scholarly journals Private companies and community collaboration: Towards building disaster resilience in Diepsloot, Johannesburg, South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Modiegi Bopape ◽  
Livhuwani D. Nemakonde ◽  
Kristel Fourie
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Responsibility ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
Community Initiatives ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Building Community ◽  
Physical Assets ◽  
Group Interviews

The responsibility for building community resilience cannot and should not rest with the public sector alone. It requires all sectors to collaborate for the benefit of the entire community. Specifically, it is important for private sector organisations to participate in building community resilience because they have vested interest in the area because of their physical assets, suppliers, customers and corporate value of social responsibility. This article explores collaboration between private companies and community of Diepsloot, Johannesburg, South Africa, to build disaster resilience in the community. The study applied qualitative research methods. Data were collected through focus group interviews with the community of Diepsloot and semi-structured individual interviews with representatives of private companies operating in the vicinity of Diepsloot. A total of 55 respondents participated in the study. Respondents included five corporate social responsibility (CSR) managers from private companies and 50 community members. The findings of the study showed that private companies are involved in addressing socio-economic challenges in Diepsloot. Addressing such challenges contributes a great deal to reducing exposure to hazards and the vulnerability factors to disasters, thereby contributing to building resilience. Whereas some respondents preferred the private companies to work with the communities directly, the study recommends the use of community structures such as Community Based Organisations (CBOs) when private companies engage in community initiatives. The article contributes to better understanding of the private sector’s contribution to build community resilience.

Collaboration and communication

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Rogers ◽  
Judy Burnside-Lawry ◽  
Jelenko Dragisic ◽  
Colleen Mills
Keyword(s):  
Communication Theory ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Shared Responsibility ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Resilient Communities ◽  
Building Community

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a case study of Participatory Action Research (PAR), reporting on a collaboration, communication and disaster resilience workshop in Sydney, Australia. The goal of the workshop was to explore the challenges that organisations perceive as blockages to building community disaster resilience; and, through collaborative practitioner-led activities, identify which of those challenges could be best addressed through a deeper engagement with communication research. Design/methodology/approach – The authors link communication, collaboration and disaster resilience through the lens of PAR, detailing how communication and resilience experts can collaborate to improve disaster prevention, management and mitigation practice. Findings – The authors identify a number of theoretical considerations in understanding horizontal and vertical interfaces for improved communication. The authors also highlight how practical collaborative workshops can draw on communication researchers to facilitate collaborative resilience activities. PAR is shown to help move participant focus from resolving inter/intra-organisational tensions to facilitating public good, offering evidence-based recommendations which will foster a more reflexive and communicative approach to building disaster resilient communities. Research limitations/implications – This paper does not seek to apply community resilience to the general public, no community representatives were present at the workshop. This does not mean that the focus is on organisational resilience. Rather the authors apply PAR as a way to help organisations become more engaged with PAR, communication research and collaborative practice. PAR is a tool for organisations to use in building community resilience, but also a means to reflect on their practice. Whilst this should help organisations in building more resilient communities the take up of practice by participants outside of the workshop is a matter for future research. Practical implications – This method of collaborative resilience building could significantly improve the shared responsibility amongst key organisations, mobilising skills and building awareness of integrated resilience thinking in practice for stakeholders in disaster management activities. Originality/value – This paper provides original evidence-based research, showing the linkages between communication theory, collaboration practice and the tools used by organisations tasked with building community resilience. This innovative synthesis of skills can aid in building PAR led disaster resilience across prevention, preparation and mitigation activities for all potential hazards, threats and/or risks, however, it will be particularly of interest to organisations engaged in community resilience building activities.

scholarly journals Recurrent drought in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality of the North West Province in South Africa: An environmental justice perspective

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gideon Van Riet
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
North West ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
The North ◽  
North West Province ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
The Impact

This article adopts an environmental justice approach to recurrent drought in the North-West Province of South Africa. It is based on a secondary data analysis of a study – of which the author was a research team member – conducted in the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality in February 2007, which assessed the impact of drought on older people. The methodology used during the initial study included observation, individual interviews, focus group interviews and participatory research. The author of the present article suggests, however, that discourses of Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and ’legislative compliance’, as in many other South African contexts, have not yet been a particularly useful framing for issues of disaster and drought. The author suggests that environmental justice discourses might offer a more useful framing or conceptualisation for those concerned with the issue of recurrent drought in the study area or similar contexts.

