What role can citizens play in disaster management? During disasters, citizens react in various ways. Some will try to flee the situation immediately while others will wait for help or indications from the authorities. In many cases, there are also citizens that spontaneously try to help others. They can form a valuable resource in disaster management. However, they can also aggravate the situation. In ENGAGE we have been looking at case studies in which different citizen actions were analysed and evaluated on various levels. Sometimes citizen actions were the key to mitigating a situation and sometimes they were actually hindering the work of first responders. This makes the topic of citizen involvement during disaster risk management a controversial one. The question is, can citizens help or are they putting themselves in danger, which consequently increases the pressure on first responders? When is it good to help and what kind of help is needed? How can citizens be a resource in disaster situations, helping first responders resolve the imminent danger quicker? Read more