Progress in natural hazard risk reduction: What hath development wrought?

The development-disaster risk management agenda has been shaped over the last 25 years by development policies and practices that have isolated lesser developed countries' development agenda from dealing with risk to natural hazards, by intentional actions to create a theory and practice of disaster risk management alongside other cross-cutting issues, by attempting to nurture emergency management in the context of disaster risk management and by fostering competition for resources. Sovereign states, multilateral development banks and the international development community should collaborate in shifting paradigms to: consider all development actions as initiatives to reduce risk; separate emergency management policy and practice from disaster risk management; fold disaster risk management and climate change adaptation into development planning and lending processes so as to address risk to natural hazards; promote hazard, vulnerability and risk information as a public good; and insist on accountability and responsibility to natural hazard risk all along the development continuum.     

Models of best practice in flood risk communication and management

Risk communication plays an increasingly central role in flood risk management, but there is a variety of conflicting advice about what does – and should – get transmitted, why, how, and to whom. The aim of this paper is to elucidate the underlying normative and conceptual models on which those competing assessments of ‘good’ risk communication depend. To that end, the paper identifies four broad models, or approaches, to risk communication: a risk message model of information transfer; a risk instrument model of behavioural change; a risk dialogue model of participatory deliberation; and a risk government model of self-regulation and normalization. These models differ in their theoretical and disciplinary origins and associated philosophical and political commitments, and consequently they define the basic purpose, practice, and future prospects of flood risk communication in quite different ways. Unless these different models of ‘good’ risk communication are acknowledged and understood, efforts to identify best practice for flood risk management are likely to produce inconsistent, if not contradictory, recommendations.     

A world in turmoil: governing risk,establishing order in humanitarian crises

This special issue of Disasters on humanitarian governance focuses on risk and order. Its contributions show the tensions between humanitarian normative ideals and practical consequences, as many of the ordering effects are associated with either intended or unintended consequences. This introduction offers a conceptual framing of humanitarian governance. Defining humanitarian governance as a subset of global governance, the paper shows how humanitarians have attempted to improve the consequences of their work by fighting instrumentalisation and instituting rationalisation processes. It adapts four questions, originally formulated by Michael Barnett ( 2013 ), to examine the ways in which humanitarian governance functions in more detail: what kind of world is being imagined and produced through the specific concern with order and risk? Who governs? How is this a form of humanitarian governance and how is it organised? And finally, what are the principal techniques of such governance? The conclusion summarises the main findings and sets an agenda for further research.     

冬小麦旱灾风险评价的指标体系构建及应用——基于2009年北方春旱野外实地考察的认识

2009年2月初,我国北方冬麦区遭受了数十年未遇的严重干旱。基于野外实地考察,判断本次干旱对冬小麦造成的实际影响比气象统计与遥感监测结果要轻,同时因纬度、地貌类型、微地貌和田间管理水平的不同而呈现出明显的区域差异。在此基础上,提出应在已有的旱灾致灾指标（气象干旱）基础上,综合考虑地带性、地貌、水库等孕灾环境指标和田间管理水平等灾害适应指标来构建冬小麦旱灾风险的综合评价指标体系。并以北方冬麦区为例,选取SPI、地貌类型、DEM和水库缓冲区等指标得到的旱灾综合风险等级与实际旱情存在较高的吻合性。研究可为高风险区的冬小麦旱灾风险防范提供理论依据和案例支撑。     

Household self‐blame for disasters: responsibilisation and (un)accountability in decentralised participatory risk governance

The most important theoretical argument concerning decentralised participatory governance is that it can make a government more accountable for the needs of the governed. Key to this process are participatory spaces that act as mechanisms for dialogue between citizens and local government. However, within Cochabamba, a city in the centre of Bolivia, South America, ‘at‐risk’ citizens engage minimally with disaster risk issues in participatory spaces, despite high levels of civic participation. This is because ‘at‐risk’ populations view disasters as a private/household problem that is symptomatic of household error, rather than seeing them as a broader public problem due to wider structural inequalities. Consequently, they redistribute responsibility for disaster risk reduction towards households, which (re)produces the absolution of government authorities as guarantors of disaster risk reduction. This paper challenges the normative assumption that participatory spaces facilitate democratic deliberation of disaster risk reduction and the downward accountability of local government for disaster risk reduction.     

