Alliance Manchester Business School - AMBS

National Consortium for Societal Resilience [UK+]

Working to build resilience in local communities and throughout society.

The National Consortium for Societal Resilience [UK+] (NCSR+) was established 'to enhance the UK[+] whole-of-society approach to resilience, so that individuals, groups, organisations, and networks can all play a meaningful part in building the resilience of our society'.

The consortium is co-chaired by Alliance Manchester Business School, Suffolk Resilience Forum and Sussex Resilience Forum. Membership of the consortium includes almost all local authorities in the UK, along with key resilience partners.

About the NCSR+

Who we are

The NCSR+ involves 63 organisations that are central to building resilience in the UK[+]. These organisations represent both resilience partnerships, sector partners and communities across the UK.

Resilience partnerships

These are the multi-agency collaborations that address local risk, vulnerability, and preparedness for disruptive events. Resilience partnerships in the NCSR+ include:

  • 37 of England's 38 Local Resilience Forums
  • 3 of Northern Ireland's 3 Emergency Preparedness Groups
  • 3 of Scotland's 3 Regional Resilience Partnerships
  • 3 of Wales' 4 Local Resilience Forums

Governments from the Crown Dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man, which, along with others, contribute as the '+' in NCSR+.

Sector partners

These are the organisations that have strong local connections and can amplify the voice of their constituencies. Sector partners in the NCSR+ include:

  • Business sector - including larger organisations (BiTC), small businesses (Federation of Small Businesses)
  • Voluntary sector - including collections of national charities (VCSEP), large charities (British Red Cross), hyper-local voluntary organisations (NAVCA, Salford CVS, Cumbria CVS)
  • Government sector - including Environment Agency, whole-system national perspectives (Northern Ireland Executive, Scottish Government, Welsh Government), local government capabilities that are not normally in the space of resilience to disruptive events (Local Government Association)
  • Academic sector - to support evidence-led practice through The University of Manchester providing theory, research skills, and thought leadership to underpin local action.

Community

These are individuals, neighbourhoods, businesses, and organisations that share a characteristic such as being co-located.

The voice of local communities is initially represented through the relationships that resilience partnerships and sector partners have with their communities, but this will deepen as the consortium matures.

How we work

The NCSR+ members work with local communities to:

  • Reduce risks at the source
  • Understand changes in vulnerabilities
  • Enhance levels of preparedness for emergencies.

Planning for these activities needs strong collaboration because disruptive events affect people differently and cross local boundaries. Relationships are key.

We collaborate with local communities of all shapes, sizes, and cohesiveness with the view that every individual, community group, business, and organisation can benefit from becoming more resilient.

Our definition of society and resilience

Society is a broad spectrum, and one single definition of societal resilience will not satisfy all actors. This is because different parties will want to accentuate the aspects that they prioritise and attenuate those that sit elsewhere.

For local resilience partnerships and sector partners who represent a wide landscape, the NCSR+ defines societal resilience as: 'Capability created by local systems that helps people and places to adapt and advance in a changing environment'.

Why we chose our definition

Our definition is intended to be flexible - it can be altered for different audiences by changing the type of language in the definition and the concepts to align to the context.

For example, local community groups may not connect with the NCSR+ definition because it does not speak in their language to their priorities.

Community-focused

Reflecting on this, The University of Manchester created an intuitive, community-focused definition of societal resilience which can be used when communicating with community groups.

This definition of societal resilience is: 'capabilities created before, during, and after a disruption that involves everyone who wishes to support those who are in need'. This community-focused definition amplifies those aspects that community groups may have an interest in. It doesn't seek to cover the widest landscape in the way that the NCSR+ definition does to our partners.

There is a lot of substance behind the words used in these definitions - too much detail to add to the definitions themselves. We define each of the terms in bold on pages 2-3 of an article in The Manchester Briefing (PDF)

Policy and research

Local government and voluntary organisations have long been discussing how to renew their efforts on community resilience. This includes how to build a cohesive, risk-aware, and prepared society that works with partners to enhance local resilience.

This ambition was written into the UK Government Resilience Framework which outlined new intentions on whole-of-society resilience.