Building Community Capacity for Disaster Resilience in Taiwan

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang-Chun Chen ◽  
◽  
Yi-Wen Wang ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Face ◽  
Building Community ◽  
Practical Experiences ◽  
Community Disaster Resilience

In the face of large-scale, high intensity, and continuously occurring disasters, the concept of community resilience in disaster management has gradually developed and drawn significant attention. This paper focuses on how to build community disaster resilience, based on practical experiences of disaster recovery in Taiwan, for the purpose of increasing community resilience. In order to build community disaster resilience, the Taiwanese central government has designed a community-based process for disaster adaptation. Since 2004, the process has been applied to more than one hundred communities in Taiwan, not only by our research team but also by the Taiwanese government. Two successful cases are used to illustrate our framework for community disaster resilience, which should include the two major components of emergency adjustment and long-term adaptive capacity. Significant factors for making the process operational are clarified so as to form a long-term framework for building community disaster resilience.

scholarly journals “We Just Want to Help” - Nonprofits Contributions to Community Resilience in the Disaster Space

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (s1) ◽  
pp. s22-s22
Author(s):  
Fiona Roberts ◽  
Frank Archer ◽  
Caroline Spencer
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Emergency Services ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Disaster Risk ◽  
Mitigation Strategies ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Knowledge Community ◽  
Resilient Communities ◽  
Community Outcomes ◽  
Building Community

Introduction:The National Strategy for Disaster Resilience (NSDR) characterizes resilient communities as having strong disaster and financial mitigation strategies, strong social capacity, networks, and self-reliance. Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) embrace many characteristics of a disaster resilient community. NPOs do not operate for the profit of individual members. Community groups like Lions and Rotary Club have long histories, and while not established to respond to disasters, they frequently have heavy involvement in preparing for or recovering from, disasters.Aim:The study aims to address the question, “What is the potential role of nonprofit organizations in building community resilience to disasters?”Methods:An applied research project was carried out, using theories of resilience, social capital, and the Sendai framework to conceptualize the frameworks and guide the process. Qualitative research methods, thematic analysis, and case studies helped identify Lions, Rotary, and Neighbourhood Houses Victoria strengths, barriers, and enablers.Results:Research demonstrated how NPOs made significant contributions to building communities’ resilience to disasters. NPOs facilitate three Sendai guiding principles of engaging, empowering, and enabling the community to build disaster resilience. Actions included raising awareness to disaster risk, reducing disaster risk, helping prepare for disasters, and contributing to long term disaster recovery. NPO strengths included local knowledge, community trust, and connections, which matched characteristics listed in the NSDR for a disaster resilient community. However, barriers to participation included traditional emergency services ignoring NPOs, lack of role definition, and lack of perceived legitimacy.Discussion:As the first Australia research to scientifically analyze the contributions of these NPOs to build community resilience, before, during and after disaster, this study enhances understanding and recognition of NPOs and assists in identifying means to facilitate their disaster resilience activities and place them more effectively within Emergency Management strategic processes. Greater utilization of such assets could lead to better community outcomes.

scholarly journals Critical evaluation of the customisation process of the UNDRR disaster resilience scorecard for cities to earthquake-induced soil liquefaction disaster events

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith Jones ◽  
Federica Pascale ◽  
Nadeeshani Wanigarathna ◽  
Mariantonietta Morga ◽  
Sinan Sargin
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Services ◽  
Critical Infrastructure ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Soil Liquefaction ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Stakeholder Groups ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Complex Relationships

AbstractAs cities become larger and more densely populated the impacts of major earthquake events on city communities become more severe. Improving community resilience to earthquake events relies on the complex relationships that exist between different community stakeholder groups (citizens, businesses, community groups, emergency services, critical infrastructure providers, politicians etc.). This paper reports results from a major EU funded study (LIQUEFACT) that developed a tool for assessing community resilience to Earthquake Induced Liquefaction Disaster (EILD) events. The tool is based on a customised version of the UNDRR Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities. The paper reviews alternative approaches to measuring community resilience and describes the process used in the LIQUEFACT project to develop and validate the customised scorecard. The paper presents the results of a questionnaire survey to identify the best generic approach to measure community resilience and a series of semi-structured group interviews to define a range of specific metrics for assessing community resilience to EILD events; and the results of a validation workshop to assess the effectiveness and usability of the customised scorecard. The paper concludes that it is possible to develop a customised version of the UNDRR Scorecard at an appropriate level of granularity to support improved community resilience to earthquake induced soil liquefaction disaster events. The paper also presents key lessons that could assist those developing similar customised versions of the UNDRR scorecard for use in different geographical settings or against different disaster scenarios.

Patients’ Perceptions of Caring and Uncaring Nursing Encounters in Inpatient Rehabilitation Settings

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan C Cheruiyot ◽  
Petra Brysiewicz
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Inpatient Rehabilitation ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
The Self ◽  
Personal Relationships ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Textual Data ◽  
Interview Guide ◽  
Being There

