Building Community Disaster Resilience Research Articles

LACK OF COLLABORATIVE GOVERNANCE IN BUILDING COMMUNITY DISASTER RESILIENCE

Many deaths and victims caused by catastrophic natural hazard occurred in Indonesia has proven the weakness of government to create a community disaster resilience among society. Under this circumstance any efforts of government are expected to be solution to stop or at least reduce the nightmare of society when the disaster occurred. This paper elaborates the discussion about building community disaster resilience through collaborative governance performed by Banyuwangi local government in Indonesia. Furthermore, the discussion about community disaster resilience and collaborative governance will be tied up by institutional and socio-ecological context. Therefore, this paper will highlight the role of actors, collaborative process and organization performance rather than any technical attributes from disaster resilience. The finding of this study reveals that there are some inhibiting factors influencing collaboration among actor to build community disaster resilience. The failure to manage these factors has resulting lack of collaboration and lead to weak community resilience in Banyuwangi.

Site selection criteria for temporary sheltering in urban environment

PurposeThe inevitable occurrence of natural disasters and crisis arising from them causes a lot of losses globally, particularly in disaster-prone countries such as Iran. One of the main issues considered by organizations involved in crisis management is the selection of suitable sites for temporary sheltering for disaster victims. This study aims to choose safe places to establish temporary sheltering in urban environment.Design/methodology/approachInitially, relevant factors are identified by reviewing literature and through consultation with disaster experts. Next, the important layers were collected and analytical hierarchy process was used to assess the criteria weights based on their effectiveness on selection of safe sites for temporary sheltering. Finally, for integrating layers of factors, overlay and fuzzy models were used in Geographic Information System (GIS) environment, and subsequently, a proper map was prepared and suitable areas were identified.Findings7 main criteria and 19 sub-criteria were selected to provide safe places for temporary sheltering. The results of fuzzy model in this study provide more accurate and limited safe areas for temporary sheltering when compared to index overlay model.Originality/valueThe results of this study will help decision-makers and local and regional managers to reduce the vulnerability of at-risk communities in urban environments. Moreover, choosing appropriate places for temporary shelters would help build community disaster resilience according to these criteria.

Resilience policy in practice — Surveying the role of community based organisations in local disaster management

ABSTRACTThis paper explores how government policy and research understanding of the importance of CBOs has translated to local level disaster management practice. The paper presents findings of a review of all Local Government Disaster Management plans in Queensland, Australia. We explore factors affecting the role of CBOs including median local government area income, disaster experience, local government area population size and the number of CBOs in a given area. We find that the population of a Local Government Area and the number of CBOs within that local government area exert a far greater effect on determining the role of CBOs in that local government area than either income or number of disaster events. Our findings suggests that post-disaster learning and adaptation is not occurring at the local level. We discuss this failing in policy implementation and the implications for government to build community disaster resilience.

A stakeholder approach to building community resilience: awareness to implementation

Purpose The paper aims to examine one local government’s efforts to increase local-level engagement in building community disaster resilience. Presenting the empirical evidence of stakeholder engagement activities that increase risk awareness and encourage collective action, the study addresses a key priority for the Post-2015 Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (Hyogo Framework for Action 2) to identify methods for increasing local-level implementation of disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative, case study approach is used to explore the case in depth. A review of literature from the multidisciplinary areas of communication, social and political theory frames data collection and analysis. Data collection includes observation, document analysis and interviews with policymakers, practitioners and local stakeholders to document achievements and lessons learnt from all perspectives. Findings Preliminary results indicate that strong political leadership and inter-departmental coordination have contributed to engaging local-level participation in disaster risk reduction in the Municipality of Amadora, Portugal. Findings indicate that the implementation of a wide spectrum of public engagement initiatives has increased awareness of hazard risks amongst specific demographic groups and improved community and government capacity to identify and implement risk reduction strategies. Research limitations/implications As this study is a work-in-progress and data analysis is in the early stages, interview transcripts included in this paper are limited to members of the team and their Director, Amadora Town Councillor for Civil Protection Services. Practical implications It is commonly acknowledged that to date, achievements of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2010-2015 largely remain at the national level and have not reached local levels in a substantial manner. Addressing the need for more industry-led research to explore examples of successful stakeholder participation, the paper’s findings can be used by emergency management practitioners who recognise the need to merge climate change adaptation, risk reduction and local-level engagement to encourage public participation, inclusiveness and proactive planning. Originality/value Co-authored by an Australian academic and a member of Amadora’s Campaign Team, the paper is a combination of empirical data from one city’s practical experience to develop and implement communication strategies in developing and implementing strategies to build community disaster resilience, analysed within a framework of communication, social and political theory.

Collaboration and communication

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.

The Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project - a community-level, public health initiative to build community disaster resilience.

