scholarly journals The Natural Hazards Partnership: A public-sector collaboration across the UK for natural hazard disaster risk reduction

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 ◽  
pp. 499-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Hemingway ◽  
Oliver Gunawan
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
The Uk

Multiple-hazards and their interactions in urban low-to-middle income countries: a case study from Nairobi

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce D. Malamud ◽  
Emmah Mwangi ◽  
Joel Gill ◽  
Ekbal Hussain ◽  
Faith Taylor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Grey Literature ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Soil Subsidence ◽  
Ground Collapse

<p>Global policy frameworks, such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, increasingly advocate for multi-hazard approaches across different spatial scales. However, management approaches on the ground are still informed by siloed approaches based on one single natural hazard (e.g. flood, earthquake, snowstorm). However, locations are rarely subjected to a single natural hazard but rather prone to more than one. These different hazards and their interactions (e.g. one natural hazard triggering or increasing the probability of one or more natural hazards), together with exposure and vulnerability, shape the disaster landscape of a given region and associated disaster impact.  Here, as part of the UK GCRF funded research grant “Tomorrow’s Cities” we first map out the single natural hazardscape for Nairobi using evidence collected through peer-reviewed literature, grey literature, social media and newspapers. We find the following hazard groups and hazard types present in Nairobi: (i) geophysical (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides), (ii) hydrological (floods and droughts), (iii) shallow earth processes (regional subsidence, ground collapse, soil subsidence, ground heave), (iv) atmospheric hazards (storm, hail, lightning, extreme heat, extreme cold), (v) biophysical (urban fires), and vi) space hazards (geomatic storms, and impact events). The breadth of single natural hazards that can potentially impact Nairobi is much larger than normally considered by individual hazard managers that work in Nairobi. We then use a global hazard matrix to identify possible hazard interactions, focusing on the following interaction mechanisms: (i) hazard triggering secondary hazard, (ii) hazards amplifying the possibility of the secondary hazard occurring.  We identify 67 possible interactions, as well as some of the interaction cascade typologies that are typical for Nairobi (e.g. a storm triggers and increases the probability of a flood which in turn increases the probability of a flood). Our results indicate a breadth of natural hazards and their interactions in Nairobi, and emphasise a need for a multi-hazard approach to disaster risk reduction.</p>

Natural Hazards and Their Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dewald van Niekerk ◽  
Livhuwani David Nemakonde
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Hazard Management ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Sub Saharan

The sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, along with the rest of the African continent, is prone to a wide variety of natural hazards. Most of these hazards and the associated disasters are relatively silent and insidious, encroaching on life and livelihoods, increasing social, economic, and environmental vulnerability even to moderate events. With the majority of SSA’s disasters being of hydrometeorological origin, climate change through an increase in the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events is likely to exacerbate the situation. Whereas a number of countries in SSA face significant governance challenges to effectively respond to disasters and manage risk reduction measures, considerable progress has been made since the early 2000s in terms of policies, strategies, and/or institutional mechanisms to advance disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management. As such, most countries in SSA have developed/reviewed policies, strategies, and plans and put in place institutions with dedicated staffs and resources for natural hazard management. However, the lack of financial backing, limited skills, lack of coordination among sectors, weak political leadership, inadequate communication, and shallow natural hazard risk assessment, hinders effective natural hazard management in SSA. The focus here is on the governance of natural hazards in the sub-Saharan Africa region, and an outline of SSA’s natural hazard profile is presented. Climate change is increasing the frequency and magnitude of extreme weather events, thus influencing the occurrence of natural hazards in this region. Also emphasized are good practices in natural hazard governance, and SSA’s success stories are described. Finally, recommendations on governance arrangements for effective implementation of disaster risk reduction initiatives and measures are provided.

scholarly journals Exposure to natural hazard events unassociated with policy change for improved disaster risk reduction

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Nohrstedt ◽  
Maurizio Mazzoleni ◽  
Charles F. Parker ◽  
Giuliano Di Baldassarre
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Event Frequency ◽  
The World ◽  
Robust Result

AbstractNatural hazard events provide opportunities for policy change to enhance disaster risk reduction (DRR), yet it remains unclear whether these events actually fulfill this transformative role around the world. Here, we investigate relationships between the frequency (number of events) and severity (fatalities, economic losses, and affected people) of natural hazards and DRR policy change in 85 countries over eight years. Our results show that frequency and severity factors are generally unassociated with improved DRR policy when controlling for income-levels, differences in starting policy values, and hazard event types. This is a robust result that accounts for event frequency and different hazard severity indicators, four baseline periods estimating hazard impacts, and multiple policy indicators. Although we show that natural hazards are unassociated with improved DRR policy globally, the study unveils variability in policy progress between countries experiencing similar levels of hazard frequency and severity.

