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No other disaster management practice has undergone as much change than has emergency communication. The components of emergency communication, from situational awareness, to response coordination and public information provision are influenced by factors that are fundamentally different from 20 or even ten years ago. It is a fast-evolving environment, involving new technologies and changing communication preferences. Adapting to a highly dynamic and demanding information environment takes up resources from other activities. One response to this rapid change has been the establishment of Virtual Operation Support Teams to monitor social media, support situational awareness, counter rumours and disseminate official communication. To date, the establishment, utility and added value of these teams has not been the subject of research. This paper examines the evolution of Virtual Operation Support Teams across the globe and how they are being used in seven countries. The paper suggests ways that governments and emergency management authorities can support similar teams and how integration with formal operations might be managed. This may assist countries where Virtual Operation Support Teams are not yet established or where teams are only activated during an emergency event.

Resilience has become a dominant paradigm in a wide range of risk and security agendas. In this article we describe the modes in which resilience approaches in the domain of civil protection responsibilize social actors and citizens to 'do their part'. We also examine some of the problems such attempts to 'make the people resilient' might raise. Specifically, by using an historical case study of the Swiss civil defense system as example illustrating how a political agenda can be used to proliferate individual responsibility for societal safety and security through instruction, we argue that measures labeled as 'resilience-building' can easily fail to meet their stated goals. Policies aiming at building resilience in a top-down fashion risk becoming counterproductive, especially if public policy aims to persuade or 'nudge' individual perceptions and behavior, as people feel manipulated or scared. It appears imperative to address the political and ethical boundaries of resilience-building efforts in order to understand and improve the effectiveness and democratic legitimacy of current resilience policies.

Resilience has become a dominant paradigm in a wide range of risk and security agendas. In this article we describe the modes in which resilience approaches in the domain of civil protection responsibilize social actors and citizens to 'do their part'. We also examine some of the problems such attempts to 'make the people resilient' might raise. Specifically, by using an historical case study of the Swiss civil defense system as example illustrating how a political agenda can be used to proliferate individual responsibility for societal safety and security through instruction, we argue that measures labeled as 'resilience-building' can easily fail to meet their stated goals. Policies aiming at building resilience in a top-down fashion risk becoming counterproductive, especially if public policy aims to persuade or 'nudge' individual perceptions and behavior, as people feel manipulated or scared. It appears imperative to address the political and ethical boundaries of resilience-building efforts in order to understand and improve the effectiveness and democratic legitimacy of current resilience policies. ; ISSN:1866-2447 ; ISSN:2191-7582

Today, the majority of the globe's inhabitants live in urban areas. According to all forecasts cities will continue to grow in the coming decades. At the same time, cities have become increasingly connected as a result of economic, political and cultural globalization. In the context of urban security, the growing complexity these connections bring may present a double-edged sword: cities can be both the most secure, or most dangeropus places when disaster strikes. The very characteristics of urban life – such as population concentrations, compact architectural structures, diverse socio-demographics, as well as complex, interconnected infrastructure systems – present both challenges and opportunities in terms of managing disasters in cities.

This report assessed and analyzed the current state of Switzerland's disaster management at the city level. More specifically, the study provides an overview of how major Swiss cities prepare and plan for large-scale disasters. The study examined cities' planning and organization concerning the major risks they identified. A key element of the analysis was an examination of the institutional set-up that cities have put in place in the area of disaster prevention and management The present study was designed as a qualitative case description of Switzerland's largest urban areas. Seven major Swiss cities and their agglomerations were selected for the study: Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Lucerne, and Lugano. The results of the analysis provides a systematic and deeper understanding of the role Swiss cities are playing in modern civil protection: First, conducting systematic risk analyses is a relatively recent development in Swiss cities, and is as such characterized by a marked diversity in approaches. On the political-strategic level, legal mandates, plans and strategies are less established in this area than in the response phase. Also, on the operational level, little standardization exists across cities with regard to how risk identification and analyses are carried out. Second, to fulfill their tasks, civil protection organizations depend on a broad array of partners and resources. Results from this analysis demonstrate that three factors are particularly important in urban disaster management practice: adequate financial support, and other resources; political support (both at the city level, and at higher levels); and a strong partnership with the public. Third, institutional ambiguities impacts on civil protection efficiency. While responsibilities are clear in legal terms, responsibility, competency, and task sharing are in reality rather complicated in Switzerland's subsidiary system. These challenges are further intensified by accelerated urbanization. A clearer allocation of responsibilities across the different political levels, acknowledging the changing role of cities in civil protection would help cities establish more systematic and steady structures (institutional organization, budget, etc.) for disaster management. This means tailoring initiatives and concepts developed at higher political levels to the operational needs of the city. While in normal times, cooperation between the city and the federal level works well, the decentralized system underlines potential weaknesses in large-scale events.

This report develops a comprehensive view of the specific social situation in Zürich, and of the potentially important dynamics that could have an influence on social vulnerability in the city. To better understand social vulnerability in Zürich, CSS's research team conducted interviews with experts working with very different social groups in the city of Zürich on a day-to-day basis. Three hazards were chosen for detailed spatial analysis: chemical accidents, flooding, and heatwave. A first key finding of this project has been the observation that locally specific social vulnerability characteristics can be difficult to represent cartographically. Second, the project demonstrated that while disasters incite extreme impacts, vulnerability in everyday lives translates to vulnerability in the context of a disaster. Last, given society's dynamism, disaster managers must also adopt adaptive and flexible approaches to understand how societal changes might influence social vulnerability. The results suggest that social vulnerability can most effectively be addressed by a network of various governmental and non-governmental actors.

As has been the trend in recent years, 2017 was characterized by significant changes in international politics, highlighting the growing complexity of the world we live in. Reflections on major developments can be found in the contributions to this year's "Strategic Trends 2018". In the first chapter, Jack Thompson looks at the new foreign policy of the US under President Trump. In his view, the US will remain the most important player in global affairs, but is struggling to adapt to the evolution of the international system and will be more vulnerable than ever to changes in the geopolitical landscape. Managing relations with Russia and China will be among the main challenges that the West will face in the coming years. Brian Carlson therefore examines the China-Russia relationship and its effects on world politics. China is also an important factor in Severin Fischer's chapter on the impacts of technological change in the energy sector. In his view, China will be the dominant player in the world of new and clean technologies, notably solar and batteries. This could be good for development goals and limiting global warming, but not necessarily for the influence of the Western world in other regions. Within this changing international system, calls for improving national resilience across different sectors in states and economies are becoming louder. Tim Prior's chapter examines the growing focus on resilience in Western security policy, particularly with respect to deterring asymmetric threats. ; ISSN:1664-0667