Post Disaster Recovery Planning Toolkit
Step 4: Communicate and engage with community stakeholders
Step 4: Communicate and Engage with Community Stakeholders
Step 1
Get Started
Step 2
Establish Post-Disaster Recovery Coordination
Step 3
Identify Recovery Sectors and Build Partnerships
Step 4
Communicate and Engage with Community Stakeholders
Step 5
Formulate Recovery Projects and Draft Plan
Step 6
Implement and Monitor Recovery
Step 4
The purpose of this step is to identify, communicate with, and engage stakeholders. Special emphasis is placed on engagement with vulnerable groups and individuals to ensure that recovery support remains equitable. Community disaster recovery planning cannot take place without the participation of community stakeholders. Public engagement after a catastrophe builds hope, trust, and confidence in government, enhances relationships, new leaders, and opportunities to improve long-standing community challenges. To capture these benefits, public engagement must be both deliberate and strategic.
Guiding Questions
Impacts: Who in the community was affected by the disaster and/or will be affected by the recovery to follow?
Involvement: How can these people and organizations best be involved in the recovery efforts?
Considerations: What groups of people in the community have vulnerabilities that make engagement difficult and/or require special recovery considerations?
Engagement Methods: What are the best methods and channels for communicating with and engaging all community stakeholders?
Checklist for Step 4
- Activity 1: Ensure Engagement Supports Equitable Recovery
- Activity 2: Scope Recovery Stakeholder Community
- Activity 3: Facilitate Community Engagement
- Activity 4: Establish Public Messaging and Communications
Step 4, Activity 1: Ensure Engagement Supports Equitable recovery
The purpose of this activity is to ensure all community members' needs are met throughout the recovery process.
Tips
- Make every effort to build authentic human relationships with members of the target community.
- Visit local institutions.
- Establish relationships with trusted leaders of faith-based groups and community organizations.
- Make yourself aware of local customs so as not to inadvertently be disrespectful of the community’s practices and values.
- Recognize the importance of faith-based and other community organizations as legitimate support systems.
- To ensure the hearing of diverse voices, including individuals on the planning and action teams that can represent the diverse needs and interests of the target groups.
- Include recovery team members who are reflective of survivors’ ethnic, racial, and social backgrounds.
- Strive to represent all voices.
- Develop inclusive Outreach Methods - To reach those who do not own a computer or who do not have current access to internet services, it may be necessary, particularly when home and cell phone service is not available, to conduct door-to-door visits or to distribute flyers in places where people tend to congregate. Frequently, places where other services are available are good places to begin. Possible distribution points for written information may include faith-based organizations, hospitals, and medical offices, grocery stores, coffee shops, laundries, daycare centers, schools and colleges, voluntary agencies involved in community recovery, and other places people gather.
Why?
In any community, there will be people who may require extra support in recovery, such as the elderly, people with a disability, people at risk of domestic violence, those with mobility issues, parents with young children, tourists, people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and others depending on the communities affected. Without a conscious effort to bring these individuals into the recovery process, or provide them with additional support and assistance, they may fall through the cracks or be left out of the recovery efforts.
When?
A focus on at-risk individuals should begin at the start of the recovery planning process (and in the pre-disaster recovery planning process) and continue throughout the recovery process. (Days 1 - Ongoing)
How does my community do this?
Identify and connect with your community’s vulnerable populations to learn their recovery issues and needs. Community recovery plans should address the notion of social vulnerability as part of the provision of social services. Activities may include, but are not necessarily limited to, policies that address the following issues and concerns:
The identification of unmet needs among disadvantaged groups.
The provision of education and outreach information targeting historically disadvantaged groups.
The modification of existing response programs to extend the provision of food, medical attention, clothing, and shelter over time following major disasters.
The development of post-disaster field offices in hard-hit areas that include counselors trained in housing programs, financial assistance, insurance, and psychological trauma.
The development of programs that help to reconstitute social networks (this is often undertaken by non-profits and faith-based organizations).
The development of state programs that build locally-based community recovery groups.
The creation of state programs that offer job opportunities for the unemployed, some of which may be tied to recovery-related activities (e.g., construction and debris management).
Identify the best methods for communicating and connecting with frontline communities. Each group or set of at-risk community members may require a different approach to communication, outreach, and involvement. Consider the specific needs of these segments of the community and the best possible avenues to reach out and engage with these members of the community. Assessing and reducing barriers in working with diverse groups require that you consider the following:
Understand current needs and realities of target groups.
