Since 1994 fundamental transformation has taken place in South Africa in terms of disaster risk management. The transformation process gave rise to the promulgation of the Disaster Management Act (57/2002) that heralded a new era for disaster risk management in South Africa. Consequently the National Disaster Management Framework, published in 2005, set clear guidelines for the implementing of the mentioned act. The National Disaster Management Framework emphasises the importance of the integration and coordination of disaster risk management activities in all spheres of government. Die Disaster Management Act (57/2002) calls for the establishment or certain disaster risk management structures like interdepartmental commitees, disaster management centers, disaster management frameworks, and disaster management advisory forums. Furthermore the National Disaster Management Framework sets certain guidelines in compliance with the Disaster Management Act (57/2002). Municipalities in South Africa have had time since the promulgation of the act in 2003 to get all the mentioned structures in place. This study tried to deretmine the degree in which municipalities complied with the requirements of the Disaster Management Act (57/2002). The municipalities were handles per procvince and the research is based on a 20% representative sample of all the municipalities in South Africa. A mixed method of research was followed. That means that qualitative (telephonic and semi-structured interviews) and quantitative (questionnaires with Likert scale questions) research was used. The result of this research is that there are big failings in terms of the implementing of the Disaster Management Act (57/2002) across the country. In certain provinces the situation is better than in others, but of none of the provinces it can be said that they comply with all the recuirements of the act. / M. Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

The history of the mining industry indicates a lack of understanding among the decision-makers of the impact the closure of mines has on the industry and the associated effects on the society and surrounding environment. The policies of the mining industry do make provision for a planned mine closure, but not for an unexpected closure. This detrimental aspect of closures in the mining industry is highlighted in the present study. The present study investigates how mineworkers’ dependency on their employment at a mine affects their ability to sustain their livelihoods. Vulnerable livelihoods leave the community at a greater risk to be affected by a disaster, than the livelihoods of a community that is resilient and has sustainable resources. Even though mineworkers are not considered as poor at the time of their employment, a mine closure could render them into a status called ‘transitional poverty’. This study also highlights that mineworkers who are skilled for mining operations only do not overcome the status of ‘transitional poverty’ and hence enter a phase called ‘chronic poverty’. This stage constitutes their inability to negotiate livelihood strategies and livelihood outcomes that could sustain a household. Thus humanitarian assistance would be needed from outside sources. Planning for unexpected mine closures should also be on the agenda of the mining industry due to the extreme consequences such an event holds for the mining community experiencing the event. In the case under investigation, the unexpected mine closures occurred in the Grootvlei mine in Springs and the Orkney mine owned by the Aurora Empowerment Systems Ltd. at the time of this study. These closures left the surrounding communities in need of food, shelter and clean water. The inhabitants gradually lost their livelihood assets. A contingency planning model is proposed at the end of this study to address the short-term and long-term consequences of an unexpected mine closure. / M Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Since 1994 fundamental transformation has taken place in South Africa in terms of disaster risk management. The transformation process gave rise to the promulgation of the Disaster Management Act (57/2002) that heralded a new era for disaster risk management in South Africa. Consequently the National Disaster Management Framework, published in 2005, set clear guidelines for the implementing of the mentioned act. The National Disaster Management Framework emphasises the importance of the integration and coordination of disaster risk management activities in all spheres of government. Die Disaster Management Act (57/2002) calls for the establishment or certain disaster risk management structures like interdepartmental commitees, disaster management centers, disaster management frameworks, and disaster management advisory forums. Furthermore the National Disaster Management Framework sets certain guidelines in compliance with the Disaster Management Act (57/2002). Municipalities in South Africa have had time since the promulgation of the act in 2003 to get all the mentioned structures in place. This study tried to deretmine the degree in which municipalities complied with the requirements of the Disaster Management Act (57/2002). The municipalities were handles per procvince and the research is based on a 20% representative sample of all the municipalities in South Africa. A mixed method of research was followed. That means that qualitative (telephonic and semi-structured interviews) and quantitative (questionnaires with Likert scale questions) research was used. The result of this research is that there are big failings in terms of the implementing of the Disaster Management Act (57/2002) across the country. In certain provinces the situation is better than in others, but of none of the provinces it can be said that they comply with all the recuirements of the act. / M. Development and Management, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Although disaster risk reduction is still