Communicating with Communities (CwC) during Post-Disaster Reconstruction: An Initial Analysis

"International organisations have acknowledged that providing information to and communicating with communities affected by disasters should be considered as an integral part of the humanitarian aid. Yet little is known on the information and communication needs of the population during the disaster reconstruction phase."

This paper presents a case study of the information and communication needs of the population and the role of social media during the reconstruction process after the earthquake that struck Emilia-Romagna (Northern Italy) in 2012. It is offered within the Communicating with Communities (CwC) paradigm. On this approach, rather than a top-down delivery of aid, disaster management promotes the empowerment of the affected population. To help inform CwC, Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities (CDAC), a network consisting of humanitarian and media organisations, has conducted various studies on the communication and information habits of communities and social groups during disaster response and early recovery. This model reflects the belief that coordination is a core component in both crisis and recovery stages, since the risk of duplicating efforts is high.

Despite the differences between acute crises and disaster reconstruction, some common best practices in communication identified in existing research can be highlighted. For example, in both response and recovery contexts, it is advisable to make use of a range of communication channels to reach out a broader audience. It is also appropriate to examine existing communication practices and needs in each social group in order to better target the content of the communication. Face-to-face communications, word of mouth, and community meetings are preferable communication channels both immediately after a disaster and in the long term. Collaboration with local organisations and community structures is crucial to guarantee full community participation and build dialogue. Seeking community feedback enables the evaluation of the impact of the communication strategy on the community seeking to be reached and its review.

In this context, the study specifically investigates information and communication habits of a population in the context of long-term reconstruction. The main issue to be addressed during the recovery process of the Emilia-Romagna earthquakes (May 20-29 2012) was the regeneration of industry and employment. Community-based organisations and groups had a prominent role in the Emilia-Romagna reconstruction. Emilia Romagna was already known as an area with a high level of social capital, community involvement, and political participation. Table 1 of the report describes some community-led groups created after the earthquake; for each group, the table lists its scope, geographical area where the group activities take place, Facebook and Twitter account name, and whether the group has physical office or exists merely in cyberspace. Data were collected through field notes and a multiple choices questionnaire distributed online and by hand to these community-based groups.

Results show that the most-sought information concerned housing and infrastructure reconstruction, funds/refunds, business recovery, and damage assessment. City councils and regional councils are considered the main source of the information. Communication channels used to search for reconstruction-related information vary between online and offline respondents. Social media technology is used by citizens affected as a platform to read and share recovery information and post queries rather than as an engagement tool with recovery agencies. (Only 36% of the respondents used social media to communicate bidirectionally with authorities. The more the respondents were educated and the younger they were, the more likely they were to use social media with bidirectional purposes. Main barriers to engagement are lack of trust towards the authorities and the belief that authorities do not use social media to communicate with citizens. Lack of information technology (IT) skills was the most mentioned barrier in the paper survey (41%); this is probably due to the fact that mainly non-IT users answered the question. However, 25% still mentioned lack of time as a barrier, 16% did not trust authorities, and 13% did not believe that authorities communicate with residents via social media regarding reconstruction.

In this context, the authors say, community-based groups, especially those supported by social media, play an important role in sharing recovery-related information to other residents, clarifying legal acts and regulations, and providing informational support to the affected population. Future research should possibly look at how these practices evolve over the reconstruction period.