ResilienceBe Prepared: Canada engages youth in disaster resilience

Published 3 November 2016

Large-scale natural disasters have been on the rise worldwide, and while the exact cause is unclear, there is something most scientists, policy-makers, and legislators can all agree with — the increasing global need to invest in disaster preparedness, prevention, and recovery. Canadian experts say they are constantly evaluating and improving Canada’s emergency preparedness and the most effective ways to keep people safe. But some experts are taking a different approach to disaster resiliency: they are engaging youth.

Large-scale natural disasters have been on the rise worldwide, and while the exact cause is unclear, there is something most scientists, policy-makers, and legislators can all agree with — the increasing global need to invest in disaster preparedness, prevention, and recovery. Canadian experts say they are constantly evaluating and improving Canada’s emergency preparedness and the most effective ways to keep people safe. But some experts are taking a different approach to disaster resiliency: they are engaging youth. 

DRDC-RDDC says that in Alberta, a major effort is underway through the Alberta Resilient Communities (ARC) project funded by Alberta Innovates Health Solutions. This project builds on the experiences of children, youth, and their communities in order to inform and strengthen child and youth mental health and enhance disaster resilience in Southern Alberta. It represents an impressive collaborative partnership between academics of the University of Calgary (Dr. Julie Drolet), Mount Royal University (Dr. Caroline McDonald-Harker), and Royal Roads University (Dr. Robin Cox), along with community-based partners from Calgary, High River, and the Foothills region.

“We know that children and youth are often cited as a vulnerable population to disasters because of their dependency on adults and their developmental stage, but we also know that young people are motivated and want to contribute to the conversation around disaster resiliency. They have the capacity, strength, and intelligence to do so,” said Dr. Robin Cox, director of ResilienceByDesign Research Lab, professor and program head of the Disaster & Emergency Management (DEM) program at Royal Roads University.

Disaster resilience, according to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, is the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions. The question is: what role can youth play in a world under pressure from environmental degradation, population growth, unsustainable development in hazard-prone areas, and widening social and economic disparities?

“I think youth are more excited about the topic, which brings an added level of passion and a willingness to change things. Being a young person, you see things and think ‘That’s not the most efficient way of doing that’ and look for ways to improve it,” said Zachary Cox (no relation to Dr. Cox), 26, one of the learning lab participants.