the social, socio-technical, moral-psychological, financial-economic, political, informational, and other environments not only inside, but also around the security facilities (Pine, 2017). All these activities should be carried out at the Whole Community Approach level in order to ensure the best interaction of all elements within communities as systems.
The Whole Community Approach, based on the paradigm of public-private and municipal-private partnerships, represents a mutually beneficial strategic mid- to a long-term partnership. It is carried out between the state represented by community formation and non-state actors, based on the sharing of risks and benefits between them and aimed at the implementation of socially sound tasks and functions (Canton, 2019). At present, there are significant barriers in terms of the lack of communities’ trust toward authorities representing states, the ambiguity of stakeholder roles in the system of the Whole Community Approach, and the insufficiency of interactions between public and private entities within the communities (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2017). New qualities will gradually become inherent in the process of advancing monitoring, forecasting, management, training, scientific and practical, and fire and rescue services into everyday life, which the regulatory bodies on emergency situations can provide.
This will give an opportunity of existing in the market for rescue services and organizations specially created for a range of needs, dealing with the issues of overcoming environmental disasters, optimal socio-economic planning, humanitarian interaction with international organizations, expert support, etc. In this regard, in addition to optimizing financial and economic policies of the government, tightening budget discipline, it is advisable to search for additional resources in the field of protecting the population and territories from disasters in Whole Community Approach, public-private partnerships, development of a risk assessment and management system, and training anti-crisis managers.
Statement of Purpose
States are not always able to react effectively or instantly change the planned course of action within the framework of emergency management. In this case, it becomes necessary to form new social institutions that can become factors of an accelerated and system-wide adjustment of plans and measures. At the same time, in accordance with the tasks set and a certain order of their achievement for each of the participants, the benefits from participation in the implementation of projects in frames of the Whole Community Approach must be disclosed and justified.
In the context of multiple stakeholders involved in the system of interactions between public and private institutions, governmental and non-governmental entities, authorities, and community members, the quality of relationships and clarity of roles is a decisive element of effective emergency response. However, research on this issue is scattered and devoted mainly to separate areas of emergency management, characterized by a lack of consistency. Moreover, there is insufficient up-to-date evidence on the barriers and contributing factors in terms of relationships between communities and institutions involved in the Whole Community Approach in emergency response. Therefore, the present study aims at filling the gap in the current literature on the topic by collecting, analyzing, and systematizing the core relationship-related factors impacting the implementation of effective practices within the Whole Community Approach to enable further policy improvements and develop evidence-based recommendations.
Hypothesis
The hypothesis can be formulated as follows: trust-related factors and misconception of roles distribution in the system of relationships between institutions and communities within Whole Community Approach in emergency management will be a decisive barrier to the effective and successful implementation of elimination of consequences of man-made and natural disasters.
Research Question
Given the overall state of the under-investigation of the barriers to the emergency response’s effectiveness, it is necessary to build a system model of interaction between actors and stakeholders within the framework of the Whole Community Approach in emergency management. Therefore, the research question of the research study is as follows: What is the role of relationships between a community and institutions in the success or failure of the Whole Community Approach to emergency management in the USA? This general research question might be addressed through the following list of specific research questions, namely:
- What institutions are considered key stakeholders in the Whole Community Approach in emergency management?
- What are the social, economic, political, cultural, and organizational factors that predetermine the quality of relationships between the community and the institutions?
- What factors serve as barriers to effective and successful emergency management practices and cases?
- What factors serve as enablers of effective and successful emergency management practices and cases?
When addressing these specific research questions, the study will allow for either supporting or rejecting the hypothesis based on the data collected through the study process. In essence, it is pivotal to analyze and systematize the relationship-based determinants that contribute to the implementation of the Whole Community emergency practices.
Whole Community Approach Overall Advantages
Delmon, J. (2017). Public-private partnership projects in infrastructure: An essential guide for policy makers. Cambridge University Press.
The article provides general vision of the Whole Community Approach, which will be the base of further overall research.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2016). Building public-private partnerships to enhance disaster resilience: A listening session. Division for At-Risk Individuals, Behavioral Health, and Community Resilience.
The paper will be used to demonstrate the importance and expediency of public-private partnerships in effective emergency management, with the further transition to the paradigm of the Whole Community Approach.
Best Practices of Whole Community Approach in Emergency Management
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (2017). A literature review on community and institutional emergency preparedness synergies. ECDC.
This literature review represents a valuable set of best practices of a systemic approach to emergency management in Europe and will be used for an evidence-based approach in the planned research to show the effectiveness of the systemic approach in this field, as well as borrowing some practices for the future model application recommendations. The lists of identified barriers and enablers might be used as an evidence-based framework for categorizing the findings of the planned research.
Rubin, C. B. (2019). Emergency management: The American experience. Routledge.
The book describes the success and failures, overall advantages and drawbacks of the American system of emergency management. It is a valuable source for substantiating the need for change in this field, with regard to the increased risk of natural and man-made disasters during the last decades.
Risk Sharing and Benefits of the Model Elements
Snair, J., Reed Snair, M., & Herrmann, J. (2016). Exploring disaster risk reduction through community-level approaches to promote healthy outcomes: proceedings of a workshop -in brief. National Academies Press.
The paper provides community-based risk reduction strategies in frames of disaster consequences elimination. Although it covers a rather narrow area – healthy outcomes – it would help to comprehend better the practical nature of the Whole Community Approach in emergency situations.
