STRENGTHENING MUTUAL SUPPORT IN TIMES OF CRISIS THANKS TO MENTAL HEALTH AND PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT
From prevention to care, from the individual to collective dynamics, theory and feedback.
📅 20 March 2025, from 10:30 to 12:00, UTC+1 (in French)
Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) activities play a key role in strengthening mutual aid and collective resilience in times of crisis. This webinar proposes to explore, through a socio-ecological approach, the interventions deployed at different levels: individual, relational and community, structural and global. Theoretical discussions enriched by feedback and interactive exchanges will provide a better understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with the integration of MHPSS activities in crisis contexts.
- Guillaume Pégon, PhD – Head of the Mental Health and Psychosocial Support sector, Action contre la Faim.
- Laetitia de Schoutheete, clinical psychologist, EMDR practitioner – trainer at Cercle de Compétences.
- Alix Passard, clinical psychologist, Medical-Psychological Emergency Unit (CUMP) of the Pays de la Loire region, Nantes University Hospital.
In partnership with Action contre la faim.
THE MECHANISMS OF MUTUAL AID ESTABLISHED IN VALENCIA FOLLOWING THE FLOODS OF 2024
📅 01 April 2025, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m., UTC+1 (in Spanish and French)
The floods that occurred in Valencia in October 2024 and their serious impact on a country that, in the collective imagination, should be better prepared to prevent, reduce or respond to them, have given rise to numerous debates in the Spanish media space. One of the most striking features has been the broad citizen mobilisation that has emerged, with notable participation from young people.
This webinar offers a space for analysing the factors that led to this citizen mobilisation, its modalities and its interactions with professional disaster response structures. Good practices and opportunities for improvement will be discussed in order to support this type of citizen mobilisation in the event of a disaster.
- Camille Nussbaum, Executive Coordinator of IECAH (Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action)
- Speakers to be confirmed
In partnership with IECAH (Instituto de Estudios sobre Conflictos y Acción Humanitaria).
MUTUAL AID IN SUDAN IN TIME OF WAR: LOCAL, DIASPORA AND INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES
A comparative look at analyses and experiences of support for initiatives
📅 24 April 2025, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., UTC+1 (in French and English)
The war that broke out in Sudan in April 2023 has now completely disappeared from the media radar. However, local mutual aid networks have mobilised quickly to deal with emergencies. They are on the ground (Emergency Rooms, community kitchens, etc.), or abroad via the diaspora, which is getting involved as much as possible to provide information and assistance.
At the same time, in a context of very complicated access, international humanitarian actors are also working to find ways to support the population victim of this civil war. This webinar, which aims to bring together witnesses from these networks and to question the link between local initiatives and international aid, will help us to understand the complexity of the humanitarian emergency in Sudan.
- Marie Bassi, Coordinator of CEDEJ Khartoum, Lecturer in Political Science at the Université Côte d’Azur in Nice (ERMES), Fellow of the Institut Convergences Migrations.
- Alice Franck, Lecturer in Geography (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne/UMR PRODIG)
- Ivan Deret, Humanitarian Executive
- Hind El Taher, Founder of the association 1 euro pour le Soudan
- Sarah Elhassan, Sudanese American writer and editor
In partnership with CEDEJ Khartoum and UMR PRODIG.
PUBLIC POLICIES FOR CITIZEN INVOLVEMENT IN CRISIS PREPAREDNESS AND MANAGEMENT
Comparative analysis of three models in Norway, Switzerland and France.
📅 May 2025, date and times to be confirmed (in French)
While mutual aid is an observable reality everywhere in times of disaster, the public policies that clearly support, or less so, citizen participation during crises prove to be very different from one context to another.
Using European examples (Norway, Switzerland and France), this webinar will illustrate these differences by shedding light on territorial organisations, legislative or regulatory frameworks, or citizen participation in crisis preparedness and management strategies.
Academic speakers from the Civil Protection or the Red Cross will share their analyses, practices and strategies.
- Matthieu Branlat, Senior Scientist, SINTEF
- Norbert Cariou, Director of Prevention, Risk Management and Territorial Resilience, City of Grenoble
- Jacqueline Floch, Dr. ing. – Senior scientist, SINTEF
- Nicola Squillaci, Commander of the 3rd military district and head of the Geneva civil protection corps
In partnership with SINTEF.
JAPAN: FROM RISK CULTURE TO THE ‘HERITAGE’ OF FUKUSHIMA
Natural disasters versus industrial disasters, between citizenship and politics.
📅 5 June 2025, from 3:00 to 4:30 p.m., UTC+1 (in French)
An earthquake zone, Japan has an organisation, active throughout the country, which involves volunteers in social actions in non-crisis situations. The latter goes into emergency mode in crisis situations. This flexibility is also the result of learning and evolution of society through disasters. However, the Fukushima crisis presented challenges of a different order. It activated other realities, defying trust in the authorities and between citizens, as well as civic engagement in the short, medium and long term. This webinar will be an opportunity to retrace the key elements that have led to the evolution of rescue practices with very large-scale mutual aid movements, the developments and consequences linked to the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
- Reiko Hasegawa, Research Fellow, Crisis-Lab/CSO, Sciences Po
- Maxime Polleri, Assistant Professor, Department of Anthropology (Laval University), Member of the Graduate Institute of International Studies, Affiliate of the Center for International Security and Cooperation (Stanford University) and Member of the Mitate Lab.
In partnership with CrisisLab, Sciences Po.
GENDER AND MUTUAL AID: THE GENDER ISSUE IN CRISIS SITUATIONS
📅 19 June 2025, from 1.30 to 3.00 pm, UTC+1 (in French)
The issue of gender cuts across crises, highlighting specific vulnerabilities that are particularly acute during these periods. At the same time, the spontaneous roles and contributions of women’s mutual aid are most often invisible during these phases. Through examples of contexts or practices (e.g. Roya Valley, Bangladesh, care, etc.), this webinar will be an opportunity to describe the extent to which the crisis and mutual aid practices contribute to reproducing these dynamics or, on the contrary, to discuss models that significantly reduce these tendencies.
- Anouk Migeon, PhD student in gender geography and architecture, UR 7338 PLEIADE – Sorbonne Paris Nord University.
- Corinne Luxembourg, Professor of Geography and Planning, Director of UR 7338 – PLEIADE – Sorbonne Paris Nord University.
- Nasser Rebaï, Lecturer in Geography, UR 7338 PLEIADE – Université Sorbonne Paris Nord.
In partnership with la Pléiade and la Sorbonne.
