Designing Knowledge Economies for Disaster Resilience

Designing Knowledge Economies for Disaster Resilience
Author: Pamela Waldron-Moore
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 244
Release: 2023-11-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1805394002

Disaster research has been studied from many angles, seldom targeting its implications for vulnerable territories in Africa. Entities most subject to the effects of climate change are often undeveloped and located in disadvantaged regions. Post-disaster communities need to scrutinize the social, political, economic, and cultural structures that stagnate sustainable growth. Acknowledging that low economic development and high climate costs cannot coexist, this collected volume interrogates the challenge for disaster-prone territories to determine strategies for restructuring and redesigning their environment. This book proposes the creation of knowledge economies, whereby empowered communities may produce innovative knowledge translatable across the African diaspora.

Disaster Resilience

Disaster Resilience
Author: National Academies
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 216
Release: 2012-12-29
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309261503

No person or place is immune from disasters or disaster-related losses. Infectious disease outbreaks, acts of terrorism, social unrest, or financial disasters in addition to natural hazards can all lead to large-scale consequences for the nation and its communities. Communities and the nation thus face difficult fiscal, social, cultural, and environmental choices about the best ways to ensure basic security and quality of life against hazards, deliberate attacks, and disasters. Beyond the unquantifiable costs of injury and loss of life from disasters, statistics for 2011 alone indicate economic damages from natural disasters in the United States exceeded $55 billion, with 14 events costing more than a billion dollars in damages each. One way to reduce the impacts of disasters on the nation and its communities is to invest in enhancing resilience-the ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, recover from and more successfully adapt to adverse events. Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative addresses the broad issue of increasing the nation's resilience to disasters. This book defines "national resilience", describes the state of knowledge about resilience to hazards and disasters, and frames the main issues related to increasing resilience in the United States. It also provide goals, baseline conditions, or performance metrics for national resilience and outlines additional information, data, gaps, and/or obstacles that need to be addressed to increase the nation's resilience to disasters. Additionally, the book's authoring committee makes recommendations about the necessary approaches to elevate national resilience to disasters in the United States. Enhanced resilience allows better anticipation of disasters and better planning to reduce disaster losses-rather than waiting for an event to occur and paying for it afterward. Disaster Resilience confronts the topic of how to increase the nation's resilience to disasters through a vision of the characteristics of a resilient nation in the year 2030. Increasing disaster resilience is an imperative that requires the collective will of the nation and its communities. Although disasters will continue to occur, actions that move the nation from reactive approaches to disasters to a proactive stance where communities actively engage in enhancing resilience will reduce many of the broad societal and economic burdens that disasters can cause.

Disasters by Design

Disasters by Design
Author: Dennis Mileti
Publisher: Joseph Henry Press
Total Pages: 372
Release: 1999-06-18
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309261732

Disasters by Design provides an alternative and sustainable way to view, study, and manage hazards in the United States that would result in disaster-resilient communities, higher environmental quality, inter- and intragenerational equity, economic sustainability, and improved quality of life. This volume provides an overview of what is known about natural hazards, disasters, recovery, and mitigation, how research findings have been translated into policies and programs; and a sustainable hazard mitigation research agenda. Also provided is an examination of past disaster losses and hazards management over the past 20 years, including factorsâ€"demographic, climate, socialâ€"that influence loss. This volume summarizes and sets the stage for the more detailed books in the series.

