Webinar series on strengthening the disaster resilience of SMEs

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in community resilience, but disasters can disrupt operations, threatening their continuity and long-term sustainability. Through collaboration with public and private sector partners, UNDRR has implemented a project to strengthen SME disaster resilience in Barcelona (Spain), Bridgetown (Barbados), and Sendai (Japan). 

This three-part webinar series will showcase key outcomes, practical lessons, and transferable approaches from these city-level experiences. Participants will gain insights into how municipalities, chambers of commerce, and other business support organizations can work with SMEs to reduce risk, strengthen continuity, and build long-term resilience. The sessions will offer practical takeaways for policymakers, business leaders and DRR practitioners, aiming to inspire SMEs and their partners to take concrete action toward resilience-building. This first webinar will provide an overview of the UNDRR-led project, present the main outcomes, and share key insights across the three cities.

Part 1: Global perspectives, local solutions 

Thursday, 19 February 2026 at 8 a.m. Bridgetown / 1 p.m. Barcelona / 9 p.m. Sendai

Register here

The first webinar will provide an overview of the UNDRR-led project, present the main outcomes, and share key insights across the three cities.

Part 2: Applying the Caribbean lens: Lessons from Barbados

Thursday, 26 February 2026 at 10 a.m. EST / 11 a.m. Bridgetown

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The second webinar will focus on Bridgetown (Barbados), outlining the main capacity-building efforts and tailored tools that have been offered to support SMEs in developing, updating and testing business continuity plans. Speakers will also highlight recommendations for partners and decision-makers to strengthen SME resilience across the Caribbean, positioning Barbados as a regional reference point, equipped to safeguard its SMEs from future shocks and to influence resilience models across the region.

Part 3: Urban resilience & SMEs: Lessons from Barcelona

Thursday, 5 March 2026 at 2 P.M. CET / Barcelona

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The third webinar will focus on Barcelona (Spain), explaining how through co-developing tools, expanding outreach and aligning around a long-term ecosystem of partners has further reinforced the city’s role as a MCR2030 Resilience Hub. Participants will also learn about the outcomes of a landscape assessment study that has provided decision-makers and partners with actionable recommendations to strengthen governance and coordination, financing, capacity-building, and other services to help SMEs prepare for new and existing risks.