De Alexander

Framing vulnerability, risk and societal responses: the MOVE framework

The paper deals with the development of a general as well as integrative and holistic framework to systematize and assess vulnerability, risk and adaptation. The framework is a thinking tool meant as a heuristic that outlines key factors and different dimensions that need to be addressed when assessing vulnerability in the context of natural hazards and climate change. The approach underlines that the key factors of such a common framework are related to the exposure of a society or system to a hazard or stressor, the susceptibility of the system or community exposed, and its resilience and adaptive capacity. Additionally, it underlines the necessity to consider key factors and multiple thematic dimensions when assessing vulnerability in the context of natural and socio-natural hazards. In this regard, it shows key linkages between the different concepts used within the disaster risk management (DRM) and climate change adaptation (CCA) research. Further, it helps to illustrate the strong relationships between different concepts used in DRM and CCA. The framework is also a tool for communicating complexity and stresses the need for societal change in order to reduce risk and to promote adaptation. With regard to this, the policy relevance of the framework and first results of its application are outlined. Overall, the framework presented enhances the discussion on how to frame and link vulnerability, disaster risk, risk management and adaptation concepts.

The Study of Natural Disasters, 1977–97: Some Reflections on a Changing Field of Knowledge

As part of a series of papers to mark the 21st year of publication of Disasters, it is opportune to consider some of the changes that have occurred in the field it has covered so diligently for the last two decades. The paper begins with a brief review of the major natural disasters during this period and assesses their impact. It then considers the problem of how to define two key concepts: natural disaster and vulnerability, which remains an open question. The latter is one of the key determinants of the former. Next comes a review of what has occurred in the disasters field since the journal began publication, including some notes on the rise in vulnerability, the information technology revolution and the dilemmas of hazard mitigation. The following two sections assess, respectively, what hoped-for developments did not occur during the period studied and what assets were lost in the name of progress. For example, on the theoretical front, academic over-specialisation has predominated, while on the practical side there has been insufficient transfer of technology to where it is needed. The paper concludes that analyses of disaster need to become more sophisticated and multi-disciplinary and must take account of several forms of context within which developments take place.

Towards the development of a standard in emergency planning

Purpose – Given the widespread lack of homogeneity, consistency and quality control in emergency planning, this paper sets out to offer some suggestions, guidelines and models for the processes of drawing up, testing, revising and utilising an emergency plan.Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers some definitions of the term “standard” and discussing the utility of the concept with respect to emergency planning. The subsequent analysis is based on the application of logical and observational criteria to the process of systematically building a framework on which to base a planning standard.Findings – The paper enumerates 18 principles that can be used to judge the quality of emergency plans. The principles are treated as basic criteria to be used when formulating a standard. Next, the paper reviews existing standards in civil protection, risk management, emergency preparedness and humanitarian relief. After a brief discussion of the consultative process used in preparing an instrument for measu...

Social Media in Disaster Risk Reduction and Crisis Management

This paper reviews the actual and potential use of social media in emergency, disaster and crisis situations. This is a field that has generated intense interest. It is characterised by a burgeoning but small and very recent literature. In the emergencies field, social media (blogs, messaging, sites such as Facebook, wikis and so on) are used in seven different ways: listening to public debate, monitoring situations, extending emergency response and management, crowd-sourcing and collaborative development, creating social cohesion, furthering causes (including charitable donation) and enhancing research. Appreciation of the positive side of social media is balanced by their potential for negative developments, such as disseminating rumours, undermining authority and promoting terrorist acts. This leads to an examination of the ethics of social media usage in crisis situations. Despite some clearly identifiable risks, for example regarding the violation of privacy, it appears that public consensus on ethics will tend to override unscrupulous attempts to subvert the media. Moreover, social media are a robust means of exposing corruption and malpractice. In synthesis, the widespread adoption and use of social media by members of the public throughout the world heralds a new age in which it is imperative that emergency managers adapt their working practices to the challenge and potential of this development. At the same time, they must heed the ethical warnings and ensure that social media are not abused or misused when crises and emergencies occur.

Towards the development of standards in emergency management training and education

This paper discusses the possible future role of standards in assuring the quality and content of programmes for educating and training people in the fields of emergency planning and management. Principles for the establishment of standards are presented. Existing standards in the civil protection and emergency preparedness fields are reviewed. The requisites for a training standard are described. Finally, a prototype standard is presented. The paper also addresses the question of whether standards are appropriate instruments and concludes that they would help ensure comparability, quality assurance and international compatibility of training.

