SME resilience workshop convenes cities from Barbados, Japan and Spain
City and business leaders from Barcelona, Bridgetown, and Sendai collaborate to strengthen SME resilience at a UNDRR-hosted workshop in Barcelona.
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) hosted a two-day workshop in Barcelona on March 18-19 as part of its ongoing initiative to strengthen the disaster resilience of Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). This project focuses on three key cities—Barcelona, Spain, and Sendai, Japan, both recognized as MCR2030 Resilience Hubs, along with Bridgetown, Barbados—with the aim of equipping SMEs with the tools to assess risks, make informed investment decisions, and implement effective disaster risk reduction strategies.
Supported by IQS School of Management, the workshop brought together SMEs, chambers of commerce and local authorities from the three cities, along with representatives from academia, the insurance sector, UN Habitat, and other key stakeholders.
The participants highlighted the vital role of SMEs—not just in driving economic growth, but in building and safeguarding their communities. Through collaboration and innovation, discussions aimed to ensure that businesses are not only crisis-ready but also key contributors to resilience-building.
“Disruptions to SMEs due to their vulnerability to hurricanes and other disasters often have devastating ripple effects on economies. By adopting disaster risk reduction measures, SMEs can safeguard their operations and investments as well as the protection of the livelihoods of those they employ and by extension communities”, Ms. Misha Lobban Clarke, the Executive Director of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI) noted.
With all three cities facing complex disaster risks intensified by climate change, participants examined the shared responsibility of public and private sectors in disaster risk reduction, exchanged best practices, and explored UNDRR tools for SME resilience. The event also focused on developing city-specific roadmaps to guide future interventions. The discussions emphasized the critical role of multi-sectoral collaboration in strengthening SME resilience and ensuring sustainable urban development.
“Cooperation agreements and industry-government-academia collaboration platforms like Sendai BOSAI-TECH have already led to concrete outcomes: the creation of voice processing technology for outdoor disaster information systems and the use of drones for public information on tsunami evacuations”, explained Ms. Satoko Shibata, Director of the Disaster-Resilient and Environmentally-Friendly City Promotion Office, Sendai City.
Next Steps
The project will now move forward with assessing the status of SME resilience in the three cities, followed by the development of SME Business Continuity Plans, implementation of resilience measures, and targeted capacity-building initiatives. This includes training programs for local trainers and the creation of knowledge products to drive long-term resilience efforts within and beyond the three cities.
“Most of the micro- and small- businesses [in Barcelona] would benefit from a better understanding of the main hazards in the city, and the concept of resilience. This UNDRR project is interesting because it helps small businesses increase their knowledge about disaster risk reduction through a practical approach of developing business continuity plans”, Mr. Josep Xurigué, Deputy Director of Barcelona Comerç remarked.
About the Project
The "Strengthening the Disaster Resilience of SMEs" project seeks to mobilize public, private and other relevant sectors of society to build SME capacity for risk-informed decision-making. The project's interventions include landscaping studies, the development of Business Continuity Plans, and training programs, ultimately benefiting at least 100 SMEs across the target cities.
About the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
UNDRR is the lead agency in the United Nations on disaster risk reduction. It provides leadership, expertise, and tools to enable countries to understand and act on disaster risks before they become disasters. UNDRR's work is guided by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, which aims to achieve a substantial reduction in disaster risk and losses by the year 2030.