Central Alberta is one of two pilot sites for a comprehensive emergency management project designed to strengthen regional partnerships, build local capacity, and enhance community resilience.
Red Deer-based Emergency Management Logistics Canada has partnered with the Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services (EDS) to fund a 3-month pilot project designed to achieve the broad objectives of the United Nations Sendai Framework and Canada’s new Humanitarian Workforce, by adopting a collaborative approach to disaster risk reduction.
The project is called 3-2-1 CONNECT.
“There are already strong relationships between emergency management organizations here in the Central Alberta region to build on,” said EMLCanada co-founder Scott Cameron in a press release.
“This pilot project will use a community development approach to further engage local businesses and community organizations and position the area as a leader in the adoption of an innovative, new approach to emergency management logistics.”
According to a release, The Alberta Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) is monitoring the progress of this pilot project. “The success of this pilot project in Central Alberta could pave the way for other regions across Alberta and significantly improve the Province’s ability to tap into local resources to support larger-scale activations such as fires and floods that we have experienced in the past,” said Stephen Lacroix, Managing Director of AEMA.
Resources dedicated to this pilot project will be used to reduce business fees to create profiles on the EMLPlatform, and eliminate fees entirely for local community organizations. Scott Robinson, CEO of the Red Deer and District Chamber of Commerce added:
“The EMLCanada program is already grounded in a business model designed to keep participation fees low. This pilot project is positioned to make a huge difference for local businesses to be ready to support any future disasters with products and services immediately available and accessible.”
Cameron and Pauline Mousseau are co-founders of EML Canada, which is based out of Red Deer. The organization’s mission is to incorporate community development expertise with front-line emergency management experience, by using a directory-based platform to help build local capacity and enhance community resilience while addressing the broader federal and global goals in emergency and disaster management.