Der Klimawandel ist eine globale Herausforderung, aber seine Auswirkungen sind besonders stark in Entwicklungsländern zu spüren. So erleiden arme Menschen deutlich höhere Verluste, weil sie Extremereignissen stärker ausgesetzt sind und weniger Ressourcen für Anpassung und Schockbewältigung haben. Trotz der weitreichenden Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf Haushalte in Entwicklungsländern ist die aktuelle Forschung zum Zusammenhang zwischen Klimawandel, Armut und Entwicklung begrenzt. Insbesondere die langfristigen Folgen von Wetterextremen für betroffene Haushalte sind wenig erforscht. Diese Arbeit soll dazu beitragen, die komplexen Zusammenhänge zwischen veränderten klimatischen Bedingungen und Entwicklung auf Haushaltsebene besser zu verstehen. Kapitel 2 befasst sich mit den unmittelbaren Folgen eines extremen Wetterereignisses für die Ernährungssicherheit, wobei Nahrungsmenge und -qualität untersucht werden. Es analysiert, inwieweit die Selbstversorgung mit Nahrungsmitteln die Einkommenselastizität für Ernährung verringern kann und zeigt die negativen Folgen eines Wetterschocks auf die Ernährungsqualität auf. Kapitel 3 befasst sich mit der Schockpersistenz. Basierend auf einem theoretischen Modell zeigt es negative Wachstumseffekte eines einmaligen extremen Wetterereignisses, zusätzlich zu den unmittelbaren Verlusten. Es zeigt auch, dass die Folgen von extremen Wetterereignissen stärker sind als die von anderen Schocks auf Haushaltsebene. Kapitel 4 analysiert das Einkommenspotenzial in der nicht-landwirtschaftlichen Kleinstselbstständigkeit. Selbst in diesem Kontext unvollständiger Märkte existieren robuste Bildungsrenditen. Das Kapitel zeigt außerdem verschiedene Übertragungskanäle auf. Zusammengenommen fordern diese Ergebnisse politische Maßnahmen, die den Nexus Klimawandel - Entwicklung auf unterschiedlichen Ebenen adressieren: Unmittelbare Katastrophenhilfe sowie längerfristige Anpassungsunterstützungen. / Anthropogenic climate change is a global challenge, but its effects are felt disproportionally in developing countries. As such, poor people incur significantly higher disaster-induced losses due to higher shock exposure and vulnerability as well as fewer resources for adaptation and recovery. Despite the far-reaching impacts of climate change on households in developing countries and the predicted aggravation of climate change outcomes, there is still little research focusing on the link between them. In particular, the long-term consequences of weather-related disasters on the livelihood of poor households are not well understood. This thesis aims to help our understanding of the complex links between changing climatic conditions and development for affected households. It sheds light on three different stages of the climate-change – development nexus. Chapter 2 is concerned with the immediate consequences of an extreme weather event for food security, focusing on dietary quantity and quality. It analyses to what extent food self-provisioning can help reduce the income elasticity of consumption and shows the negative effects of a weather-related disaster on dietary quality. Chapter 3 looks at shock persistence. Based on a theoretical model, it provides robust evidence for negative growth effects of a one-off extreme weather event, in addition to the immediate losses caused. It also demonstrates that the effects of extreme weather events are stronger than those of other household-level shocks. Chapter 4 analyses the income-earning potential in non-agricultural micro self-employment. It provides robust evidence for the existence of returns to education even in a context of petty self-employment, highlighting different transmission channels. Put together, these results call for policy action addressing all stages of the climate change – development nexus: Immediate disaster relief as well as longer-term mitigation and adaptation efforts.

IVANKO, Dana. Possibilities of social work in a situation of mass disasters in relation to the needs of victims. Prague: Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague, 2013. 87 pp. Diploma thesis. Diploma Thesis - Possibilities of social work in a situation of mass disasters in relation to the needs of victims - focuses on the area of psychosocial assistance and social work in mass disasters. It describes in deeper details the types of assistance in mass disasters, focusing on psychosocial assistance. The focus is on human, with its biological, psychological, spiritual and social needs. Then, social work in situations of mass disaster and competences of a social worker are introduced. A separate chapter discusses mobile crisis teams. To achieve the goals of this work, it presents an overview of standards of psychosocial assistance, including legislative basis of help in mass disasters in the Czech Republic. Research section provides an insight into the work of mobile crisis teams in the Czech Republic in the form of examples of good practice. The methodology will be elaborated based on the examples of work of mobile crisis teams, on what has proved successful in providing psychosocial assistance. Keywords Social work in mass disasters, psychosocial assistance, mass disaster, victims, needs of...

