Yukiko Takeuchi

Climate Disaster Resilience: Focus on Coastal Urban Cities in Asia

Recognizing the ever-increasing vulnerability of coastal urban cities in Asia due to climate change impacts and variability and also due to fast-growing urban development, this study focusing on climate disaster resilience is conducted in order to measure the existing level of climate disaster resilience of the targeted areas using a Climate Disaster Resilience Index. The index is developed based on five resilience-based dimensions: natural, physical, social, economic and institutional. The scope of this study is limited to climate-induced disasters, such as cyclone, flood, heat wave, drought and heavy rainfall induced landslide. For each individual city case, resilience information is presented as overall resilience, and separate physical, social, economic and institutional resilience. Higher values of resilience are equivalent to higher preparedness to cope with climate and disasters and inversely. Based on the results, policy points and recommendations are suggested by the authors and provide encouragement of city governments’ engagements in specific cist services, institution and capacity building. Not only are outputs from this study useful for city governments, but they also provide valuable knowledge and information to other local and national stakeholders having a similar target: the enhancement of community resilience.

Local adaptation for livelihood resilience in Albay, Philippines

Local adaptation to climate change is essential for vulnerable coastal communities faced with increasing threats to livelihood and safety. This paper seeks to understand the micro-level enabling conditions for climate change adaptation through a livelihood lens in a study of six coastal villages in Bacacay in the province of Albay, Philippines. Albay is a high-risk province due to hydro-meteorological and geophysical hazards. The analysis of livelihood resilience utilizing the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach shows that a soft adaptation strategy focusing on enhancing human and social capital needs to be undertaken to increase adaptive capacity and build resilience in the study area. Moreover, the micro-level variations in the villages suggest that the understanding of local conditions is indispensable in planning and formulation of appropriate adaptation strategies and actions at local level.

Climate disaster resilience of the education sector in Thua Thien Hue Province, Central Vietnam

Recognizing the importance of building disaster resilience for education sector, this study aims to develop a methodology to measure the level of educational resilience to cope with natural disasters and is then applied in Central Vietnam. The assessment tool in this paper is developed through a combination of climate disaster resilience indexes and the 16 tasks of Hyogo framework for action designed for education sector. It looks at five dimensions namely physical conditions, human resources, institutional issues, external relationships, and natural conditions, with each dimension characterized by three parameters and five variables. Findings from this study provide important insights into enhancing resilience of the education system in Thua Thien Hue at the provincial, local, and school levels. By giving the overall resilience situation, it can help policy-makers and practitioners in developing an effective plan to increase the level of educational resilience. In addition, it provides the School Management Board with a means to assess the school’s resilience level and set out priorities that need to be focused on with regard to the improvement of school safety and disaster risk reduction education.

Disaster education: An introduction

It has been widely acknowledged that education takes on a pivotal role in reducing disasters and achieving human security in the attempt to achieve sustainable development. Previous experiences have shown positive effects of education in disaster risk management. Children who have been taught about the phenomenon of disasters and how to react to those situations have proved to be able to respond promptly and appropriately, thereby warning others and protecting themselves during times of emergencies. One of the classic examples illustrating the power of knowledge and education is the story of the 10-year-old British schoolgirl, Tilly Smith, who warned the tourists to flee to safety moments before the Indian Ocean tsunami engulfed the coast, saving over 100 tourists lives in 2004. She had recognized the signs of an approaching tsunami after learning about the phenomenon in her geography lessons at school, just weeks before visiting Thailand (UN/ISDR, 2006a). Although the United Kingdom is not a tsunami-prone country and the schoolgirl did not have any previous experiences, with the knowledge acquired at school, she was able to save the lives of many.

Drought risk reduction through a Socio-economic, Institutional and Physical approach in the northwestern region of Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, drought is seasonal and can destroy crops, causing hardship to poor agricultural labourers and others who cannot find alternative sources of income. Droughts most commonly affect the northwestern region, which generally has less rainfall than the rest of the country. In this context, this study attempts to measure the existing level of drought resilience with indicators related to Socio-economic, Institutional and Physical (SIP) conditions in two of the most drought-prone districts, namely Rajshahi and Chapai-Nawabganj. The results of 14 sub-districts (upazilas) show a variation of 2.41 (lowest resilience) and 3.61 (highest resilience) in a scale of 1–5. Some of the critical areas that need improvement include education and awareness, conflict resolution on water usage, policy enhancement, coordination among different stakeholders and proper land-use pattern. SIP methodology can be used as a rapid planning tool at the district level, and as a micro-level planning and improvement tool at the sub-district level. The tool has potential application for a participatory and process-based approach of engaging local stakeholders in minimizing drought risks in future.

The adoption of a climate disaster resilience index in Chennai, India

Results derived from the Climate Disaster Resilience Index (CDRI)-consisting of five dimensions (economic, institutional, natural, physical, and social), 25 parameters, and 125 variables-reflect the abilities of people and institutions to respond to potential climate-related disasters in Chennai, India. The findings of this assessment, applied in the 10 administrative zones of the city, reveal that communities living in the northern and older parts of Chennai have lower overall resilience as compared to the flourishing areas (vis-à-vis economic growth and population) along the urban fringes. The higher resilience of communities along the urban fringes suggests that urbanisation may not necessarily lead to a deterioration of basic urban services, such as electricity, housing, and water. This indication is confirmed by a strong statistical correlation between physical resilience and population growth in Chennai. The identification of the resilience of different urban areas of Chennai has the potential to support future planning decisions on the citys scheduled expansion.

Assessing the resilience of Delhi to climate-related disasters: A comprehensive approach

The study addresses disaster risks in Delhi through a resilience approach. It utilizes the Climate Disaster Resilience Index (CDRI) tool, which assesses disaster resilience from five dimensions: physical, social, economic, institutional, and natural. Each dimension comprises 5 parameters, and each parameter consists of 5 variables. The study is carried out in the nine revenue districts of Delhi and reveals that East Delhi is least resilient and New Delhi is most resilient. The CDRI analysis in East Delhi points out the urgent need to focus on key parameters such as housing and land use, population, intensity and frequency of natural hazards, ecosystem services, and land use in natural terms. On the other hand, New Delhi is the most resilient due to all five dimensions, where most significant parameters responsible for its high resilience are housing and land use, population, income, employment, intensity and frequency of natural hazards, ecosystem services, and land use in natural terms. In addition, the overall results of all nine districts show an inverse relationship between resilience score and population density. For example, districts with higher population density show low resilience and vice versa. Moreover, districts located on hazard-prone areas show low resilience. For example, East Delhi and North East Delhi scored low resilience because they both are situated on the Yamuna flood catchment areas. The study further develops key suggestions that are required to address disaster risk in all nine districts of Delhi and discusses future implications of CDRI to address city’s vulnerability. The approach’s distinctness is reflected through its consideration of micro-level diversities and presents some implications to resilience.

Action-oriented resilience assessment of communities in Chennai, India

Building resilience to disasters is indispensable in cities, like Chennai, India, which are challenged by emerging urban disaster risks caused by impacts of urbanization and higher probability of future disasters due to climate change. In this paper, an action-oriented resilience assessment (AoRA), consisting of 63 actions, divided into 21 parameters and 5 dimensions (physical, social, economic, institutional and natural), is defined which has the objective to enhance the resilience of communities of Chennai to climate-related disasters. On the basis of responses from the selected target group, community leaders (councillors) in the 155 wards, the local government of Chennai is the key stakeholder to implement the proposed actions in the AoRA. However, further findings underpin that a multi-stakeholder approach, involving communities, academia, private organizations and NGOs, is needed to create disaster resilient communities.

Roles of family and community in disaster education

Generally, family and community have a great deal of local experience and local knowledge of disaster. Disaster education for family and community is aimed at recognizing the characteristics of a disaster and the existing social situation for the purpose of acquiring general knowledge of disasters, usually at school. Community and family structures and roles differ according to character and location such as urban, rural, coastal, near rivers, and near mountains, among others. In recent times, peoples participation in the community has been affected by social changes. Earlier, historical local disaster prevention methods were passed on to other family/community members through daily activity. Recently, however, the characteristics of disasters have changed such that people now need to prepare for disasters of which they have no experience and about which they have difficulty obtaining information. It is thus necessary for communities and families to know different scenarios of disaster. “Community-Based Disaster Risk Management” is difficult to establish without linking community and household. For instance, many types of associations can be found in the community, but some do not play a direct role in disaster prevention and management. However, these associations have strong human relationships and much local knowledge. As an example, family members traditionally take care of children and old and handicapped people. Presently, lifestyles and social systems have changed such as long-distance commuting, both husband and wife working, weak family relationships, fewer children, aging, and unstable economies, among others. It is therefore necessary to carry out disaster prevention education aimed at building local capacity for disaster prevention, after determining the situation in the community and family and the roles people in the community play.

Community action planning in East Delhi: A participatory approach to build urban disaster resilience

The paper addresses disaster risk of an urban community in a mega city, which experiences high risk to natural hazards. The Community Action Planning (CAP) tool is used in this case. It has been developed from five resilience dimensions (physical, social, economic, institutional, and natural), 25 parameters and 75 actions. A detailed CAP structured questionnaire survey was conducted with 89 Residential and Welfare Associations (RWAs) in East Delhi, India situated in three types of settlements: planned Delhi Development Authority (DDA) housing and societies, colonies, and urban villages. The result identifies and prioritizes 32 actions as important for all three settlements. The result shows both consistent and inconsistent responses from RWAs. To give some examples, parameter S3 is “tasks to reduce number of people suffer from water borne diseases after a disaster”. In response to this parameter, approximately 80% of total respondents prioritized action (A1), “promoting people to take preventive measures after a disaster”. It shows consistent response from all three settlements. However, parameter S5 is “tasks to improve the awareness and knowledge about threat and impact of disasters”. Approximately 40% of total respondents prioritized A1, “organizing training program for awareness and knowledge building”. This action was prioritized in planned DDA housing and societies (56%) as well as in colonies (52%). However, none of the respondents from urban villages prioritized this action. These responses show inconsistency in response to specific action. In addition, the study shows the potential impact of CAP process for other communities in cities that are experiencing disaster risks and impact of climate change.