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Sustainability
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Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development
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Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2011) | Viewed by 79805

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Thomas J. Cova

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Geography Department, College of Social & Behavioral Science, University of Utah, 260 S. Central Campus Dr., Orson Spencer Hall, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-9155, USA
Interests: environmental hazards; emergency management; transportation; geographic information science; spatial optimization
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Scott Miles

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Environmental Studies, Western Washington University, 516 High St, MS 9085, Bellingham, WA 98225, USA

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Disasters are associated with failures to develop communities in a sustainable manner. Conversely, sustainable development – achievement of vibrant and equitable economic, social and environmental systems for current and future generations – is impossible without reducing the risk of future disasters. Disaster risk reduction incorporates broadly inclusive capacity building, hazard mitigation, emergency response, and community recovery. Each component of disaster risk reduction both requires, and provides opportunity for, sustainable development. These efforts should take place across many geographic scales with broad public participation informing all aspects of planning and decision-making. This special issue will focus on new theoretical frameworks, methods, and case studies aimed at promoting the inter-related goals of sustainable development and disaster risk reduction. These goals are interdisciplinary in nature and thus contributions are welcome from the social and physical sciences including environmental science, engineering, urban planning, public health, geography, and human ecology.

Dr. Thomas J. Cova
Dr. Scott Miles
Guest Editors

Keywords

  • disaster risk reduction
  • sustainable development
  • community resilience

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

897 KiB  
Article
‘Sufferings Start from the Mothers’ Womb’: Vulnerabilities and Livelihood War of the Small-Scale Fishers of Bangladesh
by Apurba Krishna Deb and C. Emdad Haque
Sustainability 2011, 3(12), 2500-2527; https://doi.org/10.3390/su3122500 - 20 Dec 2011
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 11157
Abstract
Due to its deltaic geographical position and precarious socioeconomic and demographic conditions, Bangladesh is recognized worldwide for its exposure to recurring environmental hazards. Based on a 21-month long field study in two fishing villages that are characterized by distinct ecological settings and ethnic [...] Read more.
Due to its deltaic geographical position and precarious socioeconomic and demographic conditions, Bangladesh is recognized worldwide for its exposure to recurring environmental hazards. Based on a 21-month long field study in two fishing villages that are characterized by distinct ecological settings and ethnic groups, this article examines the arrays of cross-scale environmental, social and institutional stressors that singly or cumulatively impact fishers’ livelihood well-being and generational poverty. Analysis of the vulnerabilities makes it clear that the degree to which poor fishers suffer from environmental stressors and calamities is determined not only by the frequency of abnormal events, but also by their internal capabilities of self-protection, resilience against those stressors, position in the social network and asset and resource ownership. Coastal and floodplain fishers identified cyclone and long-standing floods as strong drivers of poverty as their bundles of ‘safety net’ capital are usually disrupted or lost. For a majority of the fishers, income/day/family declines to as low as US$ 0.7–0.9. Fishers lack appropriate sets of endowments and entitlements that would allow them immediate buffer against livelihood stressors. Vulnerability here is intricately related to one’s socio-economic status; poor and ‘socially vulnerable’ ethnic fishers are concurrently ‘biologically vulnerable’ too. The corollary of multi-faceted stressors is that, poverty persists as an ever-increasing haunting presence that thousands of floodplain and coastal fishers of Bangladesh are forced to cope with. It is evident that nature-induced stressors exert ‘ratchet effects’ on fishers with low endowments who critically risk nutritional deprivation and social standing. Lucidly, most of the fishers are trapped in a form of ‘livelihood war’. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development)
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2812 KiB  
Article
The Unsustainable Trend of Natural Hazard Losses in the United States
by Melanie Gall, Kevin A. Borden, Christopher T. Emrich and Susan L. Cutter
Sustainability 2011, 3(11), 2157-2181; https://doi.org/10.3390/su3112157 - 14 Nov 2011
Cited by 127 | Viewed by 22463 | Correction
Abstract
In the United States, direct losses from natural hazards are on the rise with hurricanes, flooding, and severe storms contributing about three quarters of the total damages. While losses from severe storms have been stable over the past fifty years, hurricane and flood [...] Read more.
In the United States, direct losses from natural hazards are on the rise with hurricanes, flooding, and severe storms contributing about three quarters of the total damages. While losses from severe storms have been stable over the past fifty years, hurricane and flood losses have tripled. Per capita losses are also increasing showing that impacts outpace population growth with high per capita losses occurring largely in the Southeast and Midwest. If the loss escalation of the past two decades continues into the future, then direct losses of $300 to $400 billion within a single decade are possible. In order to reverse this trend, sustainable development, vulnerability reduction, and hazard mitigation must become priorities and current loss reduction efforts need to be evaluated and re-assessed in terms of their effectiveness. These conclusions are drawn from the analysis of spatial and temporal trends in direct losses from natural hazards using SHELDUSTM data from 1960 through 2009. Loss data are adjusted for inflation, population, and wealth to capture both trends in total losses and per capita losses. The loss data are then compared to disaster-related federal government and private insurance expenditures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development)
