Accessible and creative communications around resilience and risks have emerged as a central theme in discussions at National Centre for Resilience (NCR) events and meetings over the past year. In response to this, on the 9th of January 2024, we hosted a full-day symposium titled ‘The Art of Communicating Resilience’ that brought together experts from across resilience practice, academia, the third sector, the creative industries, and communities.


The objective of the day was to facilitate open dialogue and collaboration, breaking down silos between professionals and encouraging experimentation with fresh methods of engagement. The aim was not to look at critical messaging but to look at the softer elements of how communities and individuals understand the concept and buy into the idea of building resilience using inclusive and accessible methods. Throughout the past year, feedback from communities has underscored the need for useful and useable tools and guidance to bolster their resilience. Over recent months we have had multiple examples of people not taking heed of critical messaging, we want to look at how we can help prepare communities with an understanding so that when critical messaging is required, they feel empowered to act upon it.

Photo shows room of event attendees sat at tables

 

The day features a range of speakers from different specialisms including NCR Centre Manager, Ailsa Mackay provided an overview of the NCR and the objectives for the day in addition to outlining the context of why we brought everyone together. She briefly talked about her background in leading behavioural change projects and current practice as an artist. Principal Investigator for the NCR, Professor Fabrice Renaud, discussed the varied and often confusing definitions of resilience and highlighted the need to be specific and take care when using the word ‘Resilience’ to define ideas. Dr Claire MacRae from the ‘Centre for Public Policy’ emphasized the crucial need for effective communication on resilience within communities. She highlighted the need to be proactive with our risk-related communications.

 

The event continued with a series of group activities and moderated discussions facilitated by a fantastic team of academics from The University of Glasgow School of Social and Environmental Sustainability. A comprehensive event report will be disseminated to all attendees shortly, with follow-up meetings planned to explore potential collaborative projects.

First published: 15 February 2024

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