From civil defence to civil protection – and back again

Civil protection, or emergency preparedness as it is known in the USA, has grown in response to the need to protect populations against natural and technological disasters. Over the past two decades it has partially supplanted civil defence, which is primarily concerned with civilian response to armed aggression. This article traces the evolution of both fields and analyses their often uneasy relationship. It discusses the probable long‐term effect of the US terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 on emergency management policies around the world and considers the implications of the probable changes in terms of citizen’s rights and expectations in disaster situations. With the new emphasis on anti‐terrorism measures, and a new spirit of authoritarianism, civil defense appears to be becoming resurgent at the expense of the more democratic forms of crisis management inherent in modern civil protection arrangements.

Scenario methodology for teaching principles of emergency management

Scenarios are discussed in terms of their various uses in emergency planning and management. Their function in teaching programs is assessed with respect to various sorts of curricula for training emergency personnel. The format of scenarios is discussed and the potential for using the methodology creatively is explored. It is concluded that scenario methods are useful in developing such skills as time management, cognitive mapping, mediation, team management, and decision making under stress. A brief example of an emergency training scenario is presented and evaluated in terms of its teaching potential. Finally, scenarios are assessed in relation to other forms of modelling and simulation, such as table‐top games and field exercises, which are commonly used for training emergency managers.

Natural Disasters: A Framework for Research and Teaching

Natural disasters are defined in this paper by relating the impact of extreme geophysical events to patterns of human vulnerability. Hazard perception is shown to be a factor that limits the mitigation of risk. The historical development of disaster studies is traced and five different schools of thought are identified. The current International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR) is evaluated critically with regard to its potential for unifying the disparate strands of knowledge and its scope as a vehicle for education. A pedagogical framework for disaster studies is presented. Time and space provide valuable unifying factors, while the subject matter can be differentiated according to the continua and dichotomies that it presents. In disaster studies as in other branches of higher education, an ecocentric approach is preferable to a technocentric one, as many of the poorer nations of the world, which are most afflicted by natural catastrophe, will have to rely for mitigation on maintaining their ecological sustainability, instead of depending on sophisticated technology. Valuable insights into the impact of environmental extremes on mankind are gained from the study of disasters as human ecology.

Critical infrastructure, panarchies and the vulnerability paths of cascading disasters

Cascading effects and cascading disasters are emerging fields of scientific research. The widespread diffusion of functional networks increases the complexity of interdependent systems and their vulnerability to large-scale disruptions. Although in recent years studies of interconnections and chain effects have improved significantly, cascading phenomena are often associated with the “toppling domino metaphor”, or with high-impact, low-probability events. This paper aimed to support a paradigm shift in the state of the art by proposing a new theoretical approach to cascading events in terms of their root causes and lack of predictability. By means of interdisciplinary theory building, we demonstrate how cascades reflect the ways in which panarchies collapse. We suggest that the vulnerability of critical infrastructure may orientate the progress of events in relation to society’s feedback loops, rather than merely being an effect of natural triggers. Our conclusions point to a paradigm shift in the preparedness phase that could include escalation points and social nodes, but that also reveals a brand new field of research for disaster scholars.

A review of the physical geography of malta and its significance for tectonic geomorphology

Abstract This article reviews the literature on the structure, tectonics and stratigraphy of the Maltese Islands in order to assess their influence on the evolution of geomorphic features. Vertical movements have dominated the development of the islands. Specifically, an extinct pre-Pliocene rift system is cross-cut by a Quaternary rift system, in which both normal and transcurrent faulting are still active. Faunal remains indicate that a land bridge with Sicily and perhaps North Africa existed during the Pleistocene, but since then the land has subsided continuously and the coasts of the islands are now dominated by features of submergence, especially to the north-east, where downward rotation has quickened the process. The origin and explanation of syndepositional dolines and of shore platforms remain controversial, but the drainage patterns and stream profiles in the interior of Malta and Gozo Islands can be explained with reference to the pattern of sub-vertical faults and fractures and the varying resistances of the five main lithostratigraphic units that make up the entire geological succession of the archipelago. Thus the islands serve as a relatively simple example of the Quaternary evolution of limestone scenery of uncomplicated lithology and heavy dependence on vertical tectonic movements.