The increasing impacts of climate change bear new challenges for the international community. The exacerbation of natural disasters in frequency and scope also confronts the national governments with newly arising problems. Disaster-induced displacement isan increasing phenomenon occurring the last years, which particularly vulnerable regions with a high exposure to national hazards are affected by. The present study addresses the inclusion of disaster IDPs in Disaster Risk Reduction frameworks on international and national level and argues that there is a need to recognize disaster-induced displacement as an increasing issue that should explicitly be addressed and included in policy frameworks on both levels. This was addressed through analyzing international and national key strategies in Disaster-Risk-Reduction. A case comparison of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010 and the yearly recurring floods in Mozambique since 2000 illustrates the implementation of these frameworks in regard to the issue of displacement. Although efforts have been made on both levels to improve the situation of IDPs in the response and recovery phase, it is argued that an inclusion through a community-based approach is needed in all the phases of disaster management to appropriately address the needs of disaster IDPs in the pre-and post-disaster phases.

Both Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) aim at reducing the vulnerabilities and enhancing the capacities of men and women when facing natural hazards and climate change. Despite conceptual bridges existing between both sectors, the literature suggests a lack of practical integration of objectives and approaches in the design and implementation of climate change-related and DRR initiatives as well as a lack of attention to gender issues. In parallel, studies repeatedly stress the necessity to (i) provide more empirical studies that re-contextualise climate change as just one of many issues faced on a daily basis by local communities, and (ii) emphasise the gender dimension of vulnerability to understand differences between men’s and women’s realities in relation to disasters and climate change. This research explores the local dimension of the (lack of) integration of DRR and CCA through using gender as a lens. It uses the case study of the Himalayan province of Ladakh in India where the predicted impacts of climate change could seriously undermine inhabitants’ access to water. Embedded within the theoretical frames of DRR and feminist political ecology, this research draws on concepts of gender, marginalisation, vulnerability and capacity in order to understand the local impacts of environmental degradation and the implications for policies and development projects. When analysing the ways in which Ladakhi communities experience climate change and natural hazards in relation to their everyday risks, the vulnerability and capacity assessment conducted in this research shows that men and women face different everyday constraints which shape their views of their environment. The gender sensitive methodology and analysis also contribute to focus the attention away from hazards to emphasise the way people’s vulnerabilities are inherently linked to unsustainable development which stresses the importance of designing integrated responses. Yet, when examining current interventions to tackle disaster risk and climate change in relation to Ladakhi communities’ contexts, priorities and needs, a focus on gender and DRR highlights the gap between theories, policies and practices. Evidence from Ladakh contributes to show the dichotomy between the ineffectiveness of top-down interventions targeting climate change and disasters, and the gendered experiences of local communities in the face of a multitude of everyday risks that extend beyond climate change and natural hazards. Current DRR and CCA policies and projects reproduce a dominant focus on hazards and do not challenge established development models that are male-dominated and which promote people’s (and disproportionately women’s) vulnerability. However, development interventions, in the context of Ladakh, appear more adequate to improve people’s livelihoods with greater scope for inputs from the community level, which contribute to enhancing their capacities. Therefore, this thesis argues that emphasis should be placed on sustainable development practices in order to better address disaster risk and climate change as well as communities’ everyday risks. It finally underscores the need to recognise and assess the interconnection of different structures and their impacts on people’s daily lives at the onset of development strategies and to ensure that these are part of a sustainable, holistic and integrated approach to reducing vulnerability.

Problem If current trends in disasters are anything to go by, we can expect more complex disasters in the future as a population, perhaps already weakened by conflict, climate or disease, is hit by a natural disaster.  This then requires a multifaceted and complex intervention of humanitarian actors. Therefore, the adaptations increasingly require identification of themes to mitigate the complex vulnerabilities that come with these challenges like reforms, collaboration and specialization of tasks between humanitarian organizations inter alia. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to identify the underlying factors that lead to global and humanitarian challenges in order to suggest effective adaptations to address them in the preparedness phase. Methodology The paper takes a qualitative approach, adopting a phenomenological research. In depth interviews are used to identify the most outstanding themes and patterns in sync with the humanitarian challenges and adaptations identifies in the AlertNet Poll (2011) and DARA humanitarian response index (2011). The themes are used to narrate solutions to the research questions Findings The results suggest that the adaptations identified in the reports regulate humanitarian and global challenges. The humanitarian challenges effective adaptations to overcome these challenges have been identified but not limited to collaboration of humanitarian logistics actors, emphasis on preparedness and disaster risk reduction and the unification of relief and developmental policies and frameworks to ensure long term planning and assessment of disasters Conclusion The research concludes that disaster risk reduction and preparedness, humanitarian logistics reforms and collaboration in all humanitarian aspects are the most effective adaptation to the global and humanitarian challenges. If current trends in disasters are anything to go by, we can expect more complex disasters in the future as a population, perhaps already weakened by conflict, climate or disease, is hit by a natural disaster. This then requires a multifaceted and complex intervention of humanitarian actors. Therefore, the adaptations increasingly require identification of themes to mitigate the complex vulnerabilities that come with these challenges like reforms, collaboration and specialization of tasks between humanitarian organizations inter alia. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to identify the underlying factors that lead to global and humanitarian challenges in order to suggest effective adaptations to address them in the preparedness phase. Methodology The paper takes a qualitative approach, adopting a phenomenological research. In depth interviews are used to identify the most outstanding themes and patterns in sync with the humanitarian challenges and adaptations identifies in the AlertNet Poll (2011) and DARA humanitarian response index (2011). The themes are used to narrate solutions to the research questions Findings The results suggest that the adaptations identified in the reports regulate humanitarian and global challenges. The humanitarian challenges effective adaptations to overcome these challenges have been identified but not limited to collaboration of humanitarian logistics actors, emphasis on preparedness and disaster risk reduction and the unification of relief and developmental policies and frameworks to ensure long term planning and assessment of disasters Conclusion The research concludes that disaster risk reduction and preparedness, humanitarian logistics reforms and collaboration in all humanitarian aspects are the most effective adaptation to the global and humanitarian challenges.

Masters Research - Master of Science / Recent flash floods and landslides in the Philippines have caused many fatalities, loss of livelihoods; destroyed infrastructures, damaged natural resources and displaced several communities. Investigation of five disaster cases of flash floods and landslides from 1991 to 2006 was undertaken to gain an understanding of the causes, behaviour, distribution and biophysical impacts of these recurrent natural hazards. Sustaining healthy and resilient communities and protecting the ecosystem from natural disasters is a key development goal. Therefore, communities at risk need to adequately prepare for, respond to, and recover from the impacts of these natural disasters. A theory model on community resilience called the Landslip-Disaster Quadrant Model was developed to examine the capacity for resilience and the vulnerability of threatened communities. Six building blocks comprise this Model. A community study of the February 17, 2006 landslides in St. Bernard, Southern Leyte, was conducted to test and refine this Model. Major findings of the study have revealed that flash floods and landslides have been frequent due to changing climatic patterns and greater interaction of natural processes. Extreme weather conditions have resulted in intense rainfall that seeps through fractures and cracks in the ground. Rains saturate and loosen soil particles, weaken slope resistance, triggering landslides that formed natural dams. Failure of these natural dams or log jams caused flash floods and debris flows. The rapidity and destructiveness of these hazards were influenced by the angular position of sliding materials, slope resistance, type of cascading materials caught in the flow, river channel configuration, and human structures that obstruct and/or intensify overflow. These were the physical conditions of vulnerability to disasters in the five cases of natural disaster investigated. Rural livelihoods and the economic base of the local people in Saint Bernard, Southern Leyte, were limited and subsistent. Though the local people have a high literacy rate, they have inadequate understanding of the natural processes associated with landslides. Natural observations such as receding water levels in the river, fractures and cracks in the ground on the mountain, excessive rains and landslides in nearby communities could have been used as early warnings by the local people and authorities for safe evacuation. Many lives in Guinsaugon village could have thus been saved from the deadly landslides of 17 February 2006. Political interests have affected progress of resettlement housing and development projects that obliged many local people to extend the period spent living in the evacuation centres. However, the local people were expressive of their faith and hope to rise from the tragedy. These ‘bouncing back’ attitudes of the local people were indicative of their strong cultural values that formed the core of their coping capacity for natural disasters. The results of the community study tested and refined the Landslip-Disaster Quadrant Model. Among the six blocks for building a disaster-resilient community, cultural values and local norms ranked first. This is followed by ecological security, then livelihood sufficiency and economic base, and further by human health and wellness. The last two blocks were structural networks and institutional arrangements, and political will and priorities. This Model could form the framework for a Comprehensive Landslide and Flash Flood Disaster Risk Assessment in the Philippines. The community assessment toolkit developed in this study could be expanded further into policy and planning guidelines of the National Disaster Coordinating Council of the Philippines.

Masters in Public Administration - MPA / Much has been said about the continued escalation of disasters, impacting negatively on the people’s livelihoods; mostly the poor. However, not enough is done to minimise or reduce the vulnerability of the people to risks as evidenced by the increasing numbers of disaster victims locally, nationwide and globally (Sahoo, 2005; Humby, 2012, Niekerk, 2005; Heijmans, 2008 and Cannon, 1994). The increasing disaster strikes in the City of Cape Town remain a major challenge to the surrounding communities (Cape Argus, 27 August 2012; Radar, 2010; Pillay, 2012 and Humby, 2012). Despite the expiry of the United Nations’ declaration of the period 1990-99 as ‘the decade for natural disaster risk reduction in 1999, the years after the declaration were characterised by increased disaster strikes globally (Niekerk, 2005; GTZ, 2002; UNDP, 2004 and Alexander, 2006). Although, new global commitments such as the 2005-15 Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) which targeted to minimise disaster risks by 2015, very little has changed as people are increasingly becoming more vulnerable to risks than before (Niekerk, 2005; Heijmans, 2008; Alexander, 2006 and Radar, 2010). South Africa’s statistics on past recorded disaster events from the eighties to the present, show the same increased trend in the loss of property and human capital. For example, in South Africa, the period from 1980 to 2010 recorded 77 disaster strikes with a total of 1869 people being killed and negatively affecting 18 million livelihoods nationwide (Humby, 2012). Given such high figures of casualties, the negative impact of disaster remains one of South Africa’s major challenges as it curtails sustainable development. It is against this background that the study embarked on an investigation to establish the effectiveness and efficiency of the City of Cape Town Metro Municipal local government’s approaches to disaster risks. The principal objective of the study was to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the City of Cape Municipal Government in addressing the persistent disaster risks through a proper implementation of the core disaster principles of risk reduction, prevention and mitigation, as well as the post-disaster activities of preparedness, rehabilitation, response and recovery. The specific objectives of the study are: (i) to assess whether incorporating disaster risk management into the integrated developing plan (IDP) has the potential to mitigate or prevent disasters; (ii) to examine the extent to which the City of Cape Town can make use of the principle of co-operative governance and assistance in disaster risk management; and (iii) to evaluate the impact of public participation in disaster risk mitigation, prevention and reduction. The study employed an integrated approach to data gathering. Sources of data included government acts, policies, internet sources and journal articles were included. These sources were supplemented by individual interviews with disaster officials and community members. From the investigation, the study found that neither government nor the community can successfully manage to reduce, prevent or mitigate the impact of disasters. The study found out that collaboration between communities, and the government would help resolve the situation, with the private sectors taking a facilitative role than working separately. The study then emphasizes that a collaborative approach by different stakeholders would work well only if public participation and co-operative governance are institutionalised in the various sectors of the City of Cape Town.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(地球環境学) / 甲第22710号 / 地環博第200号 / 新制||地環||39(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院地球環境学舎地球環境学専攻 / (主査)教授 星野 敏, 教授 西前 出, 教授 寶 馨 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Global Environmental Studies / Kyoto University / DFAM

<div>Cities face significant challenges in developing urban infrastructure systems in an inclusive, resilient, and sustainable manner, with rapid urbanization and increasing frequency of shocks (e.g., climate hazards, epidemics). The complex and dynamic interdependencies among urban social, technical, institutional, and natural components could cause disruptions to cascade across systems, and lead to heterogeneous recovery outcomes across communities and regions. Large scale data collected from mobile devices, including mobile phone GPS data, web search data, and social media data, allow us to observe urban dynamics before, during, and after disaster events in an unprecedented spatial-temporal granularity and scale. Despite these opportunities, we lack data-driven methods to understand the underlying mechanisms that govern the recovery and resilience of cities to shocks.</div><div>Such dynamical models, in contrast to static index based metrics of resilience, will allow us to test the effects of policies on the heterogeneous post-disaster recovery trajectories across space and time. </div><div><br></div><div>In this dissertation, I studied the recovery dynamics and resilience of urban systems to disasters using a large-scale human-centered data-driven modeling approach, with particular emphasis on the complex interdependencies among social, economic, and infrastructure systems. First, statistical analysis of large-scale human mobility data collected from over 1 million mobile phone devices in five major disaster events across the globe, revealed universal population recovery processes across regions and disasters, including disproportionate disaster effects based on income inequalities and urban-rural divide. Second, human mobility data are used to infer the recovery of various socio-economic systems after disasters. Using Bayesian causal inference models, regional and business sectoral inequalities in disaster recovery are quantified. Finally, the analysis on social, economic, and physical recovery were integrated into a dynamical model of coupled urban systems, which captures the bi-directional interdependencies among socio-economic and physical infrastructure systems during disaster recovery. Using the model and data collected from Puerto Rico during Hurricane Maria, a trade-off relationship in urban development is revealed, where developed cities with robust centralized infrastructure systems have higher recovery efficiency of critical services, however, have socio-economic networks with lower self-reliance during crises, which lead to loss of community resilience. Managing and balancing the socio-economic self-reliance alongside physical infrastructure robustness is key to resilience. </div><div><br></div><div>The proposed models and results presented in this dissertation lay the scientific foundations of urban complexity and resilience, encouraging us to move towards dynamical and complex systems modeling approaches, from conventional static index-based resilience metrics. Big data-driven, dynamical complex systems modeling approaches enable quantitative understanding of the underlying disaster recovery process (e.g., interdependencies, feedbacks, cascading effects) across large spatial and temporal time scales. The approach is capable of proposing community-based policies for urban resilience via cross-regional comparisons and counterfactual scenario testing of various policy levers. </div>

Gender inequality greatly affects the vulnerability of women in many areas of societal development. Gender mainstreaming is used as a strategy to include a gender perspective in policy and practice to decrease vulnerability. In regular development there is a discrepancy between policy and practice, but especially so in contexts of disaster. This thesis aims to examine how gender mainstreaming strategies are implemented in disaster risk reduction. The main purpose is to create an understanding of how such processes translate into practice both in relief efforts and resilience-building projects. A case-study of the Swedish Red Cross is the foundation of this thesis, looking at how these processes flow from theory to policy to practice. Semi-structured interviews with professionals from the field serve as the main method. A content analysis of IFRC policies regulating gender action will supplement the interviews. The results illustrate a discrepancy between the gender-focused policy and a women-centric implementation, and further highlight the role of donors and ‘the Tyranny of Urgency’. These results, and consequently this thesis, contributes to recognizing the feminization of responsibility in the field of development in general, but especially in the context of disaster.

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction calls for collaboration across sectors in society as an effective way to reduce disaster risk in order to safeguard lives, human wellbeing, and development gains from potential disasters. However, the effectiveness of these cross-sector collaboration approaches has most often been studied in the context of rapid onset disasters such as floods, with less focus on slow-onset disasters such as multiple year droughts. There is also limited research on the contributions of cross-sector collaborations towards Disaster Risk Reduction in African cities. For this study, I set out to investigate cross-sector collaboration efforts contributing to drought response in the city of Harare, Zimbabwe; and how these collaborations were contributing towards fulfilling the four priority areas of the Sendai Framework. These include i) understanding disaster risk, ii) strengthening disaster risk governance, iii) investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience, and iv) enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response. In this qualitative study, I made use of purposive and snowball sampling methods to select 14 key informants from national and local government, non-governmental organisations, and civil society organisations who were directly involved in eight drought related cross-sector collaborations. I conducted in depth semi-structured interviews with these key informants between 2018 and 2019. For the analysis, I followed prior developed themes based on Bryson et al. (2006) theoretical framework to understand cross-sector collaborations. I also applied a typology of barriers and enablers developed from the literature in the analysis, and interpreted emergent themes using NVivo software. I then assessed the contributions of the identified cross-sector collaborations to the activities listed under each of the four priority areas in the Sendai Framework. The findings highlighted the socio-political and economic context of the city of Harare had seeped through and influenced the cross-sector collaborations responding to drought. They shed light on how taking advantage of widely accessible social media platforms serve to enhance collaborations. Additionally, the results highlight the importance of existing networks and relationships in enabling cross-sector collaborations to occur effectively. Most of the cross-sector collaborations occurring in response to drought were originally formed for other reasons and included drought response during the peak of the drought disaster. Collaborations were effective at contributing towards engaging communities in risk assessment and reporting at the local level (Priority 1) and ensuring continual provisioning of services (water) during and after disasters (Priority 4). I make suggestions for collaborations to consider issues of power and how these affect the effectiveness of collaborations on the ground with regards to ensuring social justice and reducing inequality. Finally, I conclude that cross-sector collaborations would be more effective in response to slow-onset disasters when they are formed and applied before the disaster is at its peak. I also suggest that the design and implementation of the cross-sector collaborations be tailor made to consider the socio-political and economic aspects of the city in their design for effective response.

This thesis aims to display how disastrous events in the cyber domain can be understood to have root causes attributed to non-technical vulnerabilities. The goal is to show the accelerating importance in understanding the cyber domain as any other societal arena. Further, the European Union and reports about the threat landscape from the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity will be analysed. Theoretical assumption from the field of disaster risk reduction about vulnerabilities will be used to understand how vulnerabilities are understood in the empirical material. The first report which was released in the year of 2012 and the most current one from the year of 2022 will be compared to understand patterns and correlations in the development during the last decade. The results shows that the reports have multiple features that can be interpreted as understanding of how events offline relate to threats online. Further the comparison shows that even if superficial factors and their appearance have changed, the underlying vulnerabilities have much in common.