This study explores and describes caring and uncaring nursing encounters from the perspective of the patients admitted to inpatient rehabilitation settings in South Africa. The researchers used an exploratory descriptive design. A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data through individual interviews with 17 rehabilitation patients. Content analysis allowed for the analysis of textual data. Five categories of nursing encounters emerged from the analysis: noticing and acting, and being there for you emerged as categories of caring nursing encounters, and being ignored, being a burden, and deliberate punishment emerged as categories of uncaring nursing encounters. Caring nursing encounters make patients feel important and that they are not alone in the rehabilitation journey, while uncaring nursing encounters makes the patients feel unimportant and troublesome to the nurses. Caring nursing encounters give nurses an opportunity to notice and acknowledge the existence of vulnerability in the patients and encourage them to be present at that moment, leading to empowerment. Uncaring nursing encounters result in patients feeling devalued and depersonalised, leading to discouragement. It is recommended that nurses strive to develop personal relationships that promote successful nursing encounters. Further, nurses must strive to minimise the patients’ feelings of guilt and suffering, and to make use of tools, for example the self-perceived scale, to measure this. Nurses must also perform role plays on how to handle difficult patients such as confused, demanding and rude patients in the rehabilitation settings.

CHALLENGES TO BUILDING AUTHENTIC PARTNERSHIPS: LESSONS FROM BHAMBAYI, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA

2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanusha Raniga ◽  
Barbara Simpson ◽  
Ntokozo Mthembu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Informal Settlement ◽  
Mutual Trust ◽  
Open Communication ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Qualitative Phase

In contemporary South Africa, partnerships between service providers in government, non-governmental organisations, the private sector and community based organisations have been identified as a means to strengthen communities and the sustainability of social services. However, the unequal power relations that exists between and within these organisations often leads to fragmentation, duplication, and lack of coordination of social services. Using Fowler’s (1998) conceptualisation of authentic partnerships, this qualitative phase of a larger study explored the challenges of building authentic partnerships in Bhambayi, a predominantly informal settlement in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Individual interviews and a focus group held with nine service providers revealed that intraorganisational challenges, cross-boundary and inter-organisational relations as well as political influences were obstacles to the development of authentic partnerships. The article suggests that open communication, clarity of roles and mutual trust between service providers is vital.

scholarly journals Twitter Use in Hurricane Isaac and Its Implications for Disaster Resilience

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
Kejin Wang ◽  
Nina S. N. Lam ◽  
Lei Zou ◽  
Volodymyr Mihunov
Keyword(s):  
Census Data ◽  
Situational Awareness ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Positive Correlations ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Resilience Indicators ◽  
Three Phases

Disaster resilience is the capacity of a community to “bounce back” from disastrous events. Most studies rely on traditional data such as census data to study community resilience. With increasing use of social media, new data sources such as Twitter could be utilized to monitor human response during different phases of disasters to better understand resilience. An important research question is: Does Twitter use correlate with disaster resilience? Specifically, will communities with more disaster-related Twitter uses be more resilient to disasters, presumably because they have better situational awareness? The underlying issue is that if there are social and geographical disparities in Twitter use, how will such disparities affect communities’ resilience to disasters? This study examines the relationship between Twitter use and community resilience during Hurricane Isaac, which hit Louisiana and Mississippi in August 2012. First, we applied the resilience inference measurement (RIM) model to calculate the resilience indices of 146 affected counties. Second, we analyzed Twitter use and their sentiment patterns through the three phases of Hurricane Isaac—preparedness, response, and recovery. Third, we correlated Twitter use density and sentiment scores with the resilience scores and major social–environmental variables to test whether significant geographical and social disparities in Twitter use existed through the three phases of disaster management. Significant positive correlations were found between Twitter use density and resilience indicators, confirming that communities with higher resilience capacity, which are characterized by better social–environmental conditions, tend to have higher Twitter use. These results imply that Twitter use during disasters could be improved to increase the resilience of affected communities. On the other hand, no significant correlations were found between sentiment scores and resilience indicators, suggesting that further research on sentiment analysis may be needed.

What Do You Mean by Community Resilience? More Assets or Better Prepared?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Jianwen Wei ◽  
Ziqiang Han ◽  
Yang Han ◽  
Zepeng Gong
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Ordinary Least Squares ◽  
2008 Wenchuan Earthquake ◽  
Livelihood Assets ◽  
The Family ◽  
Building Community ◽  
Household Livelihood ◽  
Social Capitals

Abstract Objectives: Understanding people’s perception of community resilience to disaster is important. This study explores the correlations of household livelihood assets, the adopted household disaster preparedness activities, and individuals’ assessment of community resilience. Methods: The data was collected in 2018 by surveying a group of survivors affected by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China. The CART (Community Advancing Resilience Toolkit) was used to measure individuals’ perception of community resilience, while the livelihood assets included financial, physical, natural, human, and social capitals owned by the family, and the preparedness contained 13 activities. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models were used to test our hypotheses. Results: Social capital is consistently and positively associated with the overall individuals’ perceived community resilience, while the natural, human, and financial capitals’ effects are not significant. The awareness and participation preparedness activities are positively correlated with the perceived community resilience, but the material preparedness activities are not. Conclusions: Social capital and disaster preparedness activities are critical in building community resilience. Community resilience can be achieved by making the community more connected and by providing disaster preparedness interventions.

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