title: Addressing challenges for future strategic-level emergency management: reframing, networking, and capacity-building.
abstract: The mounting frequency and intensity of natural hazards, alongside growing interdependencies between social-technical and ecological systems, are placing increased pressure on emergency management. This is particularly true at the strategic level of emergency management, which involves planning for and managing non-routine, high-consequence events. Drawing on the literature, a survey, and interviews and workshops with Australia's senior emergency managers, this paper presents an analysis of five core challenges that these pressures are creating for strategic-level emergency management. It argues that emphasising 'emergency management' as a primary adaptation strategy is a retrograde step that ignores the importance of addressing socio-political drivers of vulnerabilities. Three key suggestions are presented that could assist the country's strategic-level emergency management in tackling these challenges: (i) reframe emergency management as a component of disaster risk reduction rather than them being one and the same; (ii) adopt a network governance approach; and (iii) further develop the capacities of strategic-level emergency managers.
authors.affiliation: Vice Chancellor's Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT University, Australia.
authors.forename: Karyn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bosomworth
authors.affiliation: University Associate, Faculty of Education, University of Tasmania, and Member, Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre, Australia.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Owen
authors.affiliation: Research Fellow, Tasmanian Institute of Law Enforcement Studies, University of Tasmania, and Member Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre, Australia.
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Curnin
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D057191:Capacity Building; D019058:Community Networks / Q000458:organization & administration; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans
keywords: Australia; climate change adaptation; network governance; strategic-level emergency management