not considered a priority by many countries and organisations, there is significant progress made towards the reduction of disaster risk. The experience of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR, 1990–1999) prompted a major conceptual shift from disaster response to disaster reduction underscoring the crucial role of human action (UNISDR, 2001:03). This circumstance led to the adoption of an International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (ISDR) in 1999 by the participants of the IDNDR Programme Forum. The adoption gave emphasis to the importance of a global strategy that encourages and facilitates concerted action to reduce risk and vulnerability to natural and related technological and environmental hazards. This research then focuses on the disaster risk reduction phenomenon and major or international initiatives and forums aimed at improving or raising the disaster risk reduction profile. It also focuses on disaster risk management in the South African context. In recent years, disaster risk reduction has grown in importance on the international agenda. This followed the prevalence of natural hazards such as floods, drought, earthquakes, tsunamis, as well as epidemics, which have had an increasing impact on humans, due to population growth, urbanization, rising poverty and the onset of global environmental changes. Aspects of environmental change include climate change, land degradation and deforestation. Practitioners and researchers widely acknowledge that poor planning, poverty and a range of other underlying factors create conditions of vulnerability that result in insufficient capacity or measures to reduce hazards‘ potentially negative consequences (IISD/UN/ISDR, 2007:01). It is in this light that in 2005 many governments around the world committed themselves to take action to reduce disaster risk, and thereby adopted a guiding document to reduce vulnerabilities to natural hazards, called the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA). The HFA was adopted in January 2005 at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, in Kobe Hyogo, Japan by 168 States. The aim of the HFA is to assist the efforts of nations and communities to become more resilient to, and cope better, with the hazards that threaten their development gains with the overriding goal of achieving a substantial reduction in global disaster risk. It also emphasizes that disaster risk reduction is a central issue for development policies, in addition to being of interest to various science, humanitarian and environmental fields. To help attain the expected outcome, the HFA identified five specific priorities for action (PFAs) which are: (i) making disaster risk reduction a priority; (ii) improving risk information and early warning; (iii) building a culture of safety and resilience; (iv) reducing the risks in key sectors; and (v) strengthening preparedness for response. The Global Network of Civil Society Organisation for Disaster Risk Reduction (GNDR) which was launched in 2007 in Geneva, is a major international network of civil society organisations working to influence and implement disaster risk reduction policies and practice around the world. The major programme of the global network is to collect perspective for the local level as to how the HFA is progressing. The Views from the Frontline (VFL) is the first independent assessment project undertaken towards the implementation of the HFA at the local level and is led by the Global Network. The aim of this project is to measure the gap between policy formulation at international level with the realities of policy execution at local level and to deepen the communication and coordination between different stakeholders on disaster risk reduction by involving government organisation and communities at the local level. The VFL perspective is that nationally formulated policies are not generating widespread systematic changes in local practices. There is a concern that the current approach is top–down and engages minimally with affected communities and fails to address their needs and capacities (GNDR, 2008:01). The main objective of this research was to provide an overview of progress made in the implementation of the HFA at local level particularly in the Kabokweni Location. The approach adopted in this study is called 'the Views from the Frontline', and explores the extent of the actual progress made toward the implementation and impact of the HFA priorities at local level, namely the Kabokweni community in the Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM) situated in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. / Thesis (M. Development and management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Although disaster risk reduction is still not considered a priority by many countries and organisations, there is significant progress made towards the reduction of disaster risk. The experience of the International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction (IDNDR, 1990–1999) prompted a major conceptual shift from disaster response to disaster reduction underscoring the crucial role of human action (UNISDR, 2001:03). This circumstance led to the adoption of an International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (ISDR) in 1999 by the participants of the IDNDR Programme Forum. The adoption gave emphasis to the importance of a global strategy that encourages and facilitates concerted action to reduce risk and vulnerability to natural and related technological and environmental hazards. This research then focuses on the disaster risk reduction phenomenon and major or international initiatives and forums aimed at improving or raising the disaster risk reduction profile. It also focuses on disaster risk management in the South African context. In recent years, disaster risk reduction has grown in importance on the international agenda. This followed the prevalence of natural hazards such as