Critical response and preparedness for resilient futures : empowering community resilience through two-way communication systems in disaster zones of British Columbia

Summary: Natural disasters not only threaten the safety of individuals and communities but also disrupt the everyday life of people and their means of communication. People are highly alarmed in such situations. They do not know what to do or whom to contact, and wonder if their loved ones are safe; this causes people to depend on real-time information and assistance from each other rather than solely depending on government authorities during a disaster. Communication plays a crucial part in people’s survival in such circumstances. Currently, one-way mass notification systems mostly take place in the form of general alerts or warnings. However, people are looking for two-way communication during disasters; they want to be a part of the conversation and the solution. Everyday communication systems like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are perfect examples where communities provide information and assist each other and authorities during disasters. However, these do not involve the authorities in the two-way communication problem; multi-level gaps in the current emergency communication system remain. Aim To identify opportunities in the mass emergency communication system to help increase the chances of people’s safety during natural disasters like fire, flood and landslide in British Columbia. Research Questions • How might we design a two-way communication system for communities in disaster zones of British Columbia during mass emergencies like fire, flood, and landslides? • How might we leverage everyday communication systems that support communities during mass emergencies? • How might we include communication strategies specific to building Community resilience? The design solution is based on human-centered design (What Is Human-Centered Design?, n.d.) and system design (Meadows, 2009) methodologies. It aims to understand community needs and communication patterns, build a holistic knowledge of different stakeholder integrated systems, and evaluate the accessibility of the existing communication preparedness plans to design a solution. The project began by collecting and analyzing data from literature reviews, interviews, surveys, exploratory designs, and workshops to create a list of design principles. It then utilized these principles to develop a government-based universal information-sharing and community collaboration platform that integrates with Canada’s AlertReady system (Government of Canada, 2015).