scholarly journals Risk, Transformation and Adaptation: Ideas for Reframing Approaches to Disaster Risk Reduction

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (14) ◽  
pp. 2594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Paton ◽  
Petra Buergelt
Keyword(s):  
Transformative Learning ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Preliminary Model ◽  
Adaptive Processes ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Increasing Risk ◽  
Risk Transformation

Recognition of projected increases in exposure to large-scale hazard events over the coming decades has identified a need to develop how disaster risk reduction and recovery are conceptualized and enacted. This paper discusses some strategies for pursing this goal in both disaster recovery and preparedness settings. The approaches discussed include understanding how communities learn from their hazardous experiences and transform these lessons into beliefs, relationships and capabilities that build future adaptive capacity. The paper draws on examples of transformative learning that illustrate how people can make fundamental shifts in how they think about, prepare for and respond to environmental challenge and change. Regarding transformation in pre-event settings, the paper first discusses why the addition of transformative strategies to disaster risk reduction programs is required. These include a need for rethinking socio-environmental relationships, increasing risk acceptance in the context of evolving hazardscapes, and countering beliefs regarding not preparing. The paper then offers strategies for motivating transformation and consolidating the outcomes of transformation in pre-event disaster risk reduction (DRR) strategies. A preliminary model that could inform the development of research questions on the development of transformative outcomes and their consolidation in enduring adaptive processes is presented.

Special Issue on NIED Frontier Research on Science and Technology for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience 2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 675-675
Author(s):  
Haruo Hayashi ◽  
Ryohei Misumi
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
The United States ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Risk Information ◽  
Shaking Table ◽  
Scale Model ◽  
Special Issue

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.

scholarly journals Disaster risk reduction compliance framework for public private partnership (PPP) port projects

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Champika Liyanage ◽  
Felix Villalba-Romero
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Screening Process ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Expert Opinions ◽  
Need To Evaluate

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.

Natural Hazards Governance in the Philippines

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanako Iuchi ◽  
Yasuhito Jibiki ◽  
Renato Solidum ◽  
Ramon Santiago
Keyword(s):  
Natural Disasters ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Volcanic Eruptions ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
The Philippines

Located in the Pacific Ring of Fire and the typhoon belt, the Philippines is one of the most hazard prone countries in the world. The country faces different types of natural hazards including geophysical disturbances such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, meteorological and hydrological events such as typhoons and floods, and slow-onset disasters such as droughts. Together with rapidly increasing population growth and urbanization, large-scale natural phenomena have resulted in unprecedented scales of devastation. In the early 21st century alone, the country experienced some of the most destructive and costliest disasters in its history including Typhoon Yolanda (2013), Typhoon Pablo (2012), and the Bohol Earthquake (2013). Recurrent natural disasters have prompted the Philippine government to develop disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) strategies to better prepare, respond, and recover, as well as to be more resilient in the face of natural disasters. Since the early 1940s, the governing structure has undergone several revisions through legal and institutional arrangements. Historical natural disasters and seismic risks have affected and continue to threaten the National Capital Region (NCR) and the surrounding administrative areas; these were key factors in advancing DRRM laws and regulations, as well as in restructuring its governing bodies. The current DRRM structure was instituted under Republic Act no. 10121 (RA10121) in 2010 and was implemented to shift from responsive to proactive governance by better engaging local governments (LGUs), communities, and the private sector to reduce long-term disaster risk. This Republic Act established a national disaster risk reduction and management council (NDRRMC) to develop strategies that manage and reduce risk. Typhoon Yolanda in 2013 was the most significant test of this revised governance structure and related strategies. The typhoon revealed drawbacks of the current council-led governing structure to advancing resilience. Salient topics include how to respond better to disaster realities, how to efficiently coordinate among relevant agencies, and how to be more inclusive of relevant actors. Together with other issues, such as the way to co-exist with climate change efforts, a thorough examination of RA 10121 by the national government and advocates for DRRM is underway. Some of the most important discourse to date focuses on ways to institute a powerful governing body that enables more efficient DRRM with administrative and financial power. The hope is that by instituting a governing system that can thoroughly lead all phases of preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery, the country can withstand future—and likely more frequent—mega-disasters.

