Disaster Resilience: Where It All Comes Together

Futureproof ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 198-226
Author(s):  
Jon Coaffee

This chapter discusses disaster resilience. Recent major disasters and serious disruptions have put increased emphasis on how quickly an area can recover following a large-scale shock and have meant that disaster risk reduction or disaster resilience has grown in prominence. When we look at how to interpret the great transition from risk towards resilience in the early twenty-first century, then we can look to disasters for many explanations. Whether in terms of the relatively simple characterisation that sees risk viewed differently as the modern passes into the postmodern era, or how we get to grips with reframing disaster as a complex human-induced process rather than something that is ‘natural’ or divine, disasters illuminate many reasons why we need to invest in resilience as an urgent futureproofing strategy. Responses to disasters can also teach us lessons about a darker and more unethical side of resilience that needs to be surfaced.

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 731-745
Author(s):  
Vicente Sandoval ◽  
Juan Pablo Sarmiento

PurposeThis paper introduces the state of informal settlements in Latin America and the Caribbean, and it explores potential relationships between informal settlements and national policies on urban development and disaster risk reduction, especially on how risk governance and disaster resilience are conceived and practiced by governments.Design/methodology/approach17 Habitat III National Reports issued during the preparatory process toward the New Urban Agenda in 2016 are analyzed using statistics and qualitative methods. Some quantitative variables, such as access to drinking water and sewerage in the region, are combined with qualitative data from references to the Sendai Framework and national urban policies in the mentioned reports. Countries in the study include Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.FindingsResults show that the situation of informal settlements in the region is complex and presents two different realities that coexist: one group of countries in which provision of basic urban services poses great challenges for a significant proportion of the urban population, while the other group in which urban informality and precariousness persists despite better statistics. Risk governance and disaster resilience principles are scarcely articulated in existing urban development discourses in the region.Originality/valueThe preparatory process toward the New Urban Agenda allowed to conduct an original updated cross-country analysis and to identify cross-cutting issues on informality, risk reduction, and urban development in the region.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 675-675
Author(s):  
Haruo Hayashi ◽  
Ryohei Misumi

We are very pleased to publish the Special Issue on NIED Frontier Research on Science and Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience 2020. There are nine papers in this issue. The first two papers concern hazard and risk information systems: Sano et al. constructed a real-time risk information map for flood and landslide disasters, and Hirashima et al. created an alert system for snow removal from rooftops. These systems are already in use on the NIED website. The next three papers are case studies of recent storm disasters in Japan and the United States: Cui et al. analyzed the time variation in the distribution of damage reports in the headquarters for heavy-rainfall disaster control in Fukuoka, Shakti et al. studied flood disasters caused by Typhoon Hagibis (2019), and Iizuka and Sakai conducted a meteorological analysis of Hurricane Harvey (2017). Regarding volcanic disasters, Tanada and Nakamura reported the results of an electromagnetic survey of Mt. Nasudake. This special issue also includes three papers on large-scale model experimentation: Danjo and Ishizawa studied the rainfall infiltration process using NIED’s Large-Scale Rainfall Simulator, Kawamata and Nakazawa conducted experiments concerning liquefaction, and Nakazawa et al. reported the results of experiments on seismic retrofits for road embankments. The experiments used E-Defense, the world’s largest three-dimensional shaking table. We hope this issue will provide useful information for all readers studying natural disasters.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Dabrowski

Abstract Two major economic crises in the early twenty-first century have had a serious impact on monetary policy and CB independence. Disruption in financial intermediation and associated deflationary pressures caused by the global financial crisis of 2007–2009 and European financial crisis of 2010–2015 pushed central banks (CBs) in major currency areas towards adoption of unconventional monetary policy measures, including large-scale purchase of government bonds (quantitative easing). The same approach has been taken by CBs in response to the COVID-19 crisis in 2020 even if the characteristics of this crisis differ from the previous one. As a result of both crises, CBs have become major holders of government bonds and de facto – main creditors of governments. Against rapidly deteriorating fiscal balances, CBs have become hostages of fiscal policies, which compromises their independence. Risks to the CB independence also come from their additional mandates (beyond price stability) and populist political pressures.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Champika Liyanage ◽  
Felix Villalba-Romero

Purpose This paper aims to identify success factors and resilience measures (RM) that contribute to disaster risk reduction (DRR) in public private partnerships (PPP) port projects in Asia. Significant losses have been associated with large-scale natural hazards, such as earthquakes, tsunami, cyclones and other extreme weather events, and thus, ports need to evaluate their resilience level and adopt relevant DRR strategies to improve it. Design/methodology/approach A step-by-step methodology, based on literature review, port cases analysis, questionnaire survey and expert opinions, was followed. Findings The paper provides a research instrument extracted from a large list of measures and factors after a combined screening process was carried out. This instrument offers policymakers and researchers a tool applicable to PPP port projects in Asian countries to evaluate the level of resilience. Research limitations/implications Relevant RM for some specific projects may have not been considered to obtain a standardised instrument. Originality/value This paper fulfils an identified need to evaluate resilient port infrastructures and the output is a resilience framework to be used in PPP port projects in Asia.


Author(s):  
Dumilah Ayuningtyas ◽  
Sri Windiarti ◽  
M. Sapoan Hadi ◽  
Ulya Uti Fasrini ◽  
Sandra Barinda

Background: The tectonic activities at the meeting points of three large plates make Indonesia a high-risk disaster-prone area. Nevertheless, disaster risk reduction efforts in various regions of Indonesia are still lacking, in terms of both knowledge and the ability to analyze disaster risks. This study examines the implementation of disaster preparedness and mitigation in Indonesia. Methods: The method used in this study was narrative review. The authors collected the articles through searching for 3 data sources from 2016–2019 using Google Scholar, iSeek, and Microsoft Academic. Content analysis of all information to obtain the thematic phenomena of this study completed the methodological approach. Results: After applying the exclusion criteria and removing duplicates, six studies remained that focused on disaster mitigation in remote areas of Indonesia. Implementation of regulation and policy framework in disaster management is not yet optimal. Disaster preparedness and mitigation is characterized by the low utilization of technology and information related to the disaster, and various obstacles in the process of evacuation and transportation. Promoting local wisdom and enhancing it through integrating science can increase disaster resilience. Conclusion: The existence of a disaster-resilient village is very influential in community preparedness in dealing with disasters and other emergencies. This study provides some recommendations for disaster risk reduction: a) strengthening policies related to evacuation procedures in the health sector by local government, b) integrating transportation modes in remote areas, c) enhancing all parties with education and training, d) establishing community-based information systems; and e) strengthening the disaster resilience of villages.


Author(s):  
Matthew S. Hedstrom

This is an advance summary of a forthcoming article in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Please check back later for the full article. At the center of the long, intertwined history of religion and books in America from the early seventeenth century to the early twenty-first century is the dynamic interplay of Protestantism and print in American culture. The Protestant doctrine of sola scriptura energized the publication of Bibles in vernacular languages. The first large-scale publishing project in North America was John Eliot’s Algonquin Bible of 1663. From these beginnings, though the nineteenth-century Bible and tract societies, to the Christian Booksellers Association of the early twenty-first century, the story of Protestant community life and evangelism in America has been inseparable from the Protestant drive to control and disseminate print. Protestantism shaped both American religious history and the history of American reading, as the drive for mass literacy in New England and the early public school movement were largely driven by the religious imperative to access the Word. Yet all along, print has also served as a site of religious conflict and a tool of religious innovation. These conflicts can be tracked through the writings of Thomas Paine, Joseph Smith, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and other religious dissenters and innovators, structured around four large themes: the relationship between scriptural and nonscriptural forms of print; the role of print in bolstering institutional authority on one hand and in undermining authority on the other; the gendered dimensions of reading, literacy, and authorship; and print as commodity and therefore as a site where market dynamics shape religion with particular potency.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 817-830 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shohei Matsuura ◽  
Khamarrul Azahari Razak

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to look into how collaborations among science and technology groups and other stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region can facilitate implementation of national and local disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies through education, training and field practice. Case studies on transdisciplinary approach (TDA) that integrates cross-cutting DRR issues and various stakeholders through science and technology are introduced from several countries in the region as attempts to holistically support societies build and strengthen their disaster resilience. Design/methodology/approach First, through literature review, the transition from single discipline to TDA is illustrated in which various stakeholders of different disciplines work together to achieve a common societal goal. This is followed by introduction of several case studies of actual TDA implementation for DRR in which information had been gathered through surveys and interviews with international science and technology stakeholders. Finally, through analysis and discussion, the study identifies the key roles of science and technology stakeholders for facilitating TDA for DRR. Findings The study concludes with key findings on the specific roles of science and technology including provision of education and training to build capacities of DRR practitioners to effectively plan and implement DRR measures, support to evidence-based decision making through locally specific scientific assessments and analysis and validation scientific information on the actual field for DRR practitioners and agencies. In materializing these roles into action, institutionalization of supporting policies and budget provision that promotes TDA are suggested. Originality/value Even though TDA is not a new concept and many stakeholders understand its importance, TDA has not been widely exercised mainly due to conventional practices of experts and organizations working only within their groups and disciplines. With this understanding, this study has newly identified eight key elements that can be used as a guide and checklist for DRR stakeholders to effectively implement TDA for strengthening disaster resilience of their societies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 01011
Author(s):  
Osmar Shalih ◽  
Hafid Setiadi ◽  
Triarko Nurlambang ◽  
Widyawati Sumadio

Along with the increase in large and medium-scale disasters in the world, including in Indonesia, in the last decade, many theories and practices have developed in terms of measuring and improving disaster resilience. This study discusses the conceptual model of community-level disaster resilience and disaster risk reduction. Using a basic conceptual model for spatial protection to geological hazard, research examines the role of community resilience in reducing risk by using social dimensions. To explore the conceptual model of spatial resilience at the community scale, case studies conducted in two disaster events, are (1) communities affected by landslides in Cisolok, Sukabumi District on 31 December, 2018 and (2) Sunda Strait tsunami in Pandeglang tourism area on 22 December, 2018. Research suggests that the importance of social capital in terms of forming community resilience is related to disaster risk reduction. Social network, social experience, social knowledge and belief systems, contribute to increasing resilience and disaster risk reduction. The results of this study are the importance of building social capital and spatial resilience of communities in reducing disaster risk.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. e001493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Pyda ◽  
Rolvix H Patterson ◽  
Luke Caddell ◽  
Taylor Wurdeman ◽  
Rachel Koch ◽  
...  

Natural disasters significantly contribute to human death and suffering. Moreover, they exacerbate pre-existing health inequalities by imposing an additional burden on the most vulnerable populations. Robust local health systems can greatly mitigate this burden by absorbing the extraordinary patient volume and case complexity immediately after a disaster. This resilience is largely determined by the predisaster local surgical capacity, with trauma, neurosurgical, obstetrical and anaesthesia care of particular importance. Nevertheless, the disaster management and global surgery communities have not coordinated the development of surgical systems in low/middle-income countries (LMIC) with disaster resilience in mind. Herein, we argue that an appropriate peridisaster response requires coordinated surgical and disaster policy, as only local surgical systems can provide adequate disaster care in LMICs.We highlight three opportunities to help guide this policy collaboration. First, the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction set forth independent roadmaps for global surgical care and disaster risk reduction; however, ultimately both advocate for health system strengthening in LMICs. Second, the integration of surgical and disaster planning is necessary. Disaster risk reduction plans could recognise the role of surgical systems in disaster preparedness more explicitly and pre-emptively identify deficiencies in surgical systems. Based on these insights, National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plans, in turn, can better address deficiencies in systems and ensure increased disaster resilience. Lastly, the recent momentum for national surgical planning in LMICs represents a political window for the integration of surgical policy and disaster risk reduction strategies.


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