Expert views on current and future use of social media among crisis and emergency management organizations: Incentives and barriers

Crisis Communication Competence in Co-Producing Safety with Citizen Groups

The aim of this article is to explore interpersonal communication competence needed by crisis communication and management experts when co-operating with citizen groups in response to emergencies. Moreover, the purpose is to understand how response organizations can further develop this crisis communication competence and so contribute to the functioning of response networks. The research task is approached qualitatively by eliciting crisis communication and management experts’ (n = 33) perceptions of the interpersonal communication competence response organizations needs when co-operating with citizen groups. The data were gathered via an international online questionnaire using a method r…

Developing a Conceptual Framework for Investigating Communication Supporting Community Resilience

In crisis management, cooperation within the response network is seen as crucial. Usually, this network refers to authorities and nongovernmental organizations, such as the Red Cross. However, the authors argue that to improve societal resilience one should take a broader overview of the actors involved in crisis preparedness and mitigation, and also include the public. With this in mind, the role of communication is scrutinized and a conceptual framework developed as a starting point for further investigation into how communication may be developed to strengthen a community approach to crisis management that includes citizen groups in the broader response network. A model is presented alon…

Citizens' Communication Habits and Use of ICTs During Crises and Emergencies

In this article, citizens’ communication habits and use of information and communication technologies during crises and emergencies are discussed from the perspective of community resilience. The topic is approached qualitatively by exploring citizens’ perceptions, and the data were gathered by means of focus groups in storm-prone and flood-prone areas in Finland. The results indicate that citizens consider emergency communication to be mostly unidirectional: from authorities to the public. However, because crises are often complex and fast developing, cooperation among response organizations and citizen groups is needed to coproduce safety and in adapting to changing situations. Organizati…

Enhancing citizen response to crises through communication : investigating expert views

The purpose of this paper is to clarify how citizen response to crises is currently being enhanced, and how it might be increased, by emergency response organisations in member states of the European Union via communication strategies and tools. Data were gathered via an online questionnaire directed at emergency management and crisis communication experts working in the field of crisis response. The experts were drawn from the database of an international conference. The results indicate that while the importance of involving citizens in crisis response is generally acknowledged, the implementation of such activities is often fragmented. Although some initiatives are under way, coherent st…