With disasters increasing in frequency and costs each year, this study seeks to explore ways greater public participation can assist emergency managers in their mission to keep communities safe. Specifically this study examines the policy process and administrative functions of emergency management to illuminated the benefits and hindrances involved in greater participation. This study conducted a qualitative analysis of governmental documents, disaster case studies, international research, as well as political science and administrative doctrines, to arrive at its conclusions. The results of this study reveal that the public is a largely untapped resource in the emergency management field. Engaging the public dialogically in early policy stages and emergency management phases is essential to successful inclusion for both administrators and communities. Specifically, public inclusion creates expanded knowledge, shared learning, personal responsibility, and increased social capital. Faced with the growing threat from disasters, emergency management can create communities that are both more resilient and sustainable by increasing public participation.

<p>Particle pollution in South Korea has become a matter of significant public concern, culminating in its declaration as a “social disaster” through a government proclamation in 2019. This study shows how the existing interventions to tackle particle pollution in South Korea as a “social disaster” contribute to maintaining the status quo, paradoxically. The study attempts to interpret pollution as entanglements, relations, and processes by addressing the discussions and politics surrounding particle pollution, the interventions to tackle it, and what they presuppose and exclude via multi-sited ethnography.</p> <p>What narratives form the bedrock of the current discourses and politics around particle pollution in South Korea? What kinds of population, knowledge systems, values, and interests are incorporated and excluded around particulate matter in Korea? Drawing upon four months of fieldwork, interviews, and collaborative work with residents, scientists, and activists in South Korea, this thesis offers a new understanding of how citizens’ experiences and knowledge practices have reshaped the concepts of pollution, toxicity, and health. The study indicates that the existing practices and knowledge vis-à-vis pollution control have individualized pollution by presuming particular ways of normalcy and excluding others. In doing so, this study captures the multiplicity of particle pollution and shows the existence and stories of different bodies living with/in pollution.</p> <p>Drawing on the literature in feminist science and technology studies as well as medical and environmental anthropology scholarship, this study problematizes harm reduction-based environmental and health intervention practices by describing the current individualized particle pollution responses. The research reveals how people in Korea living with/in particulate matter have perceived, datafied, defined, adjusted, and responded to particle pollution and its toxicity. The study suggests that pollution should be envisaged as entanglements and relations by shedding light on the stories that particulate matter has been perceived, coordinated, and generated in various ways. Lastly, indicating that the knowledge and interventions surrounding particle pollution have exploited and flattened the environment based on the human–nature dichotomy, the study suggests different ways of conceptualizing pollution, while considering the multiplicity of pollution, toxicities, and bodies.</p>

This dissertation is about economic resilience of local governments to natural disasters. Specifically, the dissertation investigates resilience on regional level. Moreover, the dissertation also investigates growth in the green job sector in local governments. The findings indicate that local governments working with each other helps green job creation. In addition, the dissertation finds that green jobs, following disasters, experience three percent growth. This dissertation is important because it investigates the relationship between climate- related disasters and green jobs, which is an area that is under-investigated.

This dissertation investigates the effects of natural disasters and political institutions on municipalities' climate change policies. Although most theoretical frameworks on policy adoption highlight the roles of extreme events as exogenous factors influencing policy change, most studies tend to focus on the effects of extreme events on policy change at the national level. Additionally, the existing theoretical frameworks explaining local policy adoption and public service provision do not pay attention to the roles of extreme events in local governments' policy choices. To fill those gaps, this dissertation explores the roles of natural disasters and political institutions on municipal governments' climate change policies. It does this by applying the theory of focusing events to local climate mitigation and adaptation actions. Based on the policy change framework, the political market model, and the institutional collective action frameworks, this dissertation develops and tests hypotheses to examine the effects of natural disasters and political institutions on municipalities' climate mitigation and adaptation policies. The dissertation uses 2010 National League of Cities (NLC) sustainability surveys and the 2010 International City/County Management Association (ICMA) sustainability survey to test the hypotheses. Analytical results show that floods and droughts influence local climate change policies and suggest that local governments can take advantage of extreme events when initiating a policy change. The results also suggest that political institutions can shape the effects of natural disasters on municipalities' climate mitigation and adaptation actions.

Current research shows that water-related disasters are the most common natural disaster worldwide and these disasters are increasing in numbers. Water-related disasters cause negative consequences through damage to infrastructure and human health.  This thesis aims to provide an overview of the water-related disasters, floods, and landslides in Sweden by displaying the spatial distribution. Furthermore, the purpose is to analyze the consequences of occurred water-related disasters. By answering the following research questions:  How has landslides and floods been spatially distributed over time in Sweden?  How severe has the consequences of floods and landslides been in Sweden?  To answer these research questions a data study was conducted in ArcGIS and Excel to analyze the spatial distribution and the consequences of landslides and floods. The result shows that the three counties in Sweden with the highest number of affected areas by floods are: Västerbotten, Västernorrland and Örebro. These counties constitute 