Mays, et al Emergence of a Holistic View of Preparedness 2013 World Conference on Humanitarian Studies Panel on effectiveness and innovative approaches in disaster preparedness 1 Thirty Years of Practice: The Evolution and Emergence of a More Holistic View of Preparedness Robin E. Mays University of Washington Dept. of Human-Centered Design & Engineering rmays@uw.edu Rebecca Walton Utah State University Dept. of English rebecca.walton@usu.edu Bridgette Savino University of Washington Evans School of Public Affairs bsav@uw.edu ABSTRACT Our research reflects an emerging shift in understandings of effective preparedness practices from siloed approaches toward more holistic views over the past three decades. We trace a shifting perspective of how preparedness has evolved over time by preparedness practitioners through the lens of operational literature. Through a qualitative study consisting of interviews of current preparedness experts in an international humanitarian organization whose core mission is disaster preparedness and response, we further explore the current emergence of a more holistic view of preparedness across sectors and disciplines. According to this emerging perspective, successful preparedness can be characterized by a) cross-sector mainstreaming, b) harnessing the term “resilience” to close the gap between development and response, and c) exposing the broader identity of capacity as community empowerment and central to preparedness. Designing effective and innovative policies, programs and tools for disaster preparedness requires us to better understand the dynamic and implicit ways practitioners define and practice effective work. Our research begins to uncover preparedness experts’ perspectives, how they do their work, and what they value. Our findings hold implications for the more effective design of the policies, programs, and tools to support the future trend toward a more holistic view of disaster preparedness. Keywords Preparedness, Resilience, Holistic, Humanitarian Response, Disaster Risk Reduction. INTRODUCTION Operational literature explored from the last three decades reflects an emerging shift within the last decade of understandings of effective preparedness practices for mitigating the negative effects of disasters upon communities. As preparedness practitioners are seeking to incorporate their long-term experience into current practice, the literature reveals a professional community in transition. Though hindered by traditional organizational structures and conceptual boundaries, new terms are emerging and old terms are being redefined to make room for new perspectives on emergency preparedness. This struggle for preparedness to negotiate a new place in the broader humanitarian and governmental disaster response communities has become especially apparent following the 2005 Asia Tsunami and the subsequent adoption of the Hyogo for Action Framework (HFA) by over 168 countries as a strategy for reducing economic, environmental, social and human losses of disaster (ISDR 2007, Castleton 2008). This paper reports early findings from a study of how humanitarian emergency preparedness experts view and define their work and how they define successful preparedness. This study is the first phase of a multi-method case study conducted in partnership with an international organization whose core mission is emergency preparedness and response. A key goal of the broader research study is to uncover “hidden work”--ways of thinking and operating that are implicit and unarticulated--in emergency preparedness practice. We expect this deeper understanding of implicit practices and perspectives to be critical for designing effective emergency preparedness programs. One key finding of our early interviews is the focus of this paper: a shift in emergency preparedness approaches from siloed, segmented approaches to a more holistic view. I. PAST VIEWS OF PREPAREDNESS WORK Examining past perspectives of preparedness provides useful framing for current practitioner perspectives. Preparedness as a Response-Oriented Activity Preparedness has traditionally been framed in terms of disaster response, with preparedness playing a supporting role to response. In other words, disaster preparedness initially grew out of events in the late 80’s and 1990’s as a way to make response easier, more efficient, or better overall. One agency disaster preparedness document explains that, “disaster management has traditionally consisted of preparedness for efficient and centralized emergency response, not the development of community-based or localized preparedness capacity” (IFRC 2000). Another way this concept is characterized is as short-term preparedness (Sutton and Tierney 2006).