Disaster Resilience and Sustainability

Disaster Resilience and Sustainability
Author: Sangam Shrestha
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 836
Release: 2021-06-24
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0323851967

Disasters undermine societal well-being, causing loss of lives and damage to social and economic infrastructures. Disaster resilience is central to achieving the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, especially in regions where extreme inequality combines with the increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters. Disaster risk reduction and resilience requires participation of wide array of stakeholders ranging from academicians to policy makers to disaster managers. Disaster Resilient Cities: Adaptation for Sustainable Development offers evidence-based, problem-solving techniques from social, natural, engineering and other disciplinary perspectives. It connects data, research, conceptual work with practical cases on disaster risk management, capturing the multi-sectoral aspects of disaster resilience, adaptation strategy and sustainability. The book links disaster risk management with sustainable development under a common umbrella, showing that effective disaster resilience strategies and practices lead to achieving broader sustainable development goals. - Provides foundational knowledge on integrated disaster risk reduction and management to show how resilience and its associated concept such as adaptive and transformative strategies can foster sustainable development - Brings together disaster risk reduction and resilience scientists, policy-makers and practitioners from different disciplines - Case studies on disaster risk management from natural science, social science, engineering and other relevant disciplinary perspectives

Investing in Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience

Investing in Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience
Author: A. Nuno Martins
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 320
Release: 2022-03-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0128186399

Successful applications in the field of disaster risk reduction require interdisciplinary, coordinated action. Current literature focuses on comprehensive understandings of processes critical to risk reduction but lack in-depth discussions that put this accumulated knowledge into actionable tools for decision-making. Investing in Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience is based on the third principle of the Sendai Framework. The UNISDR Sendai Framework for DRR (disaster risk reduction) 2015-2030 is a recently adopted global agreement focused on reducing disaster risk. The Sendai Framework emphasizes that the State holds the primary responsibility in reducing risk but argues for the additional involvement of relevant stakeholders to address challenges in the policy and practice of building resilience strategies. The framework has four key principles: Understanding disaster risk Strengthening disaster risk governance to manage disaster risk Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response to "Build Back Better" in recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction This book discusses specific aspects of the third principle, including both public and private investment in disaster risk prevention/reduction through structural and non-structural measures. By presenting these multilevel investment strategies, the book offers methods for increasing the resilience of cultural landscapes and heritages for poor, migrating, or displaced populations during post humanitarian crises. This emphasis of increasing resilience of heritage and culture is unique compared to the current literature. Follows the global frameworks for disaster risk reduction and sustainability, specifically the UNISDR Sendai Framework for DRR, 2015-2030 Addresses ways to increase resilience in humanitarian crises after disasters Provides considerations for resilience of cultural landscapes and heritages Presents methodologies dealing with risk uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity

Designing Knowledge Economies for Disaster Resilience

Designing Knowledge Economies for Disaster Resilience
Author: Pamela Waldron-Moore
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2023-11-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1805391712

Disaster research has been studied from many angles, seldom targeting its implications for vulnerable territories in Africa. Entities most subject to the effects of climate change are often undeveloped and located in disadvantaged regions. Post-disaster communities need to scrutinize the social, political, economic, and cultural structures that stagnate sustainable growth. Acknowledging that low economic development and high climate costs cannot coexist, this collected volume interrogates the challenge for disaster-prone territories to determine strategies for restructuring and redesigning their environment. This book proposes the creation of knowledge economies, whereby empowered communities may produce innovative knowledge translatable across the African diaspora.

Urban Disaster Resilience and Security

Urban Disaster Resilience and Security
Author: Alexander Fekete
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 513
Release: 2017-12-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3319686062

This edited book investigates the interrelations of disaster impacts, resilience and security in an urban context. Urban as a term captures megacities, cities, and generally, human settlements, that are characterised by concentration of quantifiable and non-quantifiable subjects, objects and value attributions to them. The scope is to narrow down resilience from an all-encompassing concept to applied ways of scientifically attempting to ‚measure’ this type of disaster related resilience. 28 chapters in this book reflect opportunities and doubts of the disaster risk science community regarding this ‚measurability’. Therefore, examples utilising both quantitative and qualitative approaches are juxtaposed. This book concentrates on features that are distinct characteristics of resilience, how they can be measured and in what sense they are different to vulnerability and risk parameters. Case studies in 11 countries either use a hypothetical pre-event estimation of resilience or are addressing a ‘revealed resilience’ evident and documented after an event. Such information can be helpful to identify benchmarks or margins of impact magnitudes and related recovery times, volumes and qualities of affected populations and infrastructure.