我国海岸带灾害成因分析及减灾对策

近年来海岸带灾害越来越成为制约海岸带－我国最重要的经济带社会、经济和环境可持续发展的重要因素。本文在全球变化和人类活动影响的背景下,分析探讨了我国海岸带灾害的基本成因,并提出了相应的概念性减灾对策框架,海岸带生态环境的脆弱性,全球变化（相对海平面变化、气候异常）和人类活动是导致我国海岸带灾害的3个主要方面。据此,认为减灾的关键在于合理规范人类行为,保护和改善本已十分脆弱的海岸带生态环境,使人与自然界和谐相处;对于全球变化诱发的灾害,则力求基于科学认识与预测,在海岸带开发中合理规划建设,做到未雨绸缪,实现海岸带社会经济可持续发展。     

How near is near? The distance perceptions of residents of a nuclear emergency planning zone

This paper reports the results of a study conducted within the emergency planning zone (EPZ) of the Nine Mile Point (NMP) nuclear complex located in Oswego County, New York. An EPZ is the area in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant for which detailed plans are implemented for the management of emergencies and for the communication of the risks of nuclear energy production. EPZs are subdivided into emergency response planning areas (ERPAs) according to distance from the plant. This study aimed at discovering how residents of the NMP EPZ perceived distance to the nuclear plant. Distance was conceptualized in five different and complementary ways: estimated straight line distance, estimated driving distance, actual straight distance, actual driving distance and perceived distance. The results indicate that people living at a very short distance from the nuclear plant perceive and estimate distance differently than people living farther away. These results have policy implications and suggest alternative and potentially more efficient ways to redesign ERPAs. Fundamental geographic variables and concepts such as distance, location, proximity and their associated human perceptions are important human dimensions of risk analysis. These results should be of interest to nuclear emergency planners and are probably applicable to many other hazard planning activities.     

1990年以来中国海洋灾害系统风险特征分析及其综合风险管理

长期以来,海洋灾害一直是困扰着海域及海岸带社会经济发展的一大障碍.中国是深受海洋灾害影响的国家之一.为此,从灾害系统论的角度,分析了1990年以来中国海洋灾害系统的风险特征.研究表明,中国在过去的15年中,工程性防灾减灾措施已经使海洋灾害灾情得到了一定的控制,但由于中国海域海事活动不断增多、海岸带经济密度快速提高,大大增加了海域及海岸带承灾体对海洋灾害风险的暴露,又由于海岸带及近海海域污染加重,海洋生物灾害发生的可能性增大,使中国海域面临的灾害风险趋于上升.此外,还讨论了中国海洋灾害综合风险管理的体系,提出从海洋灾害系统角度,加强海洋灾害综合风险管理能力的建设,以促进海洋及海岸带地区由政府、企业、社区共同组成的综合减灾范式的建立.     

Resilience to natural hazards: How useful is this concept?

Resilience is widely seen as a desirable system property in environmental management. This paper explores the concept of resilience to natural hazards, using weather-related hazards in coastal megacities as an example. The paper draws on the wide literature on megacities, coastal hazards, hazard risk reduction strategies, and resilience within environmental management. Some analysts define resilience as a system attribute, whilst others use it as an umbrella concept for a range of system attributes deemed desirable. These umbrella concepts have not been made operational to support planning or management. It is recommended that resilience only be used in a restricted sense to describe specific system attributes concerning (i) the amount of disturbance a system can absorb and still remain within the same state or domain of attraction and (ii) the degree to which the system is capable of self-organisation. The concept of adaptive capacity, which has emerged in the context of climate change, can then be adopted as the umbrella concept, where resilience will be one factor influencing adaptive capacity. This improvement to conceptual clarity would foster much-needed communication between the natural hazards and the climate change communities and, more importantly, offers greater potential in application, especially when attempting to move away from disaster recovery to hazard prediction, disaster prevention, and preparedness.     

