#BUCPUA Lunch N’ Learn Addresses the Role of Emergency Management in Ensuring Resilient Cities

Ryan Broughton, CEM, CBCP, Executive Director, and #BUCPUA alumna Tiana Farrant, MCP ‘15, Emergency Management Coordinator, from the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) at the City and County of Denver address Boston University students, faculty, alumni, and staff on the Role of Emergency Management in Ensuring Resilient Cities.

The Boston University City Planning and Urban Affairs Program hosted a lunch n’ learn, The Role of Emergency Management in Ensuring Resilient Cities, on March 25, 2019, with guest speakers Ryan Broughton, CEM, CBCP, Executive Director, and #BUCPUA alumna Tiana Farrant, MCP ‘15, Emergency Management Coordinator, from the Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) at the City and County of Denver.

Ryan Broughton and Tiana Farrant answer questions from the audience.

During the lunch, Broughton and Farrant spoke about the importance of managing risk and the role of city officials and planners, and offered advice to students seeking a career in related fields. During their talk, they recommended enabling every player to manage risk by rewarding good behavior. However, Broughton stressed that a majority of risk comes from building codes, emphasizing the important role that city officials and planners have in managing and mitigating risk. According to Broughton, the key is to build for when an event happens, not if it happens. He also noted that issues such as climate change have increased the frequency of catastrophic events, which means cities need to keep this in mind when developing infrastructure. 

Addressing the students in the room, Broughton and Tarrant offered advice for those seeking job opportunities in emergency management and related fields. One of their main points was to start in a smaller organization or department in order to gain experience. According Broughton, working in a smaller town or neighborhood is a reasonable goal for newly graduated professionals to reach in order to gain practical experience in the field. Then, in turn, one can use that experience to create a vision to shape change the individual wishes to make in their desired role. Broughton and Farrant also stressed that students should prepare for their future dream jobs through any experience available to them.

Broughton and Farrant have been regular contributors to the City Planning and Urban Affairs Program, specifically in UA 617 Actionable Sustainability.

Click here to check out the Denver Office of Emergency Management and Homeland Security’s (OEM) Accomplishments.

-Alayna Graham, MPC ‘19