NTU research shapes community resilience toolkit launched by HRH The Prince of Wales

Launched by HRH The Prince of Wales and broadcaster Ross Kemp, the Ready Together initiative has been developed by the National Emergencies Trust (NET).

It aims to strengthen community resilience by helping neighbourhoods, voluntary organisations, and local authorities build the relationships, skills and local capacity needed to withstand and recover from crises.

A team of researchers from NTU undertook an extensive evidence review that formed the foundation of the toolkit, ensuring its guidance is grounded in the latest academic research, policy evidence, lived experience and real-world practice.

Led by Professor Rowena Hill, Professor of Resilience, Emergencies and Disaster Science at NTU’s School of Social Sciences, and the Nottingham Civic Exchange, the research team reviewed evidence across four key areas: community action and organising, community and societal resilience, social identity and group behaviour, and examples of leading practice from the UK and around the world.

The work involved examining more than 19,500 sources of evidence, which were systematically reviewed and screened down to 97 key sources that informed the development of the Ready Together framework.

The resulting content was then tested and challenged by experts with experience of more than 155 emergencies, alongside practitioner and academic review groups.

The research identified nine core themes that underpin resilient communities: skills; working with other groups; events; communications; places; supporting people with extra needs; essential supplies; and money. These themes now form the structure of the Ready Together toolkit.

Professor Hill said: "Recent years have shown that the strength of local communities can make a huge difference to how people cope before, during and after a crisis.

"Our research brought together evidence from across multiple disciplines and real-world experiences to understand what helps communities become more resilient. We're proud that this work has helped shape a practical resource that communities across the UK can use to strengthen local connections, build preparedness and support one another when challenges arise.

"As a civic university, Nottingham Trent University is committed to using research to make a positive difference to society, and Ready Together is an excellent example of evidence being translated into real-world action."

NTU has a long-standing relationship with the National Emergencies Trust, and this project forms part of a wider collaboration to support the development, rollout and future evaluation of the Ready Together approach.

Further research will examine how the toolkit performs in practice and how it can continue to evolve to meet the needs of communities across the four nations of the UK.

The NTU team included Professor Mustafa Sarkar, Dr Blerina Kellezi, Rich Pickford, Rebecca Ciarla, Minodi Gamage, Abbi Exon, Huboor Sheikh, and Paul Netherton.

Find out more about Ready Together and explore the free toolkit at www.readytogether.co.uk.

Find out more about NTU's role in the toolkit on the Nottingham Civic Exchange website.

What does it mean to be prepared? Read an explainer by Professor Rowena Hill.