Influences on stakeholder support for a wildfire early warning system in a UK protected area

Projected increases in wildfire risk and impacts to human populations in the UK have prompted the installation of expanded management approaches such as early warning systems (EWSs). Newer iterations of wildfire EWSs help mitigate risk through rapid detection, often using high-resolution monitoring technology and instantaneous information collection. While existing research suggests that local social context plays an important role in the effective application of EWSs, little is known about factors that contribute to stakeholder support for these technocratic systems and their successful implementation in protected areas. This study examines support for an EWS in Northumberland National Park, UK, using focus groups with a broad range of local stakeholders. We found that diverse stakeholder understandings of wildfire, different perceptions of wildfire risk, and varied identification of values at risk collectively help explain mixed support for the EWS. Mixed support also was an outgrowth of distrust between several stakeholder groups, indicating a need for improved communication regarding wildfire risk management across stakeholder groups. Results suggest that EWSs adopted in multi-use protected areas shared by a range of stakeholder are most likely to be successful when stakeholders have shared understandings of the hazard and opportunities for collective planning to address its risks. We conclude that EWSs are a viable approach to wildfire risk reduction, but there needs to be a critical consideration of pre-existing stakeholder dynamics for effective EWS implementation.     

Interactions in hazard management policies: the case of drought in Nicaragua, 1976–2010

The literature on adaptive and multi‐level governance calls for interactive hazard management to increase societies’ resilience. This paper maps the hazard management policies in a poor and hazard‐prone country—Nicaragua—and examines what role the government gives to interactions among different actors at different societal levels. A new analytical framework is developed that includes scope and direction to capture unidirectional or mutual interactions that are either horizontal or vertical. This enables a more complex analysis of interactions than that found in previous research. The review shows that the historical change in the role given to interactions, as a result of a focus on short‐term emergency response being complemented by long‐term risk management, mainly lies in how they are characterised—with more participants and other types of content categories—and the awareness that interactions other than mutual ones can be positive. This illustrates the complexity of the issue of interactions.     

基于WebGIS的城市泥石流数字减灾系统建立及其应用

基于WEBGIS的城市泥石流数字减灾系统是实现泥石流非工程减灾的重要措施，依托信息技术和通讯技术进行城市泥石流数字减灾WEBGIS系统的研究与设计，对城市泥石流的减灾与防治具有重要的应用价值和现实意义。本系统包括城市环境信息、城市经济信息、泥石流基础信息、泥石流灾害评价、泥石流综合防灾规划、相关论文著作及软件与数据下载七个功能模块，实现了基础信息管理、灾害评价、防灾规划和信息服务等泥石流数字防灾减灾功能，系统依托ARCIMS、JAVA、ARCXML技术进行设计与开发，并在云南东川城区得到了较好的应用，实现了系统本阶段设计目标，表明WebGIS在城市泥石流防减灾方面广具应用前景。     

Climate change and disaster management

Climate change, although a natural phenomenon, is accelerated by human activities. Disaster policy response to climate change is dependent on a number of factors, such as readiness to accept the reality of climate change, institutions and capacity, as well as willingness to embed climate change risk assessment and management in development strategies. These conditions do not yet exist universally. A focus that neglects to enhance capacity-building and resilience as a prerequisite for managing climate change risks will, in all likelihood, do little to reduce vulnerability to those risks. Reducing vulnerability is a key aspect of reducing climate change risk. To do so requires a new approach to climate change risk and a change in institutional structures and relationships. A focus on development that neglects to enhance governance and resilience as a prerequisite for managing climate change risks will, in all likelihood, do little to reduce vulnerability to those risks.     

