{"id":7834,"date":"2022-12-23T21:33:23","date_gmt":"2022-12-23T13:33:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/?p=7834"},"modified":"2022-12-24T19:48:38","modified_gmt":"2022-12-24T11:48:38","slug":"pride-and-purpose-empowering-communities-in-disasters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/eastasia\/blog\/7834\/pride-and-purpose-empowering-communities-in-disasters\/","title":{"rendered":"Pride and Purpose: Empowering Communities in Disasters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the past two weeks, devastating floods have hit parts of Europe, China and India, a stark reminder of the increasing frequency of extreme weather events driven by climate change. Yet, in these most difficult of times, when communities are struck by disaster, something very special happens: people come together to help each other like never before.<\/p>\n\n

Heroes & Honeymoons<\/h1>\n\n

The accepted wisdom from so-called \u2018disaster scholars\u2019 is that there are two phases that directly follow a crisis. The first is known as the \u2018Hero\u2019 phase<\/strong> and is marked by people taking personal risks to save others in the direct aftermath of the crisis.<\/p>\n\n

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Once the immediate danger has passed, impacted communities enter what is known as the \u2018Honeymoon<\/strong>\u2019 phase as they start to deal with the aftermath together. These phases are marked by a surge of solidarity, altruism, inclusiveness, empathy and self-organisation that is unseen in non-crisis times<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n

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In a disaster, people show the incredible ability to be more \u2018human\u2019 than in their everyday life and they experience, first-hand, a society they didn\u2019t think could exist.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

Social psychologists attribute this behaviour to the creation of a common social identity known as a \u2018disaster community\u2019 that includes all of those who were impacted by the crisis.<\/p>\n\n

Disaster Community<\/h1>\n\n

Be it China, Germany or India, when the water recedes and people can return to their homes they are confronted with the devastation of their destroyed homes. However, they are also suddenly plunged into a hive of community action. Neighbours who had barely even talked to each other before start to self-organise rescue operations, or work together to remove debris and improve the living conditions of the community. We have already seen stories of solidarity after the floods with winemakers helping each other in Germany\u2019s Ahr<\/a> district or travel agents offering their app to help people find free hotel beds in Henan<\/a>. While the media might report on the surge of \u2018physical\u2019 solidarity, emotional support like empathy also flourishes in this period.<\/p>\n\n

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Locals come together to help the clean-up in flood damage in the German town of Erfstadt after the river Erft flooded streets and destroyed houses.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Changemakers and crisis response workers can support the creation of these disaster communities, engaging with and boosting the confidence and pride of impacted communities. We can share their stories not as victims but as heroes, showing what can be achieved when people come together as a community.<\/strong> With these inspiring stories, we can rebuild the trust in our fellow humans and build societies fit for the 21st century that sees solidarity, inclusion, self-organisation, empathy and resilience not as a fleeting honeymoon, but as a long-term shift.<\/p>\n\n

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While crises of course bring incredible hardships, they also provide opportunities to shift cultures and create societal mindsets that will better equip us to deal with the challenges of the coming decades.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

We will need communities with the exact same qualities we see in the honeymoon of a crisis in order to deal with the increasingly brutal impacts of the climate crisis but also drive a fast and just transition to a low carbon economy.<\/p>\n\n

Ideas for Crisis Response<\/h1>\n\n

Here are some short tips to think about when designing your responses to crises:<\/p>\n\n