Recognize and acknowledge historical conditions and assess and discuss levels of mistrust.
Recognize and respect differing cultural beliefs and practices.
Find community gatekeepers and request their involvement.
Incorporate these concerns into the recovery planning process. Craft recovery projects and programs that are based on the information gathered and address the needs of vulnerable populations.
Maintain contact with vulnerable populations throughout the recovery process. Much like other segments of the community, the at-risk residents should be included early in the process, and engagement with these groups should continue throughout the recovery process. This will allow recovery managers to ensure that their needs are being met and, if necessary, make investments in the recovery process as it is implemented to ensure that the recovery and reinvestment in the community are equitable and ultimately enhances the resilience of the whole community.
Step 4, Activity 2: Identify Stakeholders
The purpose of this activity is to identify stakeholders and to ensure all community groups are involved and engaged.
Tips
- Make every effort to build authentic human relationships with members of the target community.
- Visit local institutions.
- Establish relationships with trusted leaders of faith-based groups and community organizations.
- Make yourself aware of local customs so as not to inadvertently be disrespectful of the community’s practices and values.
- Recognize the importance of faith-based and other community organizations as legitimate support systems.
- To ensure the hearing of diverse voices, including individuals on the planning and action teams that can represent the diverse needs and interests of the target groups.
- Include recovery team members who are reflective of survivors’ ethnic, racial, and social backgrounds.
- Strive to represent all voices.
- Develop inclusive Outreach Methods - To reach those who do not own a computer or who do not have current access to internet services, it may be necessary, particularly when home and cell phone service is not available, to conduct door-to-door visits or to distribute flyers in places where people tend to congregate. Frequently, places where other services are available are good places to begin. Possible distribution points for written information may include faith-based organizations, hospitals, and medical offices, grocery stores, coffee shops, laundries, daycare centers, schools and colleges, voluntary agencies involved in community recovery, and other places people gather.
Why?
If your community does not adequately understand its recovery stakeholders, there exists a risk that some individuals or groups may not understand they have a role to play in long-term recovery and be left behind, or that recovery itself may benefit some groups over others. A lot of this work should have been started in the pre-disaster recovery planning process (Pages 29-38). An interdisciplinary reconstruction planning task force is the best way to guide the process of constructing the plan.
When?
After the Initial Damage Assessment, or as soon as it is determined that long-term community recovery efforts will be needed. (Days 1-30)
How does my community do this?
Create a list of potential community stakeholders. Identify community stakeholders from the public, government, the business sector, non-profits, community-based organizations, vulnerable and marginalized populations.
Determine interest and availability of identified community stakeholders. Having honest and open conversations with key community stakeholders ensures that their involvement meets their needs and expectations and effectively supports recovery efforts. Start by listening to their goals and interests and identify shared interests that can help guide their involvement in the post-disaster recovery process.
Recruit community stakeholders to join in the recovery planning effort. Use the Recovery Support Functions (RSFs, See Step 3) to guide the selection and assignment of key roles and responsibilities. Ensure that community members and leaders are effectively working together towards the same goals and supporting the appropriate RSFs.
Identify communication methods between community stakeholders and the recovery team. Communication is a two-way street. Ensure that organizations and community members involved in the process can share thoughts, input, and comments with those leading your community’s recovery efforts. Also, ensure that messages and information are flowing effectively back out to the community. The recovery planning process should provide meaningful opportunities for public input.
Community Call Out: Town of Lyons, CO
The Town of Lyons Recovery Action Plan was developed in the aftermath of a large flood event that occurred on September 12th, 2013 that inflicted major damage to the town resulting in the entire town being evacuated on September 14, 2013.
Step 4, Activity 3: Facilitate Community Engagement
The purpose of this activity is to outline your community engagement process. You will determine ways for community members to share their stories, state their points of view on the community’s vision and the recovery mission, and support buy-in.
Tips
Consider four components that can shape an effective public engagement process:
- Design a process with the end in mind.
- Select tactics that invite a broad range of stakeholders to participate.
- Frame and reframe issues, questions, and options in a way that the community discussion deals with interests, not positions.
- Communicate to the public how input will inform the decision-making process and how the ongoing implementation results will be communicated.
Why?
When public engagement is used to gather input from your community and shape recovery plans, policymakers can use these plans to focus on service delivery and problem-solving to address recovery needs. This allows the community to help shape the recovery and lets the recovery managers focus on implementing those actions and effectively using funds to help the community recover.
