The tentative schedule for the COSMIC Involving Citizens in Emergency Preparedness and Response Workshop, to be held in Istanbul is now ready. 

Involving Citizens in Emergency Preparedness and Response
International Workshop
Location: Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, Istanbul
Date: September 4, 2014; Thursday

For further information about the Workshop, please visit the workshop webpage at MiXLab. 

COSMIC (Contribution of Social Media in Crisis Management) project partners MixLab at Koç University and Hellenic Rescue Team has drafted a report on Citizens' Involvement in Emergency Communications. The report seeks to examine the various roles that citizens may have in communications during emergencies. Also, the report maps the relationship between the use of different types of media and communication technologies—including mass media, as well as new media technologies—and citizens’ involvement in emergency communications as,

1. potential or actual volunteers (first responders) who may aid emergency response and rescue;
2. as social activists who may utilise online networks to organise, coordinate, collaborate or mobilise during political crises; and
3. as citizens who report on emergencies and political crises.

With respect to the role that citizens may play as first responders, the report focuses on how various communication media are utilised by response organisations and government agencies to identify, recruit, network with and train citizens.  In order to accomplish this goal, the partners engaged in an in-depth analysis of citizen awareness programs and volunteer recruitment and training processes in four different countries:  Turkey, Italy, United Kingdom, and Greece.

The report also discusses social activism as a form of citizen involvement in crises (predominantly political crises). Particularly, the section on social activism discusses  how social activist formations use media to recruit members and/or form networks, communicate ideas, and coordinate action.

Finally, regarding the role that citizens can play as reporters/journalists during emergencies and crises, discuss  issues related to news selection processes, types of coverage (commentary vs. news), types of sources used by citizen journalists and citizen journalists’ perceptions regarding issues like reliability of information. In order to do so, the report summarises findings from  a content analysis of the articles published by citizens who reported about four emergencies/crises and online interviews conducted with a sample of citizens whose reports were content analysed.

Click here for a copy of the report

The purpose of this deliverable is to examine a series of European and international case studies in order to explore the ways in which new communication technologies and social media are being used in crisis situations today. Partners conducted an examination of eight different case studies, during which they described the nature of the case study, provided an understanding of how new and more conventional technologies as well as social media were used and discussed the lessons learned from the use (or lack of) of those technologies.

The report is currently under the review of the European Commission and the final version will be made available after the evaluation.

The draft report is available here: http://www.cosmic-project.eu/node/24

Involving Citizens in Emergency Preparedness and Response

International Conference
Location: Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, Istanbul
Date: September 4, 2014; Thursday

New communication technologies play an increasingly important role during emergencies and crises, such as natural and man made disasters and political crises. Particularly social media can potentially enable citizens to more quickly share information, assist response and recovery in emergencies, and mobilize for action in political crises.

This conference will examine the role of citizens as first responders, social activists, and citizen journalists at times of emergencies and crises and will focus on practical, theoretical, and ethical issues related to citizen participation in emergency/crisis response/communication. The conference will result in a set of guidelines for citizens, government authorities, first responders and industry for the most effective use of ICTs to aid citizen security during crises.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• The role that conventional media and social media may play in recruitment and training of emergency response volunteers
• Community involvement in emergency response planning
• Social activism, mobilization, and social media
• Citizen journalism and social media (e.g., reporting processes, threats to citizen journalists involved in coverage of emergencies, information verification)

Selected papers from the conference will be published in the Interactions: Studies in Communication & Culture journal (published by Intellect Books).

Submission Information:

• Full Papers: Submit a 500 word maximum proposal and a short author biography to Mr. Mert Bal [email protected]
• PechaKucha Poster Papers: Submit a 250 word maximum proposal and a short author biography to Mr. Mert Bal [email protected]

 Key Dates:

• Deadline for Submissions: February 14, 2014
• Announcement of Decisions Regarding the Submissions: March 15, 2014
• Announcement of the Workshop Programme: May 15, 2014
• Registration (free): May 15, 2014 – July 15, 2014
• Submission of Full Paper (format to be announced later): August 15, 2014