Questions are the answer: A workshop on household and community preparedness in Romania

On the occasion of the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction (IDDRR), SubToculUsii organizes a workshop on Tuesday, 13 October, at Hotspot Workhub, dedicated to preparedness and disaster risk reduction.

Under the theme “Questions Are the Answer,” participants will explore how asking the right questions can help us develop realistic contingency plans before we find ourselves in the middle of a crisis. How can we prepare emergency supplies and an emergency backpack without considering the challenges we might face in the absence of the comfort and resources we are used to?

During the workshop, participants will review emergency preparedness recommendations and discussed the differences between an emergency and a disaster, as well as how people tend to react to stressors depending on their experiences and reference points.

The discussion will highlight the importance of practical preparedness conversations not only among family members, but also with friends, colleagues, and neighbours. These conversations can serve as valuable social repositories of knowledge, helping to strengthen community resilience. In the event of a disaster, the first responders are often the people already next to us.

Organized by SubToculUsii, a Romanian online platform offering emergency kits and preparedness products, the workshop will reflect the organization's broader commitment to awareness-raising, prevention, and disaster risk reduction initiatives in collaboration with partners from the public, private, and civil society sectors.

The workshop aims to raise awareness that preparing an emergency backpack is only one piece of a much larger preparedness puzzle. Real resilience also depends on accessible information, practical planning, community engagement, and long-term cooperation. Each piece brings households and communities closer to safety.

This approach aligns with the IDDRR theme “Resilience Starts at Home,” highlighting how practical, locally led preparedness initiatives can translate disaster risk reduction goals into everyday actions for families, schools, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and local communities.