Through this process, community leaders should start by listening to community members, convene the conversations, and become curious learners. However, to do this well, public agencies need to be open, thoughtful, deliberate, and humble as they design the process. Through effective public engagement, your community delivers transparent decisions that are tied back to community needs and actions. This allows community members to both share their ideas and have a clear understanding of how that information is being used, what’s happening in the recovery process, why it is happening, and when it will happen. The by-product is trust and confidence in your local government. When done well, public engagement can forge a deep and renewed commitment to the community’s recovery mission as it develops new capacities and implements community priorities.
When?
Start community engagement efforts as disaster response operations begin demobilization and continue throughout the recovery process. (Days 1 - Ongoing)
How does my community do this?
Develop a public participation and engagement strategy. Make sure you commit to a comprehensive public engagement process and staff and fund it accordingly. Part of this process includes identifying the communications methods and activities you will use to collect information from community stakeholders and developing your guiding questions for the community will help you in that task. Be sure you clearly define the problem or need—Why are we here and what problem do we need to solve? Also, create a system that engages stakeholders—What information do we need from the public to answer questions about how to solve the problem? These steps are essential to begin the process of community healing.
Engage community stakeholders and recovery staff. Make sure that all community voices are heard, and community stakeholders are continuously informed by the recovery team. Throughout this process, collect data and information available from community stakeholders to ground truth what you think you already may know. Be sure to communicate your community goals at community meetings. Learn more about the community engagement process and how a community can effectively spearhead recovery (Pages 5-11).
Community Call Out: Cedar Rapids, Iowa Building Better and Stronger
On June 13, 2008, the city of Cedar Rapids experienced catastrophic flooding. The 600-foot-wide Cedar River grew to span two miles and covered 1,400 city blocks. Damages totaled $7 billion, and 18,000 residents were displaced. It ranked as the nation’s fifth-worst disaster at the time. The city engaged the public immediately following that flood crest. Within days, elected officials directed staff to engage residents in a conversation to build a vision to prevent future flooding and to frame that conversation around the principle of building a more resilient community. Mayor Kay Halloran proclaimed, “We will become a better and stronger” Cedar Rapids.
More than 2,500 residents and business owners, city staff, technical experts, and state and federal officials contributed to the design of a flood protection plan over the next five months. By November 12, 2008, the city council approved the River Corridor Development Plan (City of Cedar Rapids, 2008). The plan outlines 7.5 miles of floodwalls and levees to protect the city. The community also designated almost 230 acres of green space that gives the river more room to flow and swell. The plan served as the framework for eligibility of recovery services for housing and business assistance. It also defined the area and qualifying criteria for a comprehensive voluntary acquisition program. Moreover, it provided a master plan for utility and roadway improvements.
Under the leadership of elected officials and with the guidance of a citizen steering committee, the Neighborhood Planning Process (NPP) kicked off in January 2009. In eight meetings, over four months, and over 6,000 hours of public participation, the community generated a reinvestment strategy for 1,400 city blocks. More than 166 actions were included in the vision document along with a timetable for implementation. Through the process, the city and its citizens were able to create trust, identify issues of concern, and identify solutions in ways that kept the process focused on the outcomes.
Step 4, Activity 4: Establish Public Messaging and Communications
The purpose of this activity is to develop ways to build an effective communications plan to inform the community.
Why?
As part of any disaster recovery process, a communication strategy should be developed that enables two-way communication that not only informs the public about how and when to repair and reconstruct but also acts as a mechanism for reporting back and providing information to those leading the recovery efforts. Developing a communication strategy supports recovery planning by helping to co-develop and identify recovery needs, capacity, resources, and project priorities. Critical to the overall success of the communications strategy is identifying how best to reach diverse populations within the community through trusted organizations and having messages provided both in English and Spanish (See Activity 1).
When
This should be developed at the beginning of the recovery planning process. (Days 31 - 60)
How does my community do this?
Develop a communications strategy. Developing a communications strategy designed to deliver timely and accurate information to all community members and stakeholders, including non-English speaking stakeholders, over the full course of the recovery process is essential. Use the information and input gathered from initial community engagement efforts (Activity 3 above) to inform the development of this strategy. Elements of the communications strategy should include:
Utilizing multiple forms of media (e.g., newspapers, internet, television, radio, social media, trusted community organizations, and information networks) based on intended audiences. Local governments can “use a variety of “push” communications methods:
Automated telephone calling systems.