Serino, R., & Grimes, J. (2016). What the “Whole Community” means to the whole community. DomPrep Journal, 12(1), 11-13.
Based on the principle of “one community, one goal,” the authors briefly describe benefits for both the whole community and individual elements of interaction, defining the core function of leadership as bringing people together. This article has significant value for the planned research as a conceptual base for defining and measuring benefits, as well as synergy effect in frames of the systemic model which is expected to be built.
Systemic Approach in Emergency Management
Warnick, M. S., & Molino, L. (2020). Emergency incident management systems: Fundamentals and applications. Wiley.
The book suggests a description and analysis of convincing evidence showing successes and failures in emergency management in frames of appropriate systems, both in the USA and around the world. Due to the practical approach applied by the authors and a lot of valuable evidence, the book can be used in planned research for substantiation of the necessity of the systemic model of the Whole Community Approach elements links and interactions.
Grobe, C. (2017). Applying systems thinking to emergency response planning using soft systems methodology to structure a national act in Sweden. In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Operations Research and Enterprise Systems (ICORES 2017), pp. 288-297.
The article describes an approach of soft systems method for modeling a national preparedness planning procedure, on the example of the electrical power shortage case. With the help of a model, the author provides a new perspective for understanding and enhancing the collaborative joint decision-making environment – for the actors engaged in the procedure of planning. Due to the case-study approach used in the article, it represents a valuable source for the planned research regarding outlining and building the systemic model mentioned above.
Methodology and Sample
As a research method, a survey was chosen, including both standardized questions and open-ended ones. The main purpose of the survey is to identify the extent of communities’ engagement in emergency management practices, the decisive element of relationships between institutions and communities, the level of trust of communities to institutions, well as potential areas and opportunities for improvement of emergency management based on implementation or enhancement of the Whole Community Approach grounded on the systemic paradigm of risks sharing, benefits, responsibilities, and interactions. The core of the survey questions will be concentrated around the issues of the most common causes of emergency practice failure within the community context and the most valuable contributors to the success of best practices. The relationships between communities and the institutions involved in the implementation of the Whole Community Approach in emergency management will be prioritized to identify the existence of a correlation between the quality of relationships and the outcomes of disaster consequences elimination performance.
The selection of respondents at all stages of the study will be carried out according to a quota, stratified, random sample, representative of the region of residence, social status, demographic characteristics, and various kinds of involvement in emergencies. The survey will cover nine communities in three states in the Center, North, and South of the United States. The following categories will act as experts: representatives of local authorities, non-governmental organizations, chiefs and deputy chiefs of staffs of civil defense and emergency situations and their structural divisions; members of emergency committees of various territorial and administrative units; senior officers of civil defense units, the Ministry of Defense; rescuers with experience in the prevention and elimination of emergencies; scientific workers of the corresponding direction. It is assumed that such a sample will provide the complete picture of the current situation and prospects in the field of the Whole Community Approach in emergency management in frames of different communities, which would allow excluding regionally-specific factors of influence in the final model. It is expected to obtain information about the impact of relationships between different stakeholders involved in the system of community-based emergency practices. In particular, the following data will be obtained:
- the perceived quality of intra-community interactions,
- factors of personal and professional risk, social fatigue,
- the influence of trust, cooperative efforts, role-defining policies in the organization of emergency response,
- the effectiveness of measures taken, correction of imbalances, development vectors, and existing mechanisms management in extreme situations.
- particular examples of best practice cases and drawbacks in performance.
In all cases, research will include a questionnaire survey of experts, a mass survey of the population, and an analysis of statistical data. As a methodological base, an analysis of the main directions of scientific knowledge in the field of safety of complex dynamic systems of a social nature will be carried out: the theory of complex dynamic systems, general control theory, cyclic theory, social management theory, social technology theory, risk management theory, social action theory, sociology of organizations.
Expected Findings
It is expected that the results of the survey, after their processing, will clearly show sound drawbacks in the national system of emergency management, which will be supported by appropriate data of the soundest disaster cases that took place in the period of 2010-2019. Based on particular best practices at the level of individual American communities, the urgent expediency to develop, introduce, and promote the systemic model of actors’ interaction, relationships, responsibilities, and risk sharing based on the Whole Community Approach in emergency management will be shown. The findings are expected to support the hypothesis presented above, stating that trust-related factors and misconception of roles distribution in the system of relationships between institutions and communities within Whole Community Approach in emergency management will be a decisive barrier to the effective and successful implementation of elimination of consequences of man-made and natural disasters. The findings and implications of the study results will provide a solid evidential basis for making recommendations as per improvement of relationships between stakeholders through policy implementation and other methods.
The expected theoretical and empirical results will allow developing specific practical recommendations for government bodies in collaboration with communities on the formation of a mechanism for regulating social processes to optimize the functioning of systems whose activities are aimed at eliminating the consequences of emergencies. The proposed approach to the study of factors contributing to the effectiveness of the Whole Community Approach in emergency management will contribute to the further theoretical and empirical study of similar problems in other areas of national security.
References
Boin, A., Hart, P., & Sundelius, B. (2016). The politics of crisis management: Public leadership under pressure. (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Canton, L. G. (2019). Emergency management: Concepts and strategies for effective programs. (2nd ed.). Wiley.
Jerolleman, A., & Kiefer, J. (2016). The private sector’s role in disasters: Leveraging the private sector in emergency management. CRC Press.
Pine, J. C. (2017). Technology and emergency management. Wiley.