Regional AdaptLA Workshop: Social Vulnerability and Community Strengths Training

April 21, 2015 | City of Los Angeles Emergency Operations Center, Emergency Management Department

USC Sea Grant and the City of Los Angeles Emergency Management Department hosted the Social Vulnerability & Community Strengths Training for Community Leaders Workshop on April 21, 2015.

The training, conducted by Dr. Susanne Moser and Dr. Julia Ekstrom, explored key dimensions of social vulnerability and how to use social vulnerability assessments in emergency management, climate preparedness, and adaptation planning.  Social vulnerability assessments identify patterns of who, e.g. which populations within a city or region, are susceptible to being harmed by hazards such as coastal flooding due to sea level rise.

“No hazard ever affects everyone in the same way,” said Moser. This statement emphasized a key theme of the workshop: social vulnerability assessments provide information that help communities justify and prioritize making decisions.

Another key theme addressed the benefits of conducting social vulnerability assessments in partnership with multiple stakeholders and city services. Examining community strengths and weaknesses can become an empowering and creative way to engage the public and build cohesion. During, and after an emergency, the social cohesion of a community is a critical factor in its resilience.

Participants took part in several training exercises, including one focused on ways to integrate insights from social vulnerability analyses in to hazard mitigation and disaster response.  More than 40 people representing municipal and county government including L.A., Long Beach, Santa Monica, Goleta as well as non-profit organizations, academic institutions and consultants attended the workshop.