Posters and billboards in both English and Spanish.
Dedicated websites for local government recovery news.
Communications through social and mass media.
Coordinate with the social media and recovery websites at State recovery agencies.
Provide Spanish translations of all messages.
Conveying a common message, in both English and Spanish, across the assistance network tied to agreed-upon elements of the state recovery plan.
Engaging members of the media in the pre-event recovery planning process, including educating them about the nature of recovery and its complexities and developing ways to solicit their assistance to disperse recovery-related information and dispel misinformation in both the pre-and post-disaster environment.
Developing an approach to share information and engage in an ongoing dialogue with individuals and organizations that are external to the recovery committee, including the development of a venue to solicit feedback and engage in plan updates.
Utilize a “two-way” communications approach when possible. See the Additional Guidance section for more information.
Designate a staff member to be the Public Information Officer (PIO) to manage the implementation of the communications strategy. This individual should ensure the public is well informed about actions taken and future opportunities for assistance and also help to set expectations for timelines and programs and to coordinate between multiple recovery agencies, ensure that all messages are accessible to non-English speaking community members, and should handle inquiries from the media, the public, and elected officials; emergency public information and warnings; rumor monitoring and response; media relations; and other functions required to gather, verify, coordinate, and disseminate accurate, accessible, and timely information related to the recovery process. In small communities where it is unlikely that the emergency management operation has a full-time PIO, the designated PIO should be recruited from the community’s communications office, from the County government communications staff, or a communications specialist on loan from DHSEM.
Finalize your disaster Communications Plan. Download a template for the plan.
Develop and disseminate messages to community stakeholders and the public. Provide quality information to the broader community and public that is relevant to the recovery in a transparent way. At this stage, the pre-disaster planning process and the resilience building process should have helped you identify how best to communicate to your community.
Monitor all communications activities and identify and dispel misinformation. Managing misinformation requires careful and strategic consideration. Establish a rumor control capability to identify and dispel misinformation and invest in staff capacity to monitor and share information on social media platforms. Use strong, clear, and informed communication and credible sources. Consider ways to ensure communication redundancies in the process and be sure to track and squelch misinformation and rumors as they emerge directly.
Community Call Out: San Miguel County, Colorado - Disaster Recovery Plan
In San Miguel County, Colorado, the Disaster Recovery Plan has designated a lead Public Information Officer (PIO) as part of its emergency support functions. In this plan, the PIO has the following responsibilities and provides a central component or service in the recovery process.
The PIO will get the latest information from the incident to the EOC Recovery Functions ensuring coordinated messaging and services.
Providing a central place from which to distribute public information by establishing and coordinating a joint information center for county departments working the incident.
Disseminating emergent and pertinent (need to know) details to the public on evacuations, closures, processes, etc. through county public communications channels.
Communicating to county employees regarding impacts to county government, closures, or special work instructions.
Responding to recovery-specific media requests. Responses to all media requests (recovery or response specific) should be coordinated with the Incident PIO if that function is still operating.
Serving as the communications lead for the long-term Recovery Manager to establish the main communication source through which all disaster recovery public information flows.
During disaster recovery, ensuring a single source for information relating to services available to assist those impacted by the disaster.
Additional Guidance for Step 4
Click on the question to expand the answer.
+ What are some Key Resources I could read to learn more?
- A Guide to Engaging in Disaster Recovery
- World Bank Guide: Communication During Disaster Recovery
- Pre-Disaster Recovery Planning Guide for Local Governments (Pages 29-38)
+ What are the benefits of Public Engagement?
There are many benefits including:
- Community leaders have the opportunity to become listeners, conveners, and curious learners. However, to do this well, public agencies need to be open, thoughtful, deliberate, and humble as they design the process.
- Public engagement delivers transparent decisions. This allows community members to both share their ideas and have a clear understanding of what’s happening, why it is happening, and when it will happen. The by-product is trust and confidence in the government.
- Public engagement forges a deep and renewed commitment to the community’s recovery mission as it develops new capacities and implements the details of public interests.
+ What is a two-way communication approach?
Two-way communication always includes feedback from the receiver to the sender and lets the sender know the message has been received accurately. It is recommend to utilize “two-way” communications approaches and activities that are available in English and Spanish, such as:
- Individual meetings to gather targeted input on proposed policies and programs.
- Assistance centers where citizens and government representatives can communicate about funding applications, permitting, and other recovery activities.
