Tag: Emergency Management

Adventures in Collaboration…Now with Technology! by Sarah Allison

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Adventures in Collaboration…Now with Technology!

by Sarah Allison

For the past few months, my Community Planning Workshop (CPW) team has been working to develop strategic plans for the Emergency Management divisions of Douglas and Coos County. We have gathered information from our steering committees (one in each county), research, interviews and a survey. In addition to the county-level strategic plans, we are also developing a regional plan with opportunities for the two counties to collaborate on common goals. Toward that end, we had a joint meeting this week with the steering committees from both counties to discuss regional opportunities.

The Value of Time

Our Douglas County steering committee is based primarily in Roseburg, and the Coos County committee is based primarily in the Coos Bay/North Bend area, so a physical meeting space would have meant several hours of travel for at least one of the committees, if not both. A two hour meeting would have become an all day affair. Instead, we used the tools available to make collaboration as efficient as possible. Each county had a facility with video conference capabilities, so we divided our CPW team in half. Two team members went to Douglas County, and two went to Coos. Each sub-team facilitated the people in their county, and we had remarkably effective interactions between the two committees virtually.

Moving Forward

Based on the conversations between committees and our previous information gathering, the team will now move into my favorite part of the project – synthesis. We will develop and polish goals and actions to help move these divisions in the direction they want to move. As an additional bonus, the tool of video conferencing may be included in the strategic plan as a way to maintain communication channels between the counties in the future!

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More about the Community Planning Workshop(CPW)

Our Partner: Jay Wilson

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What Community Service Center program did you work with?

The Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience (OPDR) and Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) with two participants in the last 5 years.

Briefly describe the project(s) you work on with the CSC?

One experience that stands out is the 2006 Cannon Beach Tsunami Workshop which was very innovative and brought community stakeholders together. This workshop identified what the public participatory process for recovery would look like, especially in creating a shared community vision for the future. This workshop brought forth collaborative brainstorming activities, identified big picture ideas, and included a report and information that set the bar for steps in what is involved in long-term post-disaster recovery and reconstruction efforts necessary to bring a community back following a catastrophic disaster.

Why did you decide to work with the Community Service Center (CSC)?

The Community Service Center in general offers a wide range of skill sets for helping communities and allows for students who desire experiential based learning the opportunity to bring capacity to local governments and their projects. The CSC is a win win on all side.

What were the benefits of engaging the CSC program?

With the help of Community Service Center, our county had the first mitigation plan in the country approved by FEMA, and in the latest update we have relied on CSC to help the County’s 15 incorporated cities develop individual plans which will become our new multi- jurisdiction hazard mitigation plan. The CSC facilitated the process, coordinated planning activities, reviewed the work, helped conform to FEMA guidelines and offered value added organization skills including formatting, producing logical information and brokering the preapproval process for FEMA.

What role did CSC staff/students/members have in the project?

RARE supervisors and students became our on-the-ground researchers and primary writers on behalf of the county. Staff of OPDR provided technical support to student participants which supplemented work with research, planning and strategizing. Coordination by OPDR Interim Director, Josh Bruce provide the overview, expertise and professional judgement and worked with the state and furthered the preapproval process for FEMA.

How did the engagement of the CSC program(s) increase your organization capacity to complete the project?

We have had two Resource Assistance for Rural Environments (RARE) participants in the last five years that have filled the void in our offices with planning support, such as  activities related to meetings including scheduling meetings with stakeholders, capturing meeting notes , compiling data, creating report structure, and other needed services.

What advice do you have to other potential community partners about working with the CSC?

I encourage stakeholders and communities to be open to expectations of how working with this program can enhance and expand the concept of what they are able to accomplish. CSC provides technical expertise and help the County to put hazards mitigation into practice.

Emergency Management – Clackamas County – Follow us on Facebook!

Emergency Management uses an all-hazard, county-wide approach to minimize the impact of natural and human-caused incidents. We identify hazards; develop emergency and mitigation plans; coordinate response activities and train incident personnel. We work with cities, special districts, community organizations and regional partners to promote emergency preparedness and improve incident response. Check out http://www.clackamas.us/emergency/ for more information.