Public health officials need evidence-based methods for improving community disaster resilience and strategies for measuring results. This methods paper describes how one public health department is addressing this problem. This paper provides a detailed description of the theoretical rationale, intervention design and novel evaluation of the Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project (LACCDR), a public health program for increasing community disaster resilience. The LACCDR Project utilizes a pretest–posttest method with control group design. Sixteen communities in Los Angeles County were selected and randomly assigned to the experimental community resilience group or the comparison group. Community coalitions in the experimental group receive training from a public health nurse trained in community resilience in a toolkit developed for the project. The toolkit is grounded in theory and uses multiple components to address education, community engagement, community and individual self-sufficiency, and partnerships among community organizations and governmental agencies. The comparison communities receive training in traditional disaster preparedness topics of disaster supplies and emergency communication plans. Outcome indicators include longitudinal changes in inter-organizational linkages among community organizations, community member responses in table-top exercises, and changes in household level community resilience behaviors and attitudes. The LACCDR Project is a significant opportunity and effort to operationalize and meaningfully measure factors and strategies to increase community resilience. This paper is intended to provide public health and academic researchers with new tools to conduct their community resilience programs and evaluation research. Results are not yet available and will be presented in future reports.

Resilience in the Aftermath of The Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill: An Academic-Community Partnership to Improve Health Education, Social Support, Access to Care, and Disaster Preparedness

ABSTRACT The Gulf of Mexico oil spill affords a unique opportunity to examine resilience from a transdisciplinary, systems perspective. In 2011, the National Research Council (NRC) in its publication “Building Community Disaster Resilience through Private-Public Collaboration” recommended research that results in quantitative risk and outcome markers, projects which strengthen community resilience, and to document best practices. Although the ecological impacts of oil spills are widely studied, the full picture displaying the impact on population health is a lesser-explored area. Disasters, both natural and technological, can result in both short-term and long-term stressors. Tulane University Transdisciplinary Research Consortium for Gulf Resilience on Women's Health (GROWH) and the Gulf Region Health Outreach Program (GRHOP) community engagement and community health navigation projects are examples of evidence-based interventions using trained community health workers (CHWs) to address NRCs recommendations by 1) assessing adherence to prenatal care and postpartum and infant health outcomes, 2) building bridges between health systems and communities – working to improve the relevance, acceptability, and accessibility of health services, 3) increasing access to occupational and environmental health specialists, and 4) improving the ability of Gulf Coast communities to withstand and recover from a disaster.

Building community disaster resilience through a virtual community of practice (VCOP)

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss a pilot in-progress project to promote community-based research (CBR) as a tool for disaster resilience planning in rural, remote and coastal communities. Using trans-disciplinary approaches, this project demonstrates how emergency and foresight planning in five rural Canadian pilot communities can be enhanced through the co-design of a pilot Web 2.0 “virtual community of practice” (VCOP). Design/methodology/approach – The VCOP initiative was designed with pilot and field site communities to facilitate knowledge generation and exchange and to enhance community resilience. Building a culturally appropriate disaster resilience process is an iterative “process of discovery” and community engagement. Through CBR the project supports practitioners and volunteers to share promising practices and lessons-learned for disaster resilience planning. Findings – The VCOP is being developed in five rural, remote, coastal pilot sites across Canada. Additional field site work is also underway in three urban centres sponsored by a project partner. This paper provides an overview of the initial concept, design and “proof of concept” work currently underway. The pilot project will end in the Fall 2012. Research limitations/implications – Inspired by the work of American adult educator Etienne Wenger, the VCOP entails co-design and co-ownership of a knowledge engagement process; one which enables local “thought leaders” to participate in emergency planning, preparedness, response and recovery. The VCOP provides a communication platform and fosters “foresight” planning and “education for critical awareness”. Through the sharing of theory and practice, i.e. praxis, communities are mobilized and empowered to anticipate future risks and threats and plan for resilient recovery. Practical implications – The VCOP foresight planning paradigm challenges the status quo design and delivery of emergency management protocols from traditional “centres of knowledge and power”, e.g. governments and universities and fosters “bottom-up” community-driven planning to anticipate risks and threats and help enhance local capacity for resilient disaster recovery. Originality/value – The novel application of a VCOP to disaster emergency planning is in keeping with the spirit and principles of UNISDR's Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015. VCOP has potential to demonstrate disaster resilience “foresight” planning as evidenced in the adoption of promising ideas and practices developed by communities, for communities. As Louis Pasteur once said “Chance favours the prepared mind”.

Building Community Disaster Resilience: Perspectives From a Large Urban County Department of Public Health

An emerging approach to public health emergency preparedness and response, community resilience encompasses individual preparedness as well as establishing a supportive social context in communities to withstand and recover from disasters. We examine why building community resilience has become a key component of national policy across multiple federal agencies and discuss the core principles embodied in community resilience theory-specifically, the focus on incorporating equity and social justice considerations in preparedness planning and response. We also examine the challenges of integrating community resilience with traditional public health practices and the importance of developing metrics for evaluation and strategic planning purposes. Using the example of the Los Angeles County Community Disaster Resilience Project, we discuss our experience and perspective from a large urban county to better understand how to implement a community resilience framework in public health practice.

Building Community Capacity for Disaster Resilience in Taiwan

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.