Building community resilience through engagement
by Sharon Higa | July 26, 2021
Hawaiian Electric’s Community Affairs team plays a critical role in bridging the gap between company interests and community concerns; bringing together different voices to the table so that all are listened to and heard. When it comes to building community resilience, this team is on the frontline working together with community members, leaders and groups to address issues of concern, provide support and even resources, if needed. It often requires balancing numerous priorities and demands, but our team is committed to doing the right thing because we’re all in this together.
“No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” Although I read this phrase by John Donne some time ago, it is still relevant to me today as a reminder that as a society we all need each other.
In 2017, when Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico packing sustained winds of 155 miles per hour, the aftermath of the nearly Category 5 hurricane was a stark reminder of Hawaii’s own vulnerability as an island state, separate from the U.S. mainland. For Hawaiian Electric, Maria’s devastation underscored the importance of building more resilient island grids — and more resilient communities.
We redoubled outreach efforts to educate individuals and communities across our service territories about emergency preparedness. You may have seen our booths at city or county-sponsored disaster preparedness fairs in your neighborhood; viewed our tv, online or print ads reminding the community to be prepared and sharing electrical safety tips; or downloaded a copy of our free Handbook for Emergency Preparedness, available in five languages, from hawaiianelectric.com/prepare.
One of the efforts undertaken in 2018 was to convene a day-long, interactive forum with emergency response agencies, critical infrastructure owners, community and government leaders sharing their roles, responsibilities and priorities before, during and after a disaster. While it was unusual for a utility to take the lead on such a topic, Hawaiian Electric’s executive leadership understood building community resilience is critical, especially in light of the physical, social, and economic challenges that have become our 21st century reality.
“The idea of the forum was to raise awareness of regional vulnerabilities, priorities and expectations, and close the gap between community preparedness and the disaster response by government and critical infrastructure owners — such as utilities, transportation, water, sewer, and so on,” said Kurt Tsue, Hawaiian Electric community affairs director. “To build resilience, work has to be done in parallel by community members, critical infrastructure owners and government agencies, with attention paid not only to the biggest initiatives but to the actions individuals can take.”
While the forum addressed a specific area of Oahu, the format of the panel discussions, breakout groups and deep dives into risks and opportunities were based upon a proven community resilience building process developed by The Nature Conservancy and NOAA’s (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Office of Coastal Management, one that can be replicated across communities.
Over the last decade, the process been tried, tested and trusted by more than 100 communities (and counting) that are now on the right path to resilience. The core directive of the process is to foster collaboration with and among stakeholders using a carefully crafted, facilitated approach centered on the use of a risk matrix. The matrix covers infrastructural, societal and environmental vulnerabilities and strengths, and captures and organizes community dialogue literally on one page.
Following the forum, Hawaiian Electric convened additional workshops so that community participants could identify and prioritize action items, which included ranking the highest priorities critical to building resilience. Each session was moderated by independent and experienced third-party facilitators with technical documentation by an environmental planner from a local engineering firm. A full report and executive summary were provided to participants in 2020.
“Thank you for doing this,” said Marie Samudio of the area Community Emergency Response Team. “It was a great beginning for our community.” Jim Howe, then director of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department, added, “The information from these meetings are helping to inform our agency and others with the City & County of Honolulu how best to coordinate agency response and ensure community safety.”
“Today, our community engagement efforts in the area continue through an Energy Working Group which serves as a connector between community and agencies for the development and implementation of related resilience actions,” said Kurt. “While the focus at the time was centered around preparedness for a major hurricane, many of the action items that were highlighted as important to the community are relevant to current pandemic recovery efforts, such as addressing food distribution, agriculture/food production, neighborhood cooperation and vulnerable populations. This helps to inform us about the support and resources that communities across our service territories may well need, too.”
Community engagement is not a one and done effort. For our company, it takes early and meaningful engagement and communications and is done at numerous stages for projects and initiatives that impact our communities throughout the islands we serve. When you see our Community Affairs team, speakers bureau members and executives in person or virtually at neighborhood board meetings, community leadership gatherings, or even energy conferences, it’s a touchpoint to staying engaged with you. Because only together can we foster our shared goals of strengthening communities to build a stronger Hawaii.
Sharon Higa is a senior communications consultant at Hawaiian Electric Company.