To operationalise these national intentions into local systems, the NCSR+ will actively listen to governments to understand their direction on societal resilience. This requires research to understand how to operationalise policy, beginning with the components and enablers of good practice. It also includes:

  • Building new partnerships
  • Listening to communities
  • Co-producing resilience
  • Facilitating grassroots activity
  • Enhancing skills in resilience partnerships and sector partners.
Co-chairs and Advisor Board of the NCSR+

Duncan Shaw

Professor Duncan Shaw - Professor of Operational Research and Critical Systems

Duncan is Professor in Operational Research and Critical Systems (Alliance Manchester Business School) at the University of Manchester. He works in the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute focusing on developing frameworks to support decision making in emergency planning, response and recovery. He has a particular interest in developing good governance around involving volunteers and community groups in the response to emergencies and in supporting community recovery to major disruptive events.

Duncan sits on numerous research, policy, planning and evaluation committees for the European Union, United Nations, international NGOs and networks, and governments across the world. He chairs a committee on Community Resilience for the International Standards Organization and wrote disaster-related international standards on spontaneous volunteers (ISO22319), conducting peer reviews (ISO22392), mass evacuation (ISO22315), and vulnerable people (ISO22395).

On COVID-19, he contributes to several local and national committees on response and recovery, working in the UK and with governments in many countries as they address the consequences of the virus. He is currently writing the international standard on recovery and renewal from pandemics (ISO22393).

Becky Heginbotham-Blount

Becky Heginbotham-Blount - Suffolk LRF

Becky works with the Suffolk Resilience Forum as the Partnership Manager coordinating governance, partnership work and managing the secretariat team reporting to the SRF Chair. Becky started her career in the public sector in 2005 working for Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service in the emergency control room, specialising in National Resilience and emergency plans, finishing as Watch Manager Control in 2016.

She moved across to Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies working as an Emergency Planning Officer specialising in offshore responses working with UK Police Energy Offshore Group, as well as other emergency planning work streams and military liaison.

Becky started the role as SRF Partnership Manger in 2020, just before EU Transition during Covid-19, restarting the business-as-usual work streams, driving the partnership forward working with the LRF Fund increasing capability and capacity. She has an interest in learning from Lessons Identified (LI's) during incidents and exercises, societal resilience, and sharing best practice nationally and globally.

Chris Scott

Chris Scott - Assistant Manager for West Sussex County Councils' Resilience and Emergencies Team

Chris is the Assistant Manager for West Sussex County Councils' Resilience and Emergencies Team. He also Co-Chairs the Sussex Resilience Forums' Sussex Community Resilience Partnership, which is the working group linking Cat 1 Responders with the Voluntary Sector. Chris also sits on the Response and Delivery Groups for the Sussex Resilience Forum.

After college he joined Cleveland Constabulary as a police officer. After a couple of years, he specialised in Command and Control and in Major Incident communications. He later joined West Sussex Fire and Rescue in their Command & Mobilising Centre and was a Mobilising Officer before his transfer to the Resilience and Emergencies Team in 2015.

Advisor Board

  • Becky Heginbotham-Blount (Suffolk LRF)
  • Chris Scott (West Sussex Council)
  • Carney Bonner (Great Western Railway)
  • Joan McCaffrey (NI Local Government Civil Contingencies)
  • Sarah Whatley (South Yorkshire LRF)
  • Duncan Shaw (The University of Manchester).

NCSR+ partners

Members of the NCSR+ represent more than 97% of the UK population through the local governments that serve them and their sector partners.

