SYNERGIES builds on the results of six previous research projects: ENGAGE, RESILOC, LINKS, IMPACT, BUILDERS, and Ready2Help. As of the end of December 2023, the ENGAGE project has concluded its work after three and a half years of research, collaboration, and contribution to the current understanding of societal resilience. Co-funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, the ENGAGE project aimed to link the informal resilience naturally inherent in citizens with the formal work of public authorities to prevent, prepare for, respond to and recover from natural and human-made disasters.
The ENGAGE project’s partners, Cittadinanzattiva, shared the testimonies of the citizens they had met over the years through a series of video pills that recount the citizens’ experiences and reactions to the seismic events that hit L’Aquila in 2009 and central Italy in 2016. ENGAGE saw L’Aquila as the protagonist of the research in Italy, extended to the study of other emergencies that have affected the country. The eight video pills explore and share events that for many are memories, for others still a dramatic present, and to return to share the proposal that managing emergencies with citizens is much more effective.
The legacy collected by Cittadinanzattiva through the ENGAGE project will be shared through SYNERGIES’ social media channels in the coming period to highlight the perspectives of the citizens which have been involved in these tragic events. Stay tuned, two new videos every week!
Episode 1: In this first video, the five protagonists are introduced through a simple question that takes us back to the moment of the emergency they experienced: “Where were you that day?”. At the end of the video, Raniero Maggini from Cittadinanzattiva briefly presents the Engage Project.
Episode 2: Knowing your territory is fundamental, it means awareness, it means being prepared for risk. Knowledge of the territory is a form of prevention in an extended form. It means being capable of a greater response, less conditioned by improvisation and the unexpected. Quoting Paola Federici from L’Aquila: “The inhabitants of this territory are genetically prepared for emergencies”.
Episode 3: The testimonies of the citizens of L’Aquila and Camerino, who experienced the earthquake in 2009 and 2016 and who made their knowledge of the area available to coordinate aid from outside, direct it to the areas most in need, and act as intermediaries between rescuers and citizens in difficulty.
Episode 4: The earthquake is a collective trauma and as such must be processed collectively. Avoiding community disintegration means making the emergency response more effective. Collaborating, confronting each other, mourning together the loss of loved ones and places of gathering is the most useful way to process the trauma collectively.
Episode 5: From the creation of a radio station after the L’Aquila earthquake to the establishment of the “Io non crollo” association made up of young people from Camerino after the earthquake in central Italy in 2016, the testimonies of our protagonists confirm that citizen participation is an added value in emergency management.
Episode 6: Using the resources of an extended community to cope with the emergency phases of an environmental disaster such as an earthquake. From L’Aquila to Amatrice, a red thread links people and destinies through the post-earthquake journey, from digging under the rubble to social reconstruction, the last step of the emergency.
Episode 7: Dealing with the emergency of a territory by taking into account the centrality of its citizens means working for the future of that territory. The young people of Camerino, victims and rescuers at the same time, strengthened their bond with their land by staying there to “lend a hand” after the 2016 earthquake. Giving life to a product, an artistic work or even a supporting activity that makes people feel useful is a means of collectively processing what happened.
Episode 8: Rethinking the emergency means tackling it collectively, as a kind of extended civil protection where every citizen becomes an active participant. Making the most of the territory’s resources in order to deal better and faster with emergency situations caused by environmental catastrophes. Nurturing what is called “community empowerment”, i.e. the power of a community to overcome a difficulty and to rise up from a stumble.
Credits: shutterstock_147158540
