Abstract
Community-based disaster risk management (CBDRM) is an emancipatory approach that aims to empower local communities in reducing their own risks. A community risk assessment (CRA) is an essential element of CBDRM, incorporating highly participatory processes of hazard identification and vulnerability analysis. By incorporating local knowledge and insights, together with those contributed by other external role players, the nature of local risks can be more accurately identified, giving consideration to their causal factors, the nature of their realised impacts or potential effects on a local community and the challenges posed in addressing them. Reflecting on the process and outcomes of a CRA conducted in an informal settlement in the Cape Town metropolitan area, this article describes how one such risk assessment contributed to building local agency through a process of collaborative engagement. Offered as an example of possible best practice, it illustrates both the immediate and potentially longer term benefits to be derived from such a collaborative process, suggesting that a community-based risk assessment may contribute significantly to building more resilient communities. It concludes with a consideration of the challenges of sustaining longer term risk reduction efforts.
Highlights
The South African Disaster Management Act (Act 57 of 2002) is globally acknowledged to be a progressive piece of disaster management legislation
Over a brief 2-day period, in July 2015, following several days of classroom-based training in risk assessment methodology, learning about participatory methods and the ethics of working with communities, trainees spent time in the field, immersed in the real-life context of an informal settlement .Working together with residents from the Wallacedene temporary relocation area (TRA), their task was to interrogate the nature of risks prevalent in the settlement, developing an insightful understanding of the hazards faced by residents, the nature of their vulnerability to these hazards, the coping mechanisms and any longer term adaptations they might have developed in response to the threats they live with
Drawing on the insights and understandings of ‘everyday specialists’ (Klein 2004), participatory processes may stimulate creative and alternative imaginaries (Vogel et al 2016). This has been illustrated in the case of the Wallacedene TRA informal settlement in Cape Town, South Africa, where as a result of a collaborative risk assessment exercise that delivered tangible results, the TRA community began to imagine another reality, recognising their capacity to redefine and reshape the space in which they live through their own agency
Summary
The South African Disaster Management Act (Act 57 of 2002) is globally acknowledged to be a progressive piece of disaster management legislation. Reflecting on the process and outcomes of a CRA conducted in an informal settlement in the Cape Town metropolitan area, this article illustrates the immediate and potential longer term benefits that may be derived from a robust community-based risk assessment process.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