- The creation of community leadership teams to advise recovery policymakers.
- Forums and charrettes to obtain vision and direction from the public and to build community support for plans and actions.
- Meetings to more systematically involve citizens in recovery decision-making.
- Ensure all activities are accessible to community members with functional and access needs, provide translations and translators for non-English speaking community members, and sign language interpreters for community members with hearing impairments (See Activity 1).
+ What are some best practices for engaging frontline community members?
Often, frontline community members experience the worst impacts of disaster/emergency events and have contributed the least to the problem. Engaging with frontline community members requires dedicated resources and time, a commitment to trust-building, and support from community “gatekeepers” - individuals that have long-established roles and trust in the communities already. Long-term recovery planning can provide an opportunity to address historical inequities using innovative solutions that help create a more sustainable, equitable, and just future for all. Listen to what people say. Ask about their hopes and dreams. Consider asking the following questions:
- What are the key issues facing your community related to the ability to recover from the disaster?
- What kind of community do you want to be in the next five, ten, or fifteen years?
- What kind of community would make a good home for our children and grandchildren? What kind of community would you be proud to share with visitors?
- What would your community look like if it were more resilient and more dynamic?
- What kind of mitigation actions are needed to make your community more resilient?
- What capacities are needed to make your community more economically, socially, and culturally vibrant?
- What opportunities exist to modernize governance, attract investment, improve infrastructure, and other enhancements, as a result of the resources the disaster event has made available, and the conditions that exist as a result of damages?
- What must be built or created to support the community's vision and values?
- What actions can be taken to ensure that the process hears from all community stakeholders?
+ Why is communicating with the public in the recovery phase important?
Timely, consistent, and factual communication regarding recovery and reconstruction should be a top priority. Residents and business owners are often unfamiliar with the recovery services available after a disaster. Misinformation can spread quickly when there is a lack of information coming from a reliable source.
+ Why should I create a post-disaster communication strategy for my community?
Communities should develop a post-disaster communication strategy that centralizes communication efforts and targets the full range of constituencies. It should also be closely linked with an information management strategy—collection, integration, and dissemination of recovery information—that includes recovery milestones and progress as well as any adjustments made to the recovery plan or implementation strategies. Elements of the strategy should include:
- The identification of an External Affairs / Public Information Officer assigned this responsibility is an important part of any good state recovery plan.
- Utilizing multiple forms of media (e.g., newspapers, internet, television, radio, social media) based on intended audiences.
- Conveying a common message across the assistance network tied to agreed-upon elements of the state recovery plan.
- Developing an approach to share information and engage in an ongoing dialogue with individuals and organizations that are external to the recovery committee, including the development of a venue to solicit feedback and engage in plan updates.
It can be helpful to keep in mind the following communication goals for disaster recovery (See pages 56-59).
- Provide the public with clear and unambiguous instructions.
- Dispel misinformation and rumors.
- Instill civic responsibility and community stewardship.
- Provide timely updates and helpful information to the public.
- Ensure inclusion of all community members.
+ What are five critical assumptions for a successful communications strategy?
Customer focus: Understand what information your customers and your partners need and build communication mechanisms that deliver this information in a timely and accurate fashion.
Leadership commitment: The leader of the recovery operations must be committed to effective communications and must participate fully in the communications process.
Inclusion of communications in planning and operations: Communications specialists must be involved in all recovery planning and operations to ensure that communicating timely and accurate information is considered when action decisions are being considered.
Situational awareness: Effective communication is based on the timely collection, analysis, and dissemination of information from the disaster area in accordance with basic principles of effective communications, such as transparency and truthfulness.
Media partnership: Traditional media outlets (i.e., television, radio, the Internet, and newspapers) and social media outlets (i.e., Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter) are the most effective means for communicating timely and accurate information to the largest number of people. A partnership with the media involves understanding the needs of the media and employing trained staff who work directly with the media to get information to the public. Both traditional media and social media may also serve as information sources for recovery managers.
+ What are the most used social media platforms in disasters?
Two social media sites, Facebook and Twitter, dominate the competition in terms of their use as news distributors, especially during disasters. A 2015 Pew Foundation study found “that clear majorities of Twitter (63%) and Facebook users (63%) now say each platform serves as a source for news about events and issues outside the realm of friends and family. That share has increased substantially from 2013 when about half of the users (52% of Twitter users, 47% of Facebook users) said they got news from the social platforms.”