{"id":24178,"date":"2023-06-23T10:25:15","date_gmt":"2023-06-23T08:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bulletin.woah.org\/?p=24178"},"modified":"2023-06-28T15:24:54","modified_gmt":"2023-06-28T13:24:54","slug":"thinking-about-the-futures-of-emergency-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bulletin.woah.org\/?p=24178&lang=es","title":{"rendered":"Thinking About the Futures of Emergency Management"},"content":{"rendered":"

Author: Donna Dupont, Purple Compass (donna@purplecompass.ca)<\/a><\/p>\n

Emergency managers and those who work in security and defence recognise and live with risk. They train in and practise responding to situations through simulation exercises to test out and improve operations and develop plans for the next emergency. However, simulation exercises alone will not address the uncertainty brought about by the constant change and emerging issues that are shaping the external environment and influencing emergency management. Foresight scenarios provide the opportunity to explore a potential future environment by simulating strategic conversations that challenge people’s assumptions about the future and assist them in developing adaptive capacity.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Between responding to and preparing for emergencies, strategic conversations about change and uncertainty are sometimes neglected. Foresight methods such as \u2018foresight scenarios\u2019 are designed to facilitate strategic \u2018what if\u2019 conversations that test assumptions, and identify challenges and potential opportunities in emergency management.<\/p>\n

These conversations allow emergency management stakeholders to explore how emergencies have evolved (e.g., interconnected risks leading to polycrisis[1]<\/a><\/sup>), and in turn support policy development, innovation and investment in emergency management skills that will foster adaptive capacity and ensure the field remains fit for purpose into the future.<\/p>\n

Last April, foresight practitioner, Donna Dupont, who is well-versed in supporting clients in areas of climate risk, security and sustainability, led a workshop at the WOAH Global Conference on Emergency Management. At the workshop, four foresight scenarios were created to explore future emergency management operating environments. The focus was on agro-crime and agro-terrorism. Each scenario had a specific theme and was derived from a survey that identified the issues emergency managers are experiencing today, and those they anticipate will emerge in the future:<\/p>\n