Haabersti is home to more than 52,000 people across twelve neighbourhoods. From a crisis preparedness perspective, this means a wide range of living environments, each with its own vulnerabilities. Within the same district, there are both vulnerabilities and valuable resources that may prove essential during a crisis. The question is whether we are aware of them before a crisis strikes.

Unfortunately, we cannot prevent every crisis, but we can reduce the likelihood of a difficult situation escalating into a disaster. Having emergency supplies or a single crisis plan is not enough. Genuine preparedness depends on whether contingency arrangements are in place, whether people know how to use them, whether key contacts have been established and whether different stakeholders are accustomed to working together. Effective crisis preparedness requires information, skills and support to be connected, alongside a willingness to think things through before a crisis occurs.

It is particularly important to consider what cooperation means at the local level. Take an apartment building, for example: crisis preparedness does not end at your own front door. If communications fail, the water supply is disrupted or residents need to evacuate the building at short notice, questions quickly arise that cannot be answered by individual emergency supplies alone. Such situations call for solutions at the level of the apartment owners’ association. It is essential to understand what responsibilities fall to the association and what individual apartment owners must manage themselves. Neither communities nor apartment owners’ associations can replace the state or emergency services. However, when a crisis begins, local residents are already on the ground and know their surroundings better than anyone else.