Promoting inclusive institutional culture through intergenerational collaboration in disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management

Disasters are becoming increasingly complex; disaster prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery must continue to transform to meet that complexity. Global guidelines stipulate using an “all-of-society” approach to disaster risk reduction (DRR) and disaster risk management (DRM) as a strategy to include those disproportionately negatively affected by disasters (e.g., youth). Youth participation in DRR and DRM is one way to apply this approach, but implementation of it can be challenging. As the COVID-19 pandemic and other disasters have shown, youth are volunteering and working before, during, and after disasters. In this study, we interviewed 12 youth between 12 and 24 years of age who have experience volunteering or working in local disasters in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to explore perceived barriers and facilitators to meaningful youth participation in DRR and DRM. We used reflexive thematic analysis to analyze the interviews and found that institutional and age-based discrimination are central barriers to effective youth participation. Intergenerational collaboration is integral to dismantling systemic social barriers, like ageism, to implement meaningful youth participation and promote inclusive institutional cultures across disciplines. Provided youth-specific supports such as strong communication, mentorship, training, advocacy, and recognition, intergenerational collaboration can create sustainable opportunities to integrate youth in DRR decision-making and DRM activities. These strategies support community resilience and adaptive capacity for future disasters, including pandemics.