One Message, Many Voices: Inter-Disciplinary Partnerships for Resilience Communication

When a record-setting flood threatened a Midwestern U.S. metropolitan area in 2009, citizen involvement in emergency mitigation averted disaster. In the wake of this event, government and non-government disaster response agencies joined forces to enhance community capacity for resilience to future flood threats. A simple, clear, and consistent message based on resilience theory was spread through multiple communication channels by partner agencies. Preliminary data support endorsement of the message and applicability of the recommended resilience strategies across the disaster cycle. The authors describe development of the message and keys to success of inter-disciplinary partnerships in resilience communication.