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310 KiB  
Article
Modeling Evacuate versus Shelter-in-Place Decisions in Wildfires
by Thomas J. Cova, Philip E. Dennison and Frank A. Drews
Sustainability 2011, 3(10), 1662-1687; https://doi.org/10.3390/su3101662 - 29 Sep 2011
Cited by 59 | Viewed by 12174
Abstract
Improving community resiliency to wildfire is a challenging problem in the face of ongoing development in fire-prone regions. Evacuation and shelter-in-place are the primary options for reducing wildfire casualties, but it can be difficult to determine which option offers the most protection in [...] Read more.
Improving community resiliency to wildfire is a challenging problem in the face of ongoing development in fire-prone regions. Evacuation and shelter-in-place are the primary options for reducing wildfire casualties, but it can be difficult to determine which option offers the most protection in urgent scenarios. Although guidelines and policies have been proposed to inform this decision, a formal approach to evaluating protective options would help advance protective-action theory. We present an optimization model based on the premise that protecting a community can be viewed as assigning threatened households to one of three actions: evacuation, shelter-in-refuge, or shelter-in-home. While evacuation generally offers the highest level of life protection, it can place residents at greater risk when little time is available. This leads to complex trade-offs involving expected fire intensity, available time, and the quality and accessibility of in-place shelter. An application of the model is presented to illustrate a range of issues that can arise across scenarios. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development)
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250 KiB  
Article
Emergency Managers Confront Climate Change
by John R. Labadie
Sustainability 2011, 3(8), 1250-1264; https://doi.org/10.3390/su3081250 - 19 Aug 2011
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 9447
Abstract
Emergency managers will have to deal with the impending, uncertain, and possibly extreme effects of climate change. Yet, many emergency managers are not aware of the full range of possible effects, and they are unsure of their place in the effort to plan [...] Read more.
Emergency managers will have to deal with the impending, uncertain, and possibly extreme effects of climate change. Yet, many emergency managers are not aware of the full range of possible effects, and they are unsure of their place in the effort to plan for, adapt to, and cope with those effects. This may partly reflect emergency mangers’ reluctance to get caught up in the rancorous—and politically-charged—debate about climate change, but it mostly is due to the worldview shared by most emergency managers. We focus on: extreme events; acute vs. chronic hazards (floods vs. droughts); a shorter event horizon (5 years vs. 75–100 years); and a shorter planning and operational cycle. This paper explores the important intersection of emergency management, environmental management, and climate change mitigation and adaptation. It examines the different definitions of terms common to all three fields, the overlapping strategies used in all three fields, and the best means of collaboration and mutual re-enforcement among the three to confront and solve the many possible futures that we may face in the climate change world. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development)
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258 KiB  
Article
Building Resilient Communities through Empowering Women with Information and Communication Technologies: A Pakistan Case Study
by Arshad Khan Khalafzai and Niru Nirupama
Sustainability 2011, 3(1), 82-96; https://doi.org/10.3390/su3010082 - 4 Jan 2011
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 10422
Abstract
In the contemporary world, a revolution in digital technologies has changed our way of life—for better. The role of women is expanding in socio-economic, political and physical spaces; hence their empowerment will contribute toward resilience and capacity building that contributes to sustainability and [...] Read more.
In the contemporary world, a revolution in digital technologies has changed our way of life—for better. The role of women is expanding in socio-economic, political and physical spaces; hence their empowerment will contribute toward resilience and capacity building that contributes to sustainability and disaster risk reduction in the long run. In developing nations, especially in rural regions, women empowered with information and communication technologies can enhance their capacity to cope in diverse situations. This paper addresses the vital role of information and communication technologies intervention and resilient communities with the help of a case study carried out in Pakistan. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development)
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92 KiB  
Article
Building Capacity for Disaster Resiliency in Six Disadvantaged Communities
by Philip Berke, John Cooper, David Salvesen, Danielle Spurlock and Christina Rausch
Sustainability 2011, 3(1), 1-20; https://doi.org/10.3390/su3010001 - 23 Dec 2010
Cited by 29 | Viewed by 12696
Abstract
Disaster plans almost always do not benefit from the knowledge and values of disadvantaged people who are frequently underrepresented in disaster planning processes. Consequently, the plans are inconsistent with the conditions, concerns, and capabilities of disadvantaged people. We present an approach to community-based [...] Read more.
Disaster plans almost always do not benefit from the knowledge and values of disadvantaged people who are frequently underrepresented in disaster planning processes. Consequently, the plans are inconsistent with the conditions, concerns, and capabilities of disadvantaged people. We present an approach to community-based participatory planning aimed at engaging marginalized and distrustful communities to build their capacity to be more disaster resilient. We review the experiences of six disadvantaged communities under the Emergency Preparedness Demonstration (EPD) project. The EPD effort revealed several critical implications: recruit a diverse set of participants for inclusive collaboration; provide analytical tools to co-develop information and empower people; employ coaches to organize and facilitate sustainable community change; design a bottom-up review process for selection of strategies that holds communities accountable; and build capacity for implementation of strategies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Disaster Risk Reduction and Sustainable Development)
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