After the Storm: Working Through the Implications of Hurricane Katrina

Public Agenda.

The aftermath of Katrina raises questions about poverty, race, energy policy, the federal budget, in fact just about every corner of American society and the purpose of government itself. Public Agenda Issue Guides or ?“Citizen Choicework Guides?” contain background information on the topic and present three different approaches to the issue for people to deliberate.

Resource Link: http://www.publicagenda.org/specials/katrina/katrina.cfm

Citizen Corps: A Guide for Local Officials

Citizen Corps, 2002.

Citizen Corps is the component of USA Freedom Corps that creates opportunities for individuals to volunteer to help their communities prepare for and respond to emergencies by bringing together local leaders, citizen volunteers and the network of first responder organizations, such as fire departments, police departments and emergency medical personnel. The goal is to have all citizens participate in making their communities safer, stronger, and better prepared for preventing and handling threats of terrorism, crime, and disasters of all kinds.

Resource Link: http://www.citizencorps.gov/pdf/council.pdf

Coalescing Effective Community Disaster Response: Simulation and Virtual Communities of Practice

Ed Jewett.

This paper discusses the inclusive blend of simulations, models and games and other digital and/or online technologies with local/regional "virtual communities" and communities of practice as a potentially powerful and effective approach to comprehensive community emergency preparedness. It broadly scans a range of important theories, publications, software tools, commercial products and prototypes.

Global Facilitator Service Corps

Through our support of volunteer facilitators worldwide, GFSC helps communities build their capacity to work through their challenges and create sustainable solutions. GFSC is dedicated to helping communities, groups and institutions address their needs, help people learn how to resolve their differences, care for themselves, solve problems and create sustainable solutions. We mentor, coach and share tools and techniques with volunteer facilitators in local communities, encouraging and supporting the use of local resources to meet local needs.

Resource Link: http://globalfacilitators.org

Post-Tsunami Voice of the Community Leaders: The Report

Research Consultancy Bureau (for Sarvodaya), 2005.

The Post-Tsunami Community Voice was set up with funding from the World Bank to give voice to the views of the community on the Tsunami devastation and reconstruction and on economic, governance, and social accountability of the community. The report is a result of a study of post-Tsunami community through voices of formal and informal community leaders. The study discusses the impact of the 100/200 metre rule in the economic and social context.

Resource Link: http://www.sarvodaya.org/wp-content/Post-Tsunami%20Community%20Voice.pdf

Putting "Public" Back in Public Health Work

Doug Thompson and Don Greenstein. The Keystone Center, 2007.

Experts say chances of a deadly worldwide outbreak of pandemic flu are increasing. In order to involve the public in developing plans for how the government would react to such an outbreak, the CDC held four public meetings to hear public views about possible community control measures that could limit the outbreak. This report outlines and evaluates this award-winning project, which sought to put the "public" in public health by effectively allowing people to participate in policy development.

What Lies Beneath: Katrina, Race, and the State of the Nation

South End Press Collective (editors); Afterword by Joy James, 2007.

This 200-page fundraising book for progressive hurricane relief efforts offers readers a different and, distressingly, rare approach to understanding the storm: let the people who have survived, helped, and agitated for justice speak for themselves. Short and accessible, this collection assembles a powerful jury, exploring the complexity of what is at once business as usual and the site of what could be a fundamental turning point in US history.

Resource Link: http://www.southendpress.org/2006/items/87670