In times when war, natural disasters, infrastructure failures, and social crises are no longer distant scenarios, resilience to threats is becoming one of the fundamental competencies of modern society. Laws, procedures, and services alone are no longer enough – we also need informed citizens, local communities, and practical preparation that will allow us to act calmly, responsibly, and effectively when everyday order suddenly collapses.
How to Be Prepared for Difficult Times?
Do you know the old Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times”? These are the times we live in. Pandemics, earthquakes, floods, widespread fires, and finally, wars and terrorist attacks have become part of our lives. Long-term power outages, contaminated water in the water supply, heating outages, and droughts are affecting more and more human settlements.
Attacks on critical infrastructure are becoming increasingly frequent, and globalization makes national economies more vulnerable to supply chain disruptions than ever before. Over the past few years, we’ve become increasingly aware that threats, disasters, and sudden emergencies are an integral part of our everyday lives, causing fear and uncertainty. And while these events may not directly affect us today, we still have reason to be concerned.
On the other hand, we realize that we have no control over the occurrence of natural disasters or the instability of modern times.
However, by being aware of the reality around us, we can be responsible, proactive, and prepared, and thus, by building our resilience to threats, we can cope quite well in the face of any emergency.
How to start?
It’s best to start now, at least by reading a few valuable books dedicated to individual preparedness for threats, by familiarizing yourself with the content available on the websites of government agencies dealing with emergencies (e.g., FEMA), or by visiting the information and educational portals of non-governmental organizations (e.g., the multilingual portal www.gotowi.org ), or by searching for valuable educational content on YouTube.
At any time, it’s worth participating in special training sessions with your company, organization, or local community, during which instructors provide specific tools and proven ways to cope with difficult situations. This helps participants build a sense of security, self-confidence, empowerment, and effectiveness in the face of threats. They discover that the fear and panic that accompany any threat can be transformed into concrete, immediate action.
Social resilience grows when every member of the local community has home supplies, knows alarm signals and how to react, can provide first aid to an injured person, can operate emergency power or communication devices, knows the basics of self-defense, can read maps, and equally, manage stress. When, as a local community, we know each other and recognize our needs and capabilities.
Building resilience to threats is neither difficult nor expensive. You just need to start doing it. Let’s encourage each other, create a culture of safety and a lifestyle of social resilience. Let’s start with ourselves and our families. These are the first circles of safety.
3 Circles of Building Resilience to Threats
True resilience to threats has three circles: it encompasses ourselves, our loved ones, and our surroundings. Our personal safety will be greater if there are many well-prepared and trained people in our immediate surroundings, and if the local community knows each other – its members are able to cooperate and willing to help each other.
The most important thing in all circumstances is personal safety and our own resilience. Whether witnessing an accident or at home, when the heating or drinking water is out – we must first take care of our own safety, and when it is safe, we can help others.
Once personal safety is assured, it’s time to take care of our loved ones, meaning family, paying attention to those with special needs, the elderly, children, and pets.
The final circle of safety is our surroundings: co-workers, friends, neighbors, and members of the local community. Our personal safety will be greater the more people in our surroundings are prepared and trained. The better the local community knows each other, the more willing they will be to cooperate and help each other. Then, no one will be lurking, for example, for drinking water or a neighbor’s household supplies. On the contrary, they will support those in need and provide necessary assistance.
Social resilience to threats
Building social resilience to threats, i.e., the third circle of security is a complex process. We need a new way of thinking about resilience and crisis preparedness, so that everyone knows what to do in every emergency, regardless of its nature.
Preparedness must be woven into the fabric of our local communities – everyone has a role to play. Society needs the right tools to act both to prevent threats and to respond quickly when they occur.
We need local leaders, local resilience points operating today, for example, as community centers, village halls, or senior clubs. We need efficient and prepared offices and strong local communities. Thanks to good, local cooperation: NGOs, businesses, administration, academia, and civil society, small local communities gain resilience to threats through preparation, training, and empowerment in the face of any disaster.
Societal resilience is based on people who can act together, trust each other, and understand their role in times of danger. The security of any country is determined not only by the efficiency of institutions and governments, but also by the willingness of local communities to cooperate.
That’s why we invite everyone to get involved in local activities today, to get to know each other during routine activities, to discover each other’s talents and competencies. But also, to participate together in resilience exercises and training, especially first aid training. You never know when what skills will be needed. Remember! Lone wolves die.
Unique grassroots initiatives
Since its inception in 2019, the Gotowi.org Foundation has been formed by passionate individuals who believe that a resilient society is the third pillar of every country’s security.
Gotowi.org has been operating the information and educational portal www.gotowi.org (in many languages) for seven years and also educates the public, influencing the environment, local government, businesses, youth, adults, and seniors. To date, over 16,000 people have been trained. Gotowi.org is presents in public spaces and in the media, carrying their mission of building resilience to threats.
In many countries around the world, similar grassroots initiatives, created by local communities and NGOs, aim to reduce the risk of threats and mitigate the effects of disasters.
Grassroots initiatives often set the course for social change because they combine knowledge, passion, and commitment with concrete action. Where the state and the system are just building their capacity, NGOs become the first school of resilience, cooperation, and responsibility.
But only by working together: science, NGOs, administration, business, and civil society, do we have a chance to achieve social change and build strong local communities.
About the Author
Agnieszka Zofia Kordalewska – President of the Board C founder in Gotowi.org Foundation. An economist with over 40 years of experience in corporate security (particularly tax, financial, and business continuity security), she has held management positions in companies across a variety of sectors, including auditing. Since 2014, she has been exploring the art of survival. In 2019, she founded the Gotowi.org Foundation, and in 2020, she launched the www.Gotowi.org portal and began publishing the “Safety Primer” brochure. She is the author of the educational program “10 Steps to Building Resilience to Threats.” She was a pioneer in education in Poland on how to prepare people for crisis situations. She is also a co-creator of the Emergency Backpack 17 (nominated for the Teraz Polska emblem) and the Handy Emergency Kit. Since 2019, she has been the only volunteer from Poland to work within the UNDRR. She collaborates with public administration in developing solutions in the area of civil defense and protection, participates in the work of program councils and expert events (i.e. since 2024 she has been a social assistant to the Vice-Chairman of the Sejm National Defense Committee in Poland). She also collaborates with media outlets such as Polish Radio and Polish TV. She is a member of the Stakeholders’ Council of the Faculty of Journalism and Political Science at the University of Warsaw. She is present in public space, carrying out the mission of building social resilience to threats.
