11/15/2011 -

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) deputy aministrator Rich Serino announced a new online initiative to generate creative ideas for the emergency management field while speaking on Monday at the 59th annual conference of the International Association of Emergency Managers.

"All disasters are local and more often than not, the best ways for addressing the challenges that we face every day in emergencies are found with you at the local level," Serino said in a press release issued by FEMA. "You are on the front lines. You know the problems. And more importantly, you know the solutions to these problems. We want to hear your creative ideas and suggestions for how, as a team, we can continue to strengthen our work as emergency managers and best serve our communities."

The program, FEMA Think Tank, will be comprised of an online forum where stakeholders can submit their ideas and participate in conversations about innovative solutions, and monthly discussions with stakeholders to talk about real-life solutions and ideas generated by the online forum. The goal of the forum is to improve the nation's capacity to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters by sharing ideas an information.

Anyone interested in participating in the forum can find it online atwww.fema.gov/thinktank or discuss it on Twitter using the hashtag#femathinktank.

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