scholarly journals Natural hazards and climate change are not drivers of disasters

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alik Ismail-Zadeh
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Time Dependent

AbstractMany nations face challenges in assessing, understanding, and responding to the time-dependent nature of disaster risk. Changes in the intensity of occurrences of extreme events coupled with changes in vulnerability and exposure alter the impacts of natural hazards on society in mostly negative ways. Here an interrelationship between natural hazard (NH), climate change (CC), vulnerability (V), exposure (E), and decisionmaking (DM) is considered. While NHs trigger disasters and CC is likely to intensify occurrences of disasters, V and E present major drivers of disasters. Informed DM on disaster risk reduction should be based on scientific evidence from NH and CC, knowledge of V and E, and relevant options for actions on preventive disaster measures as a part of preparedness and public awareness.

Natural Hazards Governance in Cuba

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique A. Castellanos Abella ◽  
Benjamin Wisner
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Early Warning Systems ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Economic Losses ◽  
Risk Governance ◽  
Disaster Reduction ◽  
Local Risk

Natural hazard governance in Cuba elicits widely differing commentaries. While some experts praise it as an extension of state commitment to social welfare, others debate the ethics, necessity, and utility of forced evacuation. However, many disaster experts are unaware of the long-term development of disaster reduction in the country—how Cuban risk governance has evolved in a unique geopolitical and social environment. Mass mobilization to prepare for military invasion and prior response to hurricane disaster provided the foundation for Cuba’s contemporary focus on disaster risk reduction. A pragmatic analysis of the development of natural hazard governance in Cuba and its components reveals key factors for its success in protecting lives. Deployment of local risk management centers, nationwide multi-hazard risk assessment, and early warning systems are recognized as important factors for the effectiveness of disaster reduction in the country. The number of scientific organizations collecting data and carrying out research is also a factor in the reduction of disaster impact and increases the level of resiliency. Over time, an increasing number of organizations and population groups have become involved in risk governance. Risk communication is used as a tool for keeping popular risk perception at an effective level, and for encouraging effective self-protection during hazard events. The continuous development and improvement of a multilateral framework for natural hazards governance is also among the important components of disaster risk reduction in Cuba. However, the economic crisis that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the long-lasting U.S. government blockade have been constraints on economic development and disaster risk reduction. These geopolitical and macroeconomic realities must be recognized as the main causes of the large economic losses and slow recovery after a natural hazard impact. Nevertheless, disaster recovery is carried out at the highest level of management with the goal of reducing vulnerability as much as possible to avoid future losses. Despite economic losses due to natural disasters, Cuban governance of natural hazards is evaluated as a success by most organizations and experts worldwide.

Ecosystem-based solutions for gravitational natural hazard mitigation: a review on the use of protection forests for disaster risk reduction in mountain areas

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Cocuccioni ◽  
Francesca Poratelli ◽  
Cristian Accastello ◽  
Stefan Steger ◽  
Stefan Schneiderbauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Stakeholder Involvement ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Mountain Regions ◽  
Mountain Areas ◽  
Natural Hazard Mitigation

<p>Mountain regions are affected by various natural hazards, of which gravitational mass movements are some of the most important ones. Due to the accumulation of settlements and intense economic activities in exposed areas, mountain regions such as the Alps constitute a risk hot-spot. The threat posed by gravitational natural hazards to human activities affirms the strong need for risk management, particularly for prevention. Structural measures are increasingly applied in combination with land use planning and ecosystem-based solutions. In particular, ecosystem-based solutions not only prevent the initiation of the processes but also act as a protective barrier. These green measures have been gaining an increasing attention also due to their adaptability to respond to the challenges posed by global change. Systematic reviews on how ecosystems can be used for disaster risk reduction have been carried out; however, their focus is on urban and coastal environments or on specific natural hazards such as shallow landslides. Up to now, there is no systematic review which addresses the role of ecosystems in disaster risk reduction regarding multiple gravitational natural hazards in mountain areas.</p><p>This contribution provides such a systematic review aimed at filling this knowledge gap to give a direction for future research. The review is composed of two main parts: a quantitative bibliometric analysis followed by a qualitative review. The quantitative part, based on the Scopus peer-reviewed database, aimed to investigate the publication trend on the ecosystem-based solutions for gravitational natural hazard mitigation by comparing it with the general trend of published scientific documents. The bibliometric analysis also served as a basis to select most relevant articles on which to conduct the subsequent qualitative analysis. The content of the so selected publications was analysed qualitatively the following  predefined criteria: the natural hazards addressed, the features of the ecosystem (i.e. forest species composition, management activities, effectiveness in risk mitigation), the development of alternative scenarios to test different hypothesis, the degree of stakeholder involvement, and the monetary evaluation of the measures (i.e. comparing them to structural measures). Results show a sharp increase in the number of publications on the topic from 1980 to 2018 compared to the overall number of documents published on Scopus. Although the overall topic is gaining more attention in scientific literature, the in-depth qualitative analysis revealed that research still pays little attention to stakeholder involvement and an economic evaluation of measures. We conclude that filling this research gap might help to foster a wider adoption of ecosystem-based solutions for disaster risk reduction across mountain areas.</p>

