Looking Ahead: Presenting at the EMPA Conference in Canberra

In just a few weeks, I'll be heading to Canberra to present at the Emergency Media and Public Affairs (EMPA) conference, thanks to a generous invitation from the EMPA Board.

This opportunity is particularly exciting as it allows me to engage with a community deeply invested in the advancement of emergency management practices.

I'll be joining colleagues Renae Hanvin and Professor Daniel Aldrich to lead a Masterclass focusing on two critical yet often overlooked aspects of emergency management: social capital and social infrastructure.

These concepts are essential for creating resilient communities capable of withstanding and recovering from emergencies. However, in South Australia, we still lack a clear approach to measuring, investing in, and embedding these vital elements into our emergency management strategies.

Our session aims to shed light on these issues by discussing the outcomes of a recent forum organised, which brought together over 50 different stakeholders. This forum was a significant milestone, providing a platform for a diverse group of participants to engage in meaningful dialogue about social capital and social infrastructure.

We explored several key questions: How do we measure social capital? What exactly constitutes social infrastructure? How should these be defined and understood within the context of emergency management? And importantly, what should our future focus be to ensure these elements are integral parts of our strategies?

The forum highlighted the complexities involved in defining and measuring social capital and social infrastructure. Social capital refers to the networks, relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a society's social interactions. It's about the trust, cooperation, and mutual support that communities can draw upon during times of crisis. On the other hand, social infrastructure encompasses the physical places and organisations that support the formation and maintenance of social capital, such as community centers, libraries, schools, and sports facilities.

One of the critical takeaways from our discussions was the realisation that while social capital and social infrastructure are widely acknowledged as important, there is a significant gap in our ability to quantify their impact and integrate them into emergency management policies and practices effectively. This gap presents both a challenge and an opportunity. By developing robust metrics and frameworks for assessing social capital and social infrastructure, we can better understand their role in enhancing community resilience and make more informed decisions about where to direct resources and efforts.

At the EMPA conference, our Masterclass will delve into these topics, sharing insights from our forum and inviting participants to contribute their perspectives and experiences. We hope to foster a collaborative environment where ideas can be exchanged, and innovative solutions can be developed. Our goal is to move towards a more comprehensive and integrated approach to emergency management that recognises and leverages the power of social capital and social infrastructure.

I am looking forward to engaging with EMPA conference and gaining new insights that we can bring back to South Australia. This is just the beginning of what promises to be a transformative journey in redefining how we think about and implement emergency management practices. Stay tuned for more updates and reflections from Canberra!