This book presents a case study-based analysis of the consequences of external interventions, critically evaluating them from community perspectives. Communities – from rural to urban, and around the world – that are experiencing disasters and changes in climatic variables can perceive the associated risks and evaluate the impacts of interventions. Accordingly, community perspectives, including their perceptions, concerns, awareness, realizations, reactions and expectations, represent a valuable resource. The case-based analysis of impacts on communities can provide a ‘means of learning’ from the experiences of others, thus expanding professionals’ knowledge base, especially regarding disaster mitigation and climate change adaptation practices in varied settings. This book offers valuable insights and lessons learned, in an effort to promote and guide innovative changes in the current planning, management and governance of human settlements, helping them face the future challenges of a changing environment.
Disaster risk reduction (DRR) is a framework that aims to minimise the threat, occurrence or impacts of disaster events at the local level (i.e. the community). DRR aims to reduce these factors in three ways: directly influencing the hazard, decreasing the exposure of people and assets to hazards, and enhancing the capacities of the local community which aid the ability to cope in response to a disaster. Capacities are knowledge-sets, skills and resources of individuals that can be used to respond to impacts from a hazard event. Present-day DRR is typically reliant on a top-down approach. A top-down approach includes external intervention where capacities are provided. This emphasises structural solutions to local problems, creating and reinforcing the notion that people affected by disasters are ‘victims’. As a result, outside actors such as scientists, governments and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) justify their intervention through emergency management activities. Although a top-down approach has its benefits, DRR should focus on building a bottom-up approach that utilises local capacities and resources. This is because disasters are a local issue, therefore only the community themselves fully understand the opportunities and risks associated with a hazard event. Local capacities and resources can then be further enhanced by the inclusion of top-down capacities and resources. Gaillard and Mercer (2012) suggest that the inclusion of both top-down and bottom-up approaches is one way towards enhancing local DRR. Participation of the local community in developing DRR is essential to achieve an inclusive approach to DRR that utilises both top-down and bottom-up actors. Gaventa and Cornwall (2006) highlight that knowledge, action and consciousness are required to achieve participation. These components are interlinked and essential towards achieving participation. If one of these components are not present, then the participation of a stakeholder may be compromised. This investigation focusses on a case study in New Zealand. New Zealand’s DRR policies rely upon the Civil Defence Emergency Management to work with communities in their region, in guiding them through the planning process. Therefore, New Zealand is an example of where local DRR may be enhanced by including top-down and bottom-up stakeholders in the planning process. One example of a bottom-up stakeholder in New Zealand communities are Marae. If utilised in the DRR planning process, Marae could provide a unique range of benefits to the current state of local DRR.
Representing the definitive reference work for this broad and dynamic field, The International Encyclopedia of Geography arises from an unprecedented collaboration between Wiley and the American Association of Geographers (AAG) to review and define the concepts, research, and techniques in geography and interrelated fields. Available as a robust online resource and as a 15-volume full-color print set, the Encyclopedia assembles a truly global group of scholars for a comprehensive, authoritative overview of geography around the world. Contains more than 1,000 entries ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 words offering accessible introductions to basic concepts, sophisticated explanations of complex topics, and information on geographical societies around the world Assembles a truly global group of more than 900 scholars hailing from over 40 countries, for a comprehensive, authoritative overview of geography around the world Provides definitive coverage of the field, encompassing human geography, physical geography, geographic information science and systems, earth studies, and environmental science Brings together interdisciplinary perspectives on geographical topics and techniques of interest across the social sciences, humanities, science, and medicine Features full color throughout the print version and more than 1,000 illustrations and photographs Annual updates to online edition
Realizing the harsh potential realities such as a shortage of qualified workers and questions around funding and workforce development needed to ensure preparedness for the next public health emergency, this playbook for delivering resilient public health systems post-pandemic provides a timely oversight for future resilience.
Arguably among the regions of the world most vulnerable to climate change, Asia has different mechanisms for Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) activities. This title provides 19 case studies, from 13 countries and regions in Asia, that highlight different aspects of CCA-DRR entry points.