scholarly journals Facilitating Sustainable Disaster Risk Reduction in Indigenous Communities: Reviving Indigenous Worldviews, Knowledge and Practices through Two-Way Partnering

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 855
Author(s):  
Tahir Ali ◽  
Petra Topaz Buergelt ◽  
Douglas Paton ◽  
James Arnold Smith ◽  
Elaine Lawurrpa Maypilama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Indigenous Research ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Community Members

The Sendai Framework of Action 2015–2030 calls for holistic Indigenous disaster risk reduction (DRR) research. Responding to this call, we synergized a holistic philosophical framework (comprising ecological systems theory, symbolic interactionism, and intersectionality) and social constructionist grounded theory and ethnography within a critical Indigenous research paradigm as a methodology for exploring how diverse individual and contextual factors influence DRR in a remote Indigenous community called Galiwinku, in the Northern Territory of Australia. Working together, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers collected stories in local languages using conversations and yarning circles with 20 community members, as well as participant observations. The stories were interpreted and analysed using social constructivist grounded theory analysis techniques. The findings were dialogued with over 50 community members. The findings deeply resonated with the community members, validating the trustworthiness and relevance of the findings. The grounded theory that emerged identified two themes. First, local Indigenous knowledge and practices strengthen Indigenous people and reduce the risks posed by natural hazards. More specifically, deep reciprocal relationships with country and ecological knowledge, strong kinship relations, Elder’s wisdom and authority, women and men sharing power, and faith in a supreme power/God and Indigenous-led community organizations enable DRR. Second, colonizing practices weaken Indigenous people and increase the risks from natural hazards. Therefore, colonization, the imposition of Western culture, the government application of top-down approaches, infiltration in Indigenous governance systems, the use of fly-in/fly-out workers, scarcity of employment, restrictions on technical and higher education opportunities, and overcrowded housing that is culturally and climatically unsuitable undermine the DRR capability. Based on the findings, we propose a Community-Based DRR theory which proposes that facilitating sustainable Indigenous DRR in Australian Indigenous communities requires Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners to genuinely work together in two-directional and complementary ways.

scholarly journals Assessing the interaction between mountain forests and natural hazards at Nevados de Chillán, Chile, and its implications for Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Casteller ◽  
Thomas Häfelfinger ◽  
Erika Cortés Donoso ◽  
Karen Podvin ◽  
Dominik Kulakowski ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Land Use Planning ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Process Models ◽  
Snow Avalanches ◽  
Tree Ring Data ◽  
Risk Reduction Measure

Abstract. Gravitational natural hazards such as snow avalanches, rockfalls, shallow landslides and volcanic activity represent a risk factor for mountain communities around the world. In particular where documentary records about these processes are rare, decisions on risk management and land-use planning have to be based on a variety of other sources including vegetation and tree-ring data and natural hazard process models. We used a combination of these methods in order to evaluate dynamics of snow avalanches and other natural hazards at Valle de las Trancas, in the Biobío Region in Chile. Along this valley, natural hazards threaten not only the local human population, but also the numerous tourists attracted by outdoor recreational activities. Given the regional scarcity of documentary records, tree-ring methods were applied in order to reconstruct the local history of snow avalanches and debris flow events, which are the more important weather-related processes at respective tracks. A recent version of the model Rapid Mass MovementS (RAMMS), that includes influences of forest structure, was used to calculate different avalanche parameters such as runout distances and maximum pressures, taking into consideration the presence/absence of forest along the tracks as well as different modelled return periods. Our results show that local Nothofagus broadleaved forests contribute to a reduction of avalanche runout distances as well as impact pressures on present infrastructure, thus constituting a valuable ecosystem disaster risk reduction measure that can substitute or complement other traditional measures such as sheds.

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