According to the EU, during the past five years, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have created 85% of new jobs and two-thirds of private sector employment in the region. SMEs are considered the backbone of the economy in Europe and represent more than 95% of enterprises in USA and Australia. They are considered more vulnerable to disasters because of their size. This paper argues, on the contrary, that SMEs also can be less vulnerable to sudden change than large corporations, drawing upon the ideas of Hayek and Taleb, and that networks of SMEs may contribute to the overall resilience of society if certain criteria are met. With this in mind, this paper will be examining how to create resilient SMEs. A well-known concept in the field is business continuity management. BCM is defined as "a holistic management process that identifies potential threats to an organization and the impacts to business operations those threats, if realized, might cause, and which provides a framework for building organizational resilience with the capability of an effective response that safeguards the interests of its key stakeholders, reputation, brand and valuecreating activities. Resilience, on the other hand, is a concept that has gained popularity in the past years and for which several definitions can be found. In 2009, the United Nations defines it as: "the ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards to resist, absorb, accommodate to and recover from the effects of a hazard in a timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration of its essential basic structures and functions." This paper will define resilience and business continuity management by retracing the origins of both concepts through time. It will then compare them by highlighting their similarities and differences. Finally, it will provide recommendations on how SMEs can become more resilient.
The number of people living in urban areas worldwide is constantly rising. This puts significant pressure on resources in general-leading to an urgent need for the radical improvement of local infrastructure, especially housing, food, water and waste. Managing urban areas is therefore one of the most important development challenges of the twenty-first century. The built environment is a key element in urban living. Significant investments in infrastructure and further development must be made to accommodate the increasing number of people moving to cities, thereby increasing the pressure on available resources and waste generated. Cities also face a huge energetic refurbishment task. These transformations of cities at the same time offer new opportunities: energetic refurbishment could bring multiple benefits to the citizens, and smart material loops can make the circular economy a reality. The design of and the material used for buildings also have a bearing on other important aspects of sustainability and urban life. They affect factors such as health, thermal comfort, acoustic performance and fire resilience. By taking a holistic approach, buildings have the potential to be a part of the solution of today's and tomorrow's challenges through the creation of sustainable cities. Cities have the power to act and make changes happen within their boundaries.
It is the first time in history that more people are living in cities than in rural areas. As urban space has become the central aspect of modern societies creating new types of vulnerabilities, resilience has emerged as a key priority for urban planners as well as civil protection officers aiming to build smart and more disaster resilient cities. There is a large set of urban planning practices, such as hazard mapping and building permits, aiming at increasing urban disaster resilience. However, there is still a lack of endeavour to research how these urban planning processes are being incorporated into national civil protection systems. Therefore, this paper aims to bridge the gap and analyses the relationship between urban planning and civil protection in conceptualizing resilient space planning processes. In this paper, using a case study approach, we examine if and how, the Danish Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) integrates urban planning and civil protection in Denmark in order to build more resilient cities. To do this, we draw upon the knowledge of those working within the urban planning and civil protection systems to identify the opportunities and obstacles for the existence of their cooperation. Copenhagen, ranked the world's most climate resilient city, was selected for the urban planning case analysis, as well as Vejle, being part of the "100 Resilient Cities" network. The results indicate that although both DEMA and urban planners aim to build disaster resilient cities and wish to contribute to creating a more resilient society, the dialogue between the two bodies is almost non-existent with regards to resilient urban space planning processes.
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