Sector partners
  • Navca
  • Salford CVS
  • Cumbria CVS
  • The University of Manchester
  • Business in the Community
  • British Red Cross
  • VCS Emergencies Partnership
  • Environment Agency
  • Local Government Association
  • The Federation of Small Businesses.
England’s resilience partnerships
  • Cumbria
  • Greater Manchester
  • Lancashire
  • Merseyside
  • Humber
  • North Yorkshire
  • South Yorkshire
  • West Yorkshire
  • Cleveland
  • Durham and Darlington
  • Northumbria
  • Staffordshire
  • Warwickshire
  • West Mercia
  • West Midlands
  • Derby and Derbyshire
  • Leicestershire
  • Lincolnshire
  • Northamptonshire
  • Nottingham and Nottinghamshire
  • Bedfordshire and Luton
  • Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
  • Essex
  • Norfolk
  • Suffolk
  • Avon and Somerset
  • Dorset
  • Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
  • Gloucestershire
  • Wiltshire and Swindon
  • Hampshire and Isle of Wight
  • Kent
  • Surrey
  • Sussex
  • Thames Valley
  • London
  • Cheshire Resilience Forum.
Northern Ireland’s resilience partnerships
  • Belfast Emergency Preparedness Group
  • Northern Emergency Preparedness Group
  • Southern Emergency Preparedness Group
  • Northern Ireland Executive.
Scotland's resilience partnerships
  • West of Scotland RRP
  • North of Scotland RRP
  • Scottish Government
  • East of Scotland RRP.
Wales' resilience partnerships
  • Dyfed-Powys LRF
  • Gwent LRF
  • Welsh Government
  • North Wales LRF.
Governments of Crown Dependencies
  • Guernsey
  • Jersey
  • Isle of Man Government.

Events and podcast

National conference on societal resilience

Every year, we organise a national conference to bring together partners from policy and practice across the UK to share insights and collaborate.

Our third National Conference on Societal Resilience will take place over two days on 10 and 11 March 2025 at the Whitworth Hall, The University of Manchester.

Book your place at the National Conference on Societal Resilience 2025.

Societal resilience webinars

Our team run a series of webinars held jointly with the Resilience Beyond Observed Capabilities Network+ (RBOC+) project. The webinars are designed for resilience practitioners, resilience partnerships and partner organisations to share insights and lessons on developing societal resilience that others may find useful.

Watch the societal resilience webinar series.

Leading societal resilience podcast

The NCSR+ podcast features conversations with influencers and leaders shaping societal resilience to disruption in the UK and internationally. Guests share their thinking on societal resilience and what drives them.

In our first podcast we're joined by Alex Wood-Davis from Cambridgeshire Local Resilience Forum. Alex talks about what led her into local resilience and her observations on what works and how to support communities.

Listen to the podcast below.

Our impact

Interactive NCSR+ Impact Cases map

The influence of the NCSR+ on how resilience partnerships and partners think about and implement the building of a resilient society across the UK+, can be explored via the impact cases indicated on the map we've created.

View the interactive NCSR+ Impact Cases map (Google Maps).

A graphic of a map of the UK with pins on various locations to show areas that the NCSR+ has had an impact

Lessons for recovery and renewal from COVID-19

We previously published a fortnightly document called 'The Manchester Briefing on COVID-19'. The document acted as a database aimed at those who were planning for and implementing recovery and renewal from COVID-19, including government emergency planners and resilience officers.

In the database, we brought together international lessons and examples which prompted thinking on recovery and renewal, as well as other information from a range of sources. Many of these lessons are still relevant, including for developing preparedness for future pandemics.

The Manchester Briefing on COVID-19: Database of international lessons for Recovery and Renewal.

Publications about societal resilience

National Briefing on Societal Resilience

The National Briefing on Societal Resilience [UK+] has developed from The Manchester Briefing on COVID-19 and is produced by Alliance Manchester Business School.

You can read all briefings from The National Briefing on Societal Resilience [UK+].

Scholarly journal articles
International standards

You can read guidance on how to develop recovery plans and renewal strategies from a major emergency, disaster or crisis in the ISO/TS 22393 - Guidelines for planning recovery and renewal (2021).

You can read about how to use the ISO/TS 22393 guidelines in our article 'Operationalising ISO 22393: Seven steps to plan recovery and renewal' (PDF).

We also have guidance on self-evaluation in our article 'Guidance for self-reflection on Recovery and Renewal' (PDF).

Other outreach

Practitioner-focused articles and reports

Written and oral evidence, House of Lords

Publications where the work of NCSR+ team is cited

Global outreach

NCSR+ colleagues on stage at the NCSR+ conference

Third National Conference on Societal Resilience

Attend our in-person conference on 10-11 March 2025.

Book your place

Quick links