A Blueprint for Coastal Adaptation

A Blueprint for Coastal Adaptation
Author: Carolyn Kousky
Publisher: Island Press
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2021-05-20
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1642831395

Tens of millions of Americans are at risk from sea level rise, increased tidal flooding, and intensifying storms. A Blueprint for Coastal Adaptation identifies a bold new research and policy agenda and provides implementable options for coastal communities responding to these threats. In this book, coastal adaptation experts present a range of climate adaptation policies that could protect coastal communities against increasing risk, including concrete financing recommendations. Coastal adaptation will not be easy, but it is achievable using varied approaches. A Blueprint for Coastal Adaptation will inspire innovative and cross-disciplinary thinking about coastal policy at the state and local level while providing actionable, realistic policy and planning options for adaptation professionals and policymakers.

Building Community Disaster Resilience Through Private-Public Collaboration

Building Community Disaster Resilience Through Private-Public Collaboration
Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 142
Release: 2011-03-17
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0309162637

Natural disasters-including hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods-caused more than 220,000 deaths worldwide in the first half of 2010 and wreaked havoc on homes, buildings, and the environment. To withstand and recover from natural and human-caused disasters, it is essential that citizens and communities work together to anticipate threats, limit their effects, and rapidly restore functionality after a crisis. Increasing evidence indicates that collaboration between the private and public sectors could improve the ability of a community to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. Several previous National Research Council reports have identified specific examples of the private and public sectors working cooperatively to reduce the effects of a disaster by implementing building codes, retrofitting buildings, improving community education, or issuing extreme-weather warnings. State and federal governments have acknowledged the importance of collaboration between private and public organizations to develop planning for disaster preparedness and response. Despite growing ad hoc experience across the country, there is currently no comprehensive framework to guide private-public collaboration focused on disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Building Community Disaster Resilience through Private-Public Collaboration assesses the current state of private-public sector collaboration dedicated to strengthening community resilience, identifies gaps in knowledge and practice, and recommends research that could be targeted for investment. Specifically, the book finds that local-level private-public collaboration is essential to the development of community resilience. Sustainable and effective resilience-focused private-public collaboration is dependent on several basic principles that increase communication among all sectors of the community, incorporate flexibility into collaborative networks, and encourage regular reassessment of collaborative missions, goals, and practices.

The Ostrich Paradox

The Ostrich Paradox
Author: Robert Meyer
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 133
Release: 2017-02-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1613630794

"The Ostrich Paradox boldly addresses a key question of our time: Why are we humans so poor at dealing with disastrous risks, and what can we humans do about it? It is a must-read for everyone who cares about risk." —Daniel Kahneman, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and author of Thinking, Fast and Slow We fail to evacuate when advised. We rebuild in flood zones. We don't wear helmets. We fail to purchase insurance. We would rather avoid the risk of "crying wolf" than sound an alarm. Our ability to foresee and protect against natural catastrophes has never been greater; yet, we consistently fail to heed the warnings and protect ourselves and our communities, with devastating consequences. What explains this contradiction? In The Ostrich Paradox, Wharton professors Robert Meyer and Howard Kunreuther draw on years of teaching and research to explain why disaster preparedness efforts consistently fall short. Filled with heartbreaking stories of loss and resilience, the book addresses: •How people make decisions when confronted with high-consequence, low-probability events—and how these decisions can go awry •The 6 biases that lead individuals, communities, and institutions to make grave errors that cost lives •The Behavioral Risk Audit, a systematic approach for improving preparedness by recognizing these biases and designing strategies that anticipate them •Why, if we are to be better prepared for disasters, we need to learn to be more like ostriches, not less Fast-reading and critically important, The Ostrich Paradox is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why we consistently underprepare for disasters, as well as private and public leaders, planners, and policy-makers who want to build more prepared communities.