Recovery consists of co-ordinated efforts and processes to effect the short-, medium-, and long-term holistic regeneration and enhancement of a community after an emergency and requires that agencies work together in establishing shared goals, priorities
Communities can be severely disrupted by emergencies, and recovering from the impacts of an emergency can be a complex process. Recovery generally seeks to minimise the consequences of an emergency, restore essential community services and functions, reduce future exposure to hazards and their risks, and regenerate and enhance community well-being.
Recovery starts as soon as possible during the response phase of an emergency, and continues well after an emergency has ceased. Recovery addresses community needs across the social, economic, natural, and built environments, in a holistic and co-ordinated manner.
Recovery objectives include:
- Minimising the escalation of the consequences of the emergency
- Regeneration and enhancement of
- - The social, psychological, economic, cultural, and physical wellbeing of individuals and communities
- - The economic, built, and natural environments that support that well-being
- - Taking practicable opportunities to adapt to meet the future needs of the community
- - Reducing future exposure to hazards and their associated risks
- - Supporting the resumption of essential community functions.
The aim of immediate recovery activity is to enable individuals to continue functioning as part of the wider community. A return to past normality may be impossible (for example, continued exposure to unacceptable levels of risk from hazards may necessitate the relocation of people and property at risk. Depending on the nature, scale, and complexity of the emergency, recovery may take a short time or many years, possibly decades.