floods, drought, earthquakes, tsunamis, as well as epidemics, which have had an increasing impact on humans, due to population growth, urbanization, rising poverty and the onset of global environmental changes. Aspects of environmental change include climate change, land degradation and deforestation. Practitioners and researchers widely acknowledge that poor planning, poverty and a range of other underlying factors create conditions of vulnerability that result in insufficient capacity or measures to reduce hazards‘ potentially negative consequences (IISD/UN/ISDR, 2007:01). It is in this light that in 2005 many governments around the world committed themselves to take action to reduce disaster risk, and thereby adopted a guiding document to reduce vulnerabilities to natural hazards, called the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA). The HFA was adopted in January 2005 at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, in Kobe Hyogo, Japan by 168 States. The aim of the HFA is to assist the efforts of nations and communities to become more resilient to, and cope better, with the hazards that threaten their development gains with the overriding goal of achieving a substantial reduction in global disaster risk. It also emphasizes that disaster risk reduction is a central issue for development policies, in addition to being of interest to various science, humanitarian and environmental fields. To help attain the expected outcome, the HFA identified five specific priorities for action (PFAs) which are: (i) making disaster risk reduction a priority; (ii) improving risk information and early warning; (iii) building a culture of safety and resilience; (iv) reducing the risks in key sectors; and (v) strengthening preparedness for response. The Global Network of Civil Society Organisation for Disaster Risk Reduction (GNDR) which was launched in 2007 in Geneva, is a major international network of civil society organisations working to influence and implement disaster risk reduction policies and practice around the world. The major programme of the global network is to collect perspective for the local level as to how the HFA is progressing. The Views from the Frontline (VFL) is the first independent assessment project undertaken towards the implementation of the HFA at the local level and is led by the Global Network. The aim of this project is to measure the gap between policy formulation at international level with the realities of policy execution at local level and to deepen the communication and coordination between different stakeholders on disaster risk reduction by involving government organisation and communities at the local level. The VFL perspective is that nationally formulated policies are not generating widespread systematic changes in local practices. There is a concern that the current approach is top–down and engages minimally with affected communities and fails to address their needs and capacities (GNDR, 2008:01). The main objective of this research was to provide an overview of progress made in the implementation of the HFA at local level particularly in the Kabokweni Location. The approach adopted in this study is called 'the Views from the Frontline', and explores the extent of the actual progress made toward the implementation and impact of the HFA priorities at local level, namely the Kabokweni community in the Mbombela Local Municipality (MLM) situated in the Mpumalanga Province of South Africa. / Thesis (M. Development and management)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Many of the most destructive natural disasters have taken place in situations characterized by armed conflict and insecurity: the Indian Ocean tsunami in Sri Lanka and Indonesia in 2004, the floods in Pakistan in 2011, the drought in Somalia in 2011 and typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013. Surprisingly little research has systematically explored how armed conflict affects natural disaster management, and how shocks from natural disaster influence conflict dynamics. This dissertation addresses these gaps by providing a qualitative and disaggregated analysis of the micro-dynamics underpinning the relationship between armed conflict, natural disasters and cooperation. It asks: what is the relationship between natural disasters and processes of conflict and cooperation in countries affected by civil conflict? To explore this question, the dissertation offers four essays that explore different facets of this relationship, focusing on the rebel group. Examining collaboration between rebel group and humanitarian actors during disaster relief efforts in the Philippines, essay I finds that rebel group behavior after a natural disaster is shaped by the level of hostility between combatant parties and the nature of the ties with the local population. Exploring the effect of natural disasters on conflict dynamics in the case of the Philippines, essay II suggests that natural disasters hinder rebel group recruitment tactics, by increasing hardship for rebel combatants and supporters, by weakening the rebel group’s organizational structure and supply lines, and by leading to a loss of territorial control. Based on a comparative case study between Colombia and the Philippines, essay III revisits ripeness theory and argues that the level of rebel group cohesion will help to predict whether or not rebel groups stay at the negotiation table until an agreement is reached. While a typhoon affected the Philippines during the negotiations, it did not “ripen” the peace talks. Finally, article IV explores pre-disaster evacuation across conflict-affected regions in the Philippines and India, and argues that both experience of previous disaster and the level of trust in government officials influence the likelihood of people evacuating. The dissertation has important implications for both disaster management and conflict resolution, and it calls for more dialogue between both disciplines.