城市地裂缝风险评价方法研究

随着人们应对灾害从过去的“被动救灾”走向现在的“主动预防”,风险管理成为防灾减灾领域一个热门话题。从危险性评价、易损性评价以及防灾减灾能力评价三个方面阐述了城市地裂缝风险评价内容,提出了城市地裂缝风险评价流程,探讨了城市地裂缝可接受风险水平。在机理分析的基础上给出了城市地裂缝危险性评价指标体系,根据城市用地类型开展易损性评价具有很好的可操作性。首次提出了城市地裂缝防灾减灾能力评价方法。     

基于GIS的滑坡灾害风险空间预测

滑坡灾害风险评价是一个包含有滑坡危险性评价和承灾体易损性评价的体系,对滑坡危险性进行了空间预测与区划,并开展了区域承灾体易损性的区划与评价。结合风险评价的基本要求,进行了研究区滑坡灾害的风险区划,将其划分为极高、高、中、低与极低风险区。针对研究区经济发展水平及政府防灾力度,提出了适合研究区的可接受风险标准与管理对策。     

Measuring vulnerability to natural hazards: a macro framework

The measurement of vulnerability—defined here as the asymmetric response of disaster occurrences to hazardous events—signifies a key step towards effective disaster risk reduction and the promotion of a culture of disaster resilience. One of the reasons for not being able to do the same in a wider context is related to conceptual, definitional, and operational issues. This paper presents an operationally feasible framework for conducting this task and measures revealed macro vulnerability as a function of disaster risk and hazard probability. The probabilities of hazard and its perceived disaster risk were obtained from past data and from probability distributions. In this paper, the corresponding analytical framework is constructed using the case study of floods in Assam, India. The proposed indicator will help policymakers to draw on available macro‐level data to identify the regions that are vulnerable to disasters, where micro‐level disaster vulnerability assessments could be performed in greater detail.     

中国大都市群地区的水灾风险与应急管理研究

在经典风险评价理论模型的基础上,结合自然灾害系统理论,建立了简明水灾综合风险评价模型,完成了中国九大都市群的水灾风险评价.结果表明:我国都市群水灾风险呈现出以都市区中心市为核心的(近)圈层状分布;水灾风险由高到低依次为长三角、珠三角、长江中游、京津唐、吉黑、中原、成渝、辽中南和山东半岛都市群.基于上述研究,强调应建立包含水灾综合风险评价、水灾风险应急预案编制与情景模拟以及水灾风险区划与规划的水灾风险应急管理体系.     

Operationalizing risk perception and preparedness behavior research for a multi-hazard context

Increasingly, citizens are being asked to take a more active role in disaster risk reduction (DRR), as decentralization of hazard governance has shifted greater responsibility for hazard preparedness actions onto individuals. Simultaneously, the taxonomy of hazards considered for DRR has expanded to include medical and social crises alongside natural hazards. Risk perception research emerged to support decision-makers with understanding how people characterize and evaluate different hazards to anticipate behavioral response and guide risk communication. Since its inception, the risk perception concept has been incorporated into many behavioral theories, which have been applied to examine preparedness for numerous hazard types. Behavioral theories have had moderate success in predicting or explaining preparedness behaviors; however, they are typically applied to a single hazard type and there is a gap in understanding which theories (if any) are suited for examining multiple hazard types simultaneously. This paper first reviews meta-analyses of behavioral theories to better understand performance. Universal lessons learnt are summarized for survey design. Second, theoretically based preparedness studies for floods, earthquakes, epidemics, and terrorism are reviewed to assess the conceptual requirements for a ‘multi-hazard’ preparedness approach. The development of an online preparedness self-assessment and learning platform is discussed.     

中国城市综合灾害风险管理现状与对策

世界性城市灾害的加剧已成为城市化进程中的一大障碍，它也是城市化过程的产物。如何协调城市化过程与城市综合灾害风险管理，已成为当今世界、特别是像中国这样的发展中国家可持续发展的一大难题。在综述了中国城市灾害及其风险管理现状的基础上，通过对其薄弱环节的综合分析，依据作者提出的综合灾害风险管理模式，就中国城市综合灾害风险管理对策提出了3条政策建议：即完善城市灾害风险管理的信息保障机制，特别是灾害预警体系、信息共享体系和信息公开机制；加强城市综合减灾能力的建设，特别是明确城市建设中减灾工程与非工程设施投入的固定比例，完善减灾教育宣传体系和综合灾害应急响应的科技平台体系；建立城市综合灾害风险管理范式，特别是高度重视城市规划中综合减灾规划的改进和完善，加快拓展城市企业灾害保险与再保险和发展适应城市灾害风险的“安全社区”范式。