This book discusses the impact of climate change, land use and land cover, and socio-economic dynamics on landslides in Asian countries. Scholars recently have brought about a shift in their focus regarding triggering factors for landslides, from rainfall or earthquake to claiming rapid urbanization, extreme population pressure, improper land use planning, illegal hill cutting for settlements and indiscriminate deforestation. This suggests that the occurrence or probabilities of landslides are shaped by both climate-related and non-climate-related anthropogenic factors. Among these issues, land use and land cover change or improper land use planning is one of the key factors. Further climate change shapes the rainfall pattern and intensity in different parts of the world, and consequently rainfall-triggered landslides have increased. These changes cause socio-economic changes. Conversely, socio-economic and lifestyle changes enhance inappropriate land use and climate change. All these changes in land use, climate and socio-economic aspects are dynamics in nature and shape landslide risks in Asian countries, where they are given serious attention by governments, disaster management professionals, researchers and academicians. This book comprises 21 chapters divided into three major sections highlighting the effect of climate change on landslide incidence with the influence on vegetation and socio-economic aspects. The sections address how climate change and extreme events have triggered landslides. The advances in geospatial techniques with the focus on land use and land cover change along with the effect on socio-economic aspects are also explored.
The Handbook provides a comprehensive statement and reference point for hazard and disaster research, policy making, and practice in an international and multi-disciplinary context. It offers critical reviews and appraisals of current state of the art and future development of conceptual, theoretical and practical approaches as well as empirical knowledge and available tools. Organized into five inter-related sections, this Handbook contains sixty-five contributions from leading scholars. Section one situates hazards and disasters in their broad political, cultural, economic, and environmental context. Section two contains treatments of potentially damaging natural events/phenomena organized by major earth system. Section three critically reviews progress in responding to disasters including warning, relief and recovery. Section four addresses mitigation of potential loss and prevention of disasters under two sub-headings: governance, advocacy and self-help, and communication and participation. Section five ends with a concluding chapter by the editors. The engaging international contributions reflect upon the politics and policy of how we think about and practice applied hazard research and disaster risk reduction. This Handbook provides a wealth of interdisciplinary information and will appeal to students and practitioners interested in Geography, Environment Studies and Development Studies.
The digital transformation of the 21st century has affected all facets of society and has been highly advantageous in many industries, including urban planning and regional development. The practices, strategies, and developments surrounding urban e-planning in particular have been constantly shifting and adapting to new innovations as they arrive. Trends and Innovations in Urban E-Planning provides an updated panorama of the main trends, challenges, and recent innovations in the field of e-planning through the critical perspectives of diverse experts. This book adds new and updated evidence on recent changes in this field and provides critical insights on these innovations. Covering topics such as citizen engagement, land property management, and spatial planning, this book is an essential resource for students and educators of higher education, researchers, urban planners, engineers, public officials, community groups, and academicians.
AbstractThe connections between disaster recovery and the resilience of affected communities have become common features of disaster risk reduction programmes since the adoption of The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005?2015. Increasing attention is paid to the capacity of disaster-affected communities to recover with little or no external assistance following a disaster. This highlights the need for a change in the disaster risk reduction work culture, with stronger emphasis being put on resilience rather than just needs or vulnerability. The aim of this thesis is to determine the extent to which development and humanitarian interventions promote resilience in disaster-prone areas. Three case studies with elements of resilience building were examined in 2002, 2004 and 2005 using an evaluation framework. Survey and participatory interviewing methods involving more than 1200 participants were employed to gain insights from the implementation of: The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe; The Institutional Support Project in Ethiopia; and The Agricultural Rehabilitation Project in East Timor. There are no easy answers for enhancing disaster resilience through development and humanitarian interventions. However, four conclusions emerging from this study contribute to the emerging disaster resilience body of knowledge, spanning social science disciplines such as geography, environmental management and sociology. Firstly, disaster resilience is the ability to?bounce forward? rather than?bounce back? following a disaster. The notion of?bounce back? implies the capacity to return to a pre- disaster state, which fails to capture the?new? reality created by the disaster.?Bounce forward? encapsulates community continuity within the context of changed realities brought about by the disaster. Secondly, resilience and vulnerability are confirmed as discrete constructs, the one not being the?flip side? of the other. Thirdly, local resilience to disasters is about agency, albeit in a political and economic context. Community agency continuously creates and re-creates, and owns and controls the disaster institutional structures. Fourthly, resilience building resonates with the contiguum approach - it can occur at any phase or multiple phases of the disaster cycle. Thus, the process of resilience building does not necessarily need to adopt a?linear? or continuum approach. The contiguum approach offers opportunities for linking (existing) resilience, relief, rehabilitation and development (LRRRD). Finally, on the basis of the author?s broader experience with similar evaluations elsewhere, the findings of this thesis are robust and generalisable and would not have been significantly different, if different case studies were used. Similarly, the focus of this thesis has been on structures and evaluation processes and outcomes; a different approach might have given rise to different findings.
