Working Session: Governance and stakeholder engagement for resilient infrastructure services

Sound governance of infrastructure over its life cycle, along with fostering the active engagement, involvement and participation of end-users are important mechanisms to limit the severity of loss or damage during a disaster. They are also critical to harness the knowledge and experience of all stakeholders, including the community themselves.

This working session emphasises the importance of adopting a systems-based approach to developing and implementing the regulations and policies required to maintain shock-proof, resilient infrastructure. Such laws and policies should address all hazards and threats, ensure co-ordination across multiple sectors (public and private), cover the entire infrastructure life cycle and ideally foster transboundary co-operation. Focussing on the promotion of a ‘Think Resilience’ approach for regulation and policy development, it will provide examples of national and local practices that effectively integrate resilience into infrastructure governance and planning cycles.