Flooding, foot-and-mouth disease, snowstorms, even terrorist attacks: rarely does a month go by without some risk or threat to the UK making yet more gruesome headlines.

In the recent past, the scale and nature of such emergencies have often threatened to overwhelm the capabilities of central and local government and have stretched our emergency services to the limit. The capital’s ambulance service, for example, decided it could respond only to “life-threatening” cases during the snowstorms earlier this year.

For many reasons – including our rising population and the increasing complexity of some of the threats we face – the government and emergency services can no longer protect us adequately on their own. That is why politicians from across the political spectrum are calling for a new civil protection force – a network of volunteers that are prepared for threats and risks to the population.

When it comes to emergency planning and disaster management, it’s particularly pressing that government should find a new way to engage with citizens. A combination of excessive bureaucracy and fear of litigation means that, during an emergency, many professionals see the public merely as a problem to be managed. Instead, they should be aware of their valuable potential as volunteers.

To change the status quo, three steps need to be taken. First, citizens in all areas of the country need to have a more central role in preparing for emergencies. Only by playing an active part will volunteers fully understand the scale and nature of the risks we may face, and be prepared to act accordingly.

Second, all of us – departments, agencies, citizens, communities – need to learn how to harness the power of social networking sites. Twitter, for instance, may be seen by some as a pointless gossip forum, but it could in fact be an incredibly effective emergency management tool.

In America, the internet has already proved invaluable. The Los Angeles fire department has a blog that invites people to provide information on fires and other emergencies across the city. The fire teams also use Google to monitor key words such as “LA” and “fire”, which helps them to get instant reports on flare-ups and wind directions from tweeters. These reports from the ground are then relayed to the services.

As a result, the Los Angeles fire department has an army of citizens on whom it can call for support.

Activity on Facebook has also proved useful in emergencies. Following the recent earthquake in Italy, the British Red Cross launched an appeal on the site for help. This led to volunteers posting up-to-the-minute news on the earthquake and its aftermath, as well as advice on fundraising for victims.

Networking sites can also save lives by creating groups of like-minded individuals who share tips on, say, how to prepare for a flood or what to do if you find yourself in an earthquake.

The third crucial step that needs to be taken is to change our behaviour. And that doesn’t mean just more public information on reacting to emergencies before they happen – though the authorities certainly need to do that, too – we simply need to be better prepared for certain disasters, better able to avert them and more aware of our own power to support those in need. One method that has become increasingly popular in the US and UK is the so-called “nudge” technique. The theory is that nudging someone in the right direction, rather than dictating to him, will help him make better decisions.

Consider this hypothetical example: you are in your local supermarket, walking down the aisle marked household goods, when you see a poster advertising half-price batteries. You may think of the various gadgets in your house, decide: “I don’t need any” – and walk straight past.

But if, underneath the sign, there is a smaller one that asks when you last checked the batteries in your torch or smoke alarm, you might possibly think again.

One council has already begun to “nudge” local people by charging them for sandbags. Although South Somerset district council still issues the same bags (six per doorway) free of charge to households in danger of being flooded, it has decided to ask for £2.50 per bag if more are needed.

This amounts to a “nudge” that is changing people’s behaviour in two ways: first, it makes them focus on internal flooding as opposed to merely sandbagging the outside of their homes and buildings; second, it forces them to think about longer-term mitigation rather than short-term preparations.

We will become a far more resilient nation once politicians and policy makers realise just how much they need us.

Charlie Edwards is head of the security programme at Demos and is the author of the report Resilient Nation, published on Monday