Disaster Resilience: Where It All Comes Together

Futureproof ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 198-226
Author(s):  
Jon Coaffee
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
First Century ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
Great Transition ◽  
Twenty First Century

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.

scholarly journals Sustaining a Transformative Disaster Risk Reduction Strategy: Grandmothers’ Telling and Singing Tsunami Stories for over 100 Years Saving Lives on Simeulue Island

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (21) ◽  
pp. 7764
Author(s):  
Stephen A. Sutton ◽  
Douglas Paton ◽  
Petra Buergelt ◽  
Saut Sagala ◽  
Ella Meilianda
Keyword(s):  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Natural Hazard ◽  
Effective Means ◽  
Transformational Change ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Transformative Change

As projections about the number and scale of natural hazard events and their impact on human populations grow, increasing attention is being paid to developing effective means for preparing for and mitigating those impacts. At the same time there is an emerging understanding that gradual and incremental changes in disaster risk reduction (DRR) will not adequately meet the future needs of vulnerable populations. Transformational changes have been identified as a necessary requirement to avoid ongoing large-scale losses of life and property and models have been proposed to recalibrate DRR strategies to achieve transformative changes. One cited example of a transformative change in DRR is that of Simeulue Island. Simeulue Island suffered two tsunamis approximately 100 years apart (1907, 2004) with markedly different impacts. This paper looks in detail at the cognitive and developmental mechanisms Simeulue co-opted to sustain the transformational change throughout the 20th century. Information from interviews and observation identified the role of grandmothers have in the effective communication of risk as well as motivating appropriate action to save lives. The possibility of similarly overlooked, local, and pre-existing community capacities for transformative change in DRR is then discussed.

scholarly journals Advantages of the Open Levee (Kasumi-Tei), a Traditional Japanese River Technology on the Matsuura River, from an Ecosystem-Based Disaster Risk Reduction Perspective

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 480
Author(s):  
Jun Teramura ◽  
Yukihiro Shimatani
Keyword(s):  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Flood Plain ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Substantial Cost

Large-scale disasters, such as hurricanes, cyclones, tsunamis, and forest fires, have caused considerable damage in recent years. This study investigated two case studies of discontinuous open levees (kasumi-tei), which are a traditional Japanese river technology, on the Matsuura River at the sites of Okawano and Azame-no-se, and evaluated the advantages of these levees from the perspective of ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR). These case studies were conducted through literature surveys, flood observations, and oral interviews. The systems in both the cases were flood control systems utilizing ecosystem services. The traditional river technology (the flood plain open levee) served as an effective Eco-DRR in both cases. Additionally, the flood plain levee technology enhanced the ecosystem services at both sites, including not only flood control capabilities, but also other ecosystem services. Furthermore, the open levees offered substantial cost advantages over their alternatives. These results suggest that other traditional Japanese river technologies may also be effective in strengthening Eco-DRR.

scholarly journals Persistent Precarity and the Disaster of Everyday Life: Homeless People’s Experiences of Natural and Other Hazards

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 332-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
J C Gaillard ◽  
Vicky Walters ◽  
Megan Rickerby ◽  
Yu Shi
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Natural Hazards ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Homeless People ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
The Everyday

Abstract Knowledge of how homeless people deal with natural hazards and disasters is sparse and there is a remarkable absence of homeless people in policies and practices for disaster risk reduction (DRR). This article aims at filling this gap by exploring the lives of homeless people in two New Zealand cities that are exposed to natural hazards. It shows that natural hazards are of marginal concern to homeless people in comparison to the everyday hazards that they experience and that make their everyday life a disaster in itself. The disaster of everyday life is created and compounded by homeless people’s precarious lifeworlds. The article, nonetheless, shows that homeless people’s vulnerability to natural hazards remains high as they lack power to control the processes that shape their everyday lives, to prepare for large-scale events, and to be represented in DRR policy. Therefore, the article ultimately argues that disaster policies require greater attention to be paid to the power structures that create persistent precarity and the ways in which this is experienced in everyday life.

scholarly journals Challenges to disaster risk reduction: A study of stakeholders’ perspectives in Imizamo Yethu, South Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann-Sofie Roth ◽  
Per Becker
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Scale Development ◽  
Urban Communities ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Disaster Risk Reduction ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Western Cape

South Africa is a complex and dynamic society, with overwhelming and increasing problems with disaster risk in the vulnerable urban communities in and around its rapidly growing metropolitan centres. The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of the challenges for disaster risk reduction in such communities. It focuses on the case of Imizamo Yethu, in the Western Cape, in order to build theory that is grounded in the empirical realities of stakeholders involved in disaster risk reduction there. The result points towards five interrelated key challenges, which must be concurrently addressed through large-scale development efforts. Without such investments, it is unlikely that disaster risks can be reduced to tolerable levels.

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