We launched a pilot civil defense project on community resilience in Kohtla-Järve
By the end of spring next year, the NGO Crisis Research Centre in Kohtla-Järve will carry out the first community resilience civil defence project, where members and leaders of housing associations will be trained to cope with various urban crises. In addition, basic crisis supplies will be created for the settlement-based community and the city administration.
The initiative will lay the groundwork for the establishment and continued growth of a crisis-ready community in Kohtla-Järve. “This is the first civil defence project in the region, which will strengthen the community’s resilience in crises and also create the capacity for the community to support the city government in a crisis,” said Hannes Nagel, Head of the NGO Crisis Research Centre. “By the spring, the community representatives had successfully completed several crisis preparedness trainings, increasing their knowledge and readiness to deal with potential crisis circumstances. Furthermore, crisis stocks have been bought for the community, allowing at least 100 people to meet their basic needs until the stocks run out or to evacuate safely.”
“Kohtla-Järve, a large center of about 35 000 inhabitants in Ida-Viru County, has begun to address civil defence and crisis preparedness issues more seriously this year, but the level of preparedness remains concerning, especially given the results of the Estonian Rescue Board’s 2023 survey, which show a low level of crisis preparedness in Ida-Viru County, including among the majority non-Estonian speaking population, said Elina Šatova, an analyst at the NGO Crisis Research Centre. “Our recent study on Kohtla-Järve inhabitants preparedness revealed similar levels of unpreparedness. Similarly, more than 93% of housing associations in Kohtla-Järve are completely unprepared for a crisis. “Consequently, the preparedness of housing associations is very important, as the peculiar sparsely populated area is dominated by panel houses and its residents are considered by the Rescue Board to belong to more vulnerable groups, whether it comes to serious natural disasters or man-made crises,” she added.
The project’s goal is to empower communities in the Kohtla-Järve settlements by providing training and purchasing essential crisis supplies. The project team thanks the Kohtla-Järve city administration, Estonian Rescue Board and inhabitants of Kohtla-Järve for their assistance and feedback on developing the project.
Photo: aerial view on Kohtla-Järvele (Kohtla-Järve city administration/KIK, 2023).
🟧🟦 The project is financned by the Estonian Ministry of the Interior through the National Foundation for Civil Society.
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