Gaps in the anti-crisis management of territorial communities and the lack of awareness of the population about actions in crisis and emergency situations are the conclusions of teams of scientists from the FMM and the Faculty of Management Engineering of the Poznan University of Technology. They are currently jointly implementing a project funded by the NATO Science for Peace and Security program.
The first stage of the project has already been completed. Therefore, the FMM and the Faculty of Management Engineering of the Poznan University of Technology summarized the results of the first stage of the project “Strengthening the capacity of local communities to cope with crisis situations” at an online meeting. This project aims to improve the crisis management system in Ukraine and Poland; propose measures to raise public awareness of how to act in emergency and crisis situations; and intensify the interaction between local authorities and the population of territorial communities.
“Thousands of settlements have been destroyed and damaged in Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, and a significant part of the population has been forced to emigrate or become IDPs. It is now imperative to anticipate future negative situations: threats, accidents, and disasters, and to prepare resources to address them. I hope that this cooperation and this project will bring significant benefits to Ukraine, Poland, and NATO as a whole,” said Serhiy Voitko, Professor of International Economics, during the meeting.
Each of the parties - Ukraine and Poland - spent six months analyzing Ukrainian and Polish policies in the field of crisis management. The researchers conducted interviews with scholars and practitioners, studied documents at the state and local levels related to emergency and crisis management, and used a coding system to process the results. Now the parties are preparing an analytical document with proposals for changes to the crisis management policy at the local level.
The next stage of the project is to conduct quantitative research, the results of which, together with the findings from the qualitative research of the first stage, will form the basis for the development of an interactive textbook, as well as the preparation of an audit to develop a model of community capacity to respond to emergencies. The researchers of the FMM and the Faculty of Management Engineering of Poznan University of Technology plan to apply their findings in organizing and conducting trainings for students, postgraduates, and residents of territorial communities of the Bucha district of Kyiv region and the Poznan Poviat of the Wielkopolska province.