Following last year’s conference which took place in Krakow with the participation of then President Tzitzikostas and took a close look at the concept of territorial resilience in the framework of the actions and policies of European Local Intermediate authorities, CEPLI members wish to dig deeper into this now pivotal element of any solid and long-term oriented territorial policy.
The transversal concept of resilience is a particularly useful lens through which to reflect on risk management at the local level as it calls for public action to be conceived holistically and makes us, policy-makers, approach public intervention globally in order to come up with the best action paths and methods to cope with structural, cyclical, conjunctural and unpredictable risks, be they of a social or economic nature or related to natural catastrophes and health hazards.
After taking a broad conceptual approach for last year’s conference, the CEPLI will focus this year’s conference on the resilience to natural catastrophes.
Participants will discuss the role of Local Intermediate Authorities in coping with/addressing the social, economic and sanitary consequences of floods, fires, earthquakes, landslide-incurred road crevasses, road livestock epidemic outbreaks, electricity blackouts as well as their repercussions on local infrastructures.
Of special interest will be the articulation provided by Local Intermediate Authorities as the first-response administrations and primary element/cogs…. Of the emergency response feedback loop that is put into place right after the catastrophes emerge (at the onset of the catastrophes). Emphasis will be given to their role in the coordination of disaster relief efforts/endeavours as the authorities closest to the events and with a deep knowledge of the local topography, infrastructures and resources.
Presidents of Local Intermediate Authorities from various member States will shed light on the
interrelation of the areas of intervention of their respective administrations as a key element of any successful risk prevention-preparedness policy by sharing their past and current experiences/good practices. Along with other EU politicians and academic experts, they will then proceed to envision which pathways local intermediate governments can take towards improving their risk prevention practices.