Submitted by ALEX BORGES (borges-alex@ig.com.br) on 2015-01-26T13:29:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Alex Borges 13-01-2015.pdf: 1929398 bytes, checksum: dbd7aac2a009e3828da25524480f83fe (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by ÁUREA CORRÊA DA FONSECA CORRÊA DA FONSECA (aurea.fonseca@fgv.br) on 2015-02-03T18:33:30Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Alex Borges 13-01-2015.pdf: 1929398 bytes, checksum: dbd7aac2a009e3828da25524480f83fe (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Marcia Bacha (marcia.bacha@fgv.br) on 2015-02-05T11:36:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Alex Borges 13-01-2015.pdf: 1929398 bytes, checksum: dbd7aac2a009e3828da25524480f83fe (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-02-05T11:36:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Alex Borges 13-01-2015.pdf: 1929398 bytes, checksum: dbd7aac2a009e3828da25524480f83fe (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-12-18 / The increase in the number of natural disasters, as well as their social and economic effects, in recent years, has raised a larger collection, by the media, population and control organs, in the members of the Civil Defense system on the reduction of their effects on society, given that the same has been increasingly overwhelming. To this end, the research analyzes the screen because of the Civil Defense system, historically, have focused their actions, programs and public policies on disaster management, i.e. in the response and recovery at the expense of disaster risk management, i.e. on prevention, preparedness and mitigation of the same, given that the same cannot be avoided, but its effects Yes decreased.This arrangement is studied from the literature review, interviews and field visits. Thus, it was found that the resposabilização ratio and Reduction of risk of disasters that the higher the enforcement and accountability greater and consistent are the number of actions, programmes and public policies aimed at prevention, preparedness and mitigation, i.e. for disaster risk reduction management. / O aumento do número de desastres naturais, bem como dos seus efeitos sociais e econômicos, nos últimos anos, tem ocasionado uma cobrança maior, por parte da mídia, população e órgãos de controle, nos integrantes do sistema de Defesa Civil quanto à redução dos seus efeitos na sociedade, dado que os mesmos têm sido cada vez mais avassaladores. A presente pesquisa faz uma análise endógena do sistema de Defesa Civil no estado do RJ sob a ótica das Ciências Política no período de 2012-2014, dado a promulgação da Lei n0 12.608 de 10 de abril de 2011. Para tal, a pesquisa em tela analisa o porquê do sistema de Defesa Civil, historicamente, ter focado as suas ações, programas e políticas públicas na gestão dos desastres. Isso é, na resposta e recuperação em detrimento da gestão do risco de desastre, ou seja, na prevenção, preparação e mitigação dos mesmos, vez que o mesmo não pode ser evitado, mas os seus efeitos sim minorados. Este arranjo é estudado a partir de revisão da literatura, de entrevistas e de visitas de campo. Assim, verificou-se que na relação responsabilização e Redução de Risco de Desastres quanto maior o enforcement e a accountability maiores e consistentes serão o número de ações, programas e políticas públicas voltadas para a prevenção, preparação e mitigação para a gestão da Redução do Risco de Desastres.

Allmänheten har ett uttalat ansvar vid krishantering, men är sällan medverkande i myndigheters arbete med krisberedskap och krisövning. Allmänheten är oftast den som är på plats där en kris händer och det kan finnas värden i att låta den bli mer inkluderad i arbetet att förbättra samhällets resiliens och minska dess sårbarhet vid en kris. Det här arbetet undersöker vad krishanterare i Värmland i Sverige och Hedmark i Norge anser om att inkludera allmänheten och hur det skulle kunna gå till för att på bästa sätt ta tillvara allmänhetens förmågor till fördel för samhället. Studien är kvalitativ med intervjuer som metod och resultatet analyserades med kvalitativ textanalys. Resultatet har diskuterats utifrån teorin om empowerment som handlar om att stärka den enskildes självförtroende att agera i en kris. Medan myndigheter ser behovet av empowerment så finns det en klyfta att överbrygga som handlar om att myndigheter inte ser allmänheten som en självklar deltagare i krisberedskapsarbetet. Resultatet indikerar att krishanterare ser övning med allmänheten som mestadels positivt, men att de begränsas av resursbrist och föreställningar om allmänhetens reaktioner samt en oro för vad insynen i myndigheternas krisberedskapsarbete kan leda till för negativa konsekvenser. Det viktigaste för att stärka individer och allmänhet sågs vara riktad information och kommunikation som kunde stärka personer att agera på ett bra sätt i en kris, stärka medmänskligheten samt stärka allmänhetens förmåga att ta kloka val samt öka deras tillit till myndigheterna. / The public has a pronounced responsibility for crisis management in Sweden and Norway, but is not a common part of the work on crisis preparedness and crisis training. The public is usually the first responder when a crisis occurs and there may be values ​​in allowing the public to be more included to improve societies’ resilience and reduce its vulnerability. This paper examines what crisis managers in Värmland in Sweden and Hedmark in Norway consider about including the public more and how the public could be included to best utilize the public's abilities for the benefit of society. The study has a qualitative design, with interviews as the main method. The result is analyzed by means of qualitative text analysis. The result indicates that crisis managers see crisis training with the public as mostly positive with clearly beneficial values, but they see themselves as limited by lack of resources and worry about public responses and concerns about how the transparency of government emergency preparedness work can lead to negative consequences such as lack of trust. The most important finding was the importance to strengthen individuals and the public through targeted information and communication. Information and education could strengthen people to act wisely in a situation, strengthen humanity, and strengthen the publics ability to make good choices as well as increase public trust in the authorities. The result has been discussed based on theories of empowerment, to strengthen the individual's self-confidence to act in a crisis. While authorities see the need for empowerment, there is a gap to bridge that is about authorities not viewing the public as an obvious participant in emergency preparedness work. / CriseIT

Floods and droughts are frequent in Central America and cause large social, economic and environmental impacts. A crucial step in disaster risk reduction is to have a good understanding of the causing mechanisms of extreme events and their spatio-temporal characteristics. For this, a key aspect is access to a dense network of long and good-quality hydro-meteorological data. Unfortunately, such ideal data are sparse or non-existent in Central America. In addition, the existing methods for hydro-climatic studies need to be revised and/or improved to find the most suitable for the region’s climate, geography and hydro-climatic data situation. This work has the ultimate goal to support the reduction of risks associated with hydro-climatic-induced disasters in Central America. This was sought by developing ways to reduce data-related uncertainties and by improving the available methods to study and understand hydro-climatic variability processes. In terms of data-uncertainty reduction, this thesis includes the development of a high resolution air temperature dataset and a methodology to reduce uncertainties in a hydrological model at ungauged basins. The dataset was able to capture the spatial patterns with a detail not available with existing datasets. The methodology significantly reduced uncertainties in an assumed-to-be ungauged catchment. In terms of methodological improvements, this thesis includes an assessment of the most suitable combination of (available) meteorological datasets and drought indices to characterise droughts in Central America. In addition, a methodology was developed to analyse drought propagation in a tropical catchment, in an automated, objective way. Results from the assessment and the drought propagation analysis contributed with improving the understanding of drought patterns and generating processes in the region. Finally, a methodology was proposed for assessing changes in both hydrological extremes in a consistent way. This contrasts with most commonly used frameworks that study each extreme individually. The method provides important characteristics (frequency, duration and magnitude), information that can be useful for decisions within risk reduction and water management. The results presented in this thesis are a contribution, in terms of hydro-climatic data and assessment methods, for supporting risk reduction of disasters related with hydro-climatic extremes in Central America. / Översvämningar och torka inträffar ofta i Mellanamerika och orsakar stora skador på samhälle, ekonomi och miljö. En kritisk del av riskreduceringen är förståelsen av mekanismerna bakom extremhändelserna, och deras rumsliga och tidskarakteristik. En nyckelfaktor är tillgång till långa tidsserier av rumsligt täckande hydrometeorologiska data av bra kvalitet. I Mellanamerika är sådana ideala data tyvärr sällsynta eller saknas helt. Dessutom behöver befintliga metoder för hydro-klimatisk analys revideras och/eller förbättras för att identifiera de mest lämpade metoderna för regionens klimat, geografi och situationen vad gäller hydrologiska och meteorologiska data. Det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling har varit att stödja arbetet med riskreducering i Mellanamerika vid hydrologiska extremhändelser som sätts igång av extrema väderhändelser. För att bidra till detta utvecklades metoder för att minska datarelaterade osäkerheter och för att förbättra tillgängliga metoder för att studera och förstå de processer som ligger bakom variabiliteten i hydrologi och klimat. Dataosäkerheten minskades genom utveckling av ett nytt dataset för lufttemperatur med hög rumslig upplösning och en metodik för att begränsa osäkerheten i modellberäknad vattenföring i ett område där det saknas observationer. Det nya datasetet kunde fånga rumsliga mönster på en detaljnivå som hittills inte varit möjlig. Metodiken möjliggjorde en klar minskning i osäkerheten hos vattenföringen i ett avrinningsområde som behandlades som om det saknade data. Avhandlingen innehåller också en metodik för att fastlägga den mest lämpade kombinationen av tillgängliga klimatdataset och torkindex för att karakterisera torka i Mellanamerika. Därutöver utvecklades en metod för att studera torkans fortplantning i ett tropiskt avrinningsområde på ett objektivt och automatiserat sätt. Slutligen föreslås en metod för att hantera förändringar av både översvämning och torka på ett konsistent sätt  som förenklar användningen av resultaten  för en beslutsfattare. Dessa metoder bedömdes användbara för att förbättra karakteriseringen och förståelsen av extrema hydrologiska händelser i Mellanamerika. Resultaten i denna avhandling ger bidrag till förståelsen av hydrologiska och klimatextremer genom förbättrade data och analysmetoder som i förlängningen kommer att stödja riskreduceringsarbetet i Mellanamerika. / Las sequías e inundaciones son frecuentes en Centroamérica y causan grandes problemas sociales, económicos y ambientales. Un aspecto crucial en la reducción del riesgo consiste en entender los mecanismos que causan dichos eventos, y sus características espacio-temporales. Para lograr esto es necesario tener acceso a una red de datos hidro-meterológicos densa, con series largas, y de buena calidad. Desafortunadamente, este no es el caso en Centroamérica. Además, los métodos para hacer estudios hidro-climáticos requieren ser evaluados y/o mejorados para asegurar su aplicabilidad en la región (su clima, su geografía y los datos disponibles). Este trabajo tiene como meta apoyar la reducción del riesgo de desastres asociados a eventos hidro-meteorológicos extremos en Centroamérica. Esto se consigue a partir de la reducción de incertidumbres asociadas a los datos, y de la mejora de métodos para el estudio de la variabilidad hidro-climática. Para reducir la incertidumbre de los datos, este trabajo incluye el desarrollo de una base de datos de temperatura de alta resolución y el desarrollo de una metodología para reducir las incertidumbres en datos simulados de caudal. Con la nueva base de datos se logra reconocer patrones espaciales a un nivel de detalle no antes captado por otras bases de datos. Por otro lado, la metodología redujo significativamente las incertidumbres de los datos simulados de caudal. En cuanto a métodos, esta tesis incluye una evaluación para encontrar la mejor combinación de índices de sequía y base de datos para la caracterización de sequías en la región. Además, se desarrolló una metodología para analizar la propagación de la sequía en una cuenca tropical, de una manera objetiva y automatizada. Los resultados de estos dos pasos ayudaron a mejorar la comprensión de los patrones y los mecanismos de generación de las sequías. Finalmente, se incluyó un método para evaluar los cambios en los patrones de sequías e inundaciones de una manera consistente, y no de manera individual como usualmente se ha hecho. Así fue posible obtener la frecuencia, duración y magnitud en ambos extremos hidrológicos. Esta información podría constituir una herramienta  útil para el manejo del riesgo y del recurso hídrico.

Many of the technological and social systems our society has come to depend on can be classified as complex adaptive systems (CAS). These systems are made of many individual parts that self-organize to respond and adapt to changing outside and inside influences affecting the system and its actors. These CAS can be placed on a spectrum ranging from loosely- to tightly-coupled, depending on the degree of interrelatedness and interdependence between system components. This research has explored how the process of collaboration occurs in both a loosely- and tightly-coupled setting using one exemplar of each system. The loosely-coupled exemplar related to disaster risk reduction in two Canadian communities while the tightly-coupled one involved the implementation of a surgical information management system in a Canadian hospital. A list of core elements of collaboration that should be considered essential to the success of all collaborative endeavours was developed as a result: Engagement, Communication, Leadership, Role Clarity, Awareness, Time, and Technical Skills and Knowledge. Based on observing how the core elements of collaboration interacted with one another within each of these example systems, two models were created to represent their relationships. A list of considerations that collaborative tool designers should consider was also developed and the implications of these considerations were discussed. As businesses and other organizations increasingly incorporate team-based work models, they will come to depend more heavily on technology-based solutions to support collaboration. By incorporating collaborative technologies that properly support the activity of these teams—based on the specific type of complex adaptive system in which their organization exists—organizations can avoid wasting time and resources developing tools that hinder collaboration.