Natural and man-made disasters remind us how the ability of societies to adapt and prosper depends on the collective action of the whole society. But the significant role citizens and communities can play at the grassroots level has been overlooked in research. ENGAGE will turn this around, showing how individuals and local practices can interrelate effectively with planned preparedness and response, practitioners and technology. To achieve this bold goal ENGAGE will start with the knowledge, strategies, methods, tools and practices used by real world practitioners and citizens, and mature results from earlier projects. It will combine and extend these to create innovative solutions to disaster management and new ways of fostering trans-disciplinary collaboration and learning across disciplines. A model for assessing and methods for improving societal resilience will be complemented by an evolving knowledge platform providing actionable solutions meeting the diverse needs of authorities, first responders and citizens. ENGAGE will use empirical data on individual and collective contributions to societal resilience and take into account contextual aspects such as socio-economic conditions, digital literacy, culture, gender, social capital, trust and diversity. It will focus on aspects that can be directly enhanced such as risk awareness, communication, social media, citizens’ as well as authorities’ and first responders’ involvement. Real world field validations will be used to demonstrate and validate ENGAGE solutions and their transferability to diverse contexts across Europe. The consortium is complemented by a Knowledge and Innovation Community of Practice that already has 37 members and will grow during the project. This team includes representatives from authorities, first responders, citizens associations, NGO´s, SMEs, industries, schools and academia. Together, they will propose validated solutions contributing to specific SENDAI actions.

RESILIAGE’s mission is to provide novel knowledge and impactful solutions for exploiting Europe´s hidden and unused resource: community resilience. RESILIAGE will enable a step-change in Disaster Risk Management and in the way research and practice deal with variation in aspects of society like culture, risk awareness, inclusion, socio-economic and geographical conditions by co-creating resilient communities through digital tools and soft solutions consolidated in a holistic and systemic approach. RESILIAGE aims to improve understanding of the behaviour and psychological reactions of diverse society groups affected by a natural and man-made disaster and enhance community resilience. Indeed, with the proactive and participatory involvement of all the relevant stakeholders and end users, RESILIAGE will co-shape and develop a set of digital tools and soft solutions to support first responders and public authorities, empower citizens, share more accurate and accessible information prior, during and after a natural and man-made disaster or crisis situation. These will be integrated in a digital platform, the Resource Ecosystem for Community Resilience, and validated through a holistic systemic Disaster Risk Management and multi-hazards approach in five Community Resilience labs and their networks. Results and lessons learned will provide guidelines and policy recommendations to enhance preparedness plans, SENDAI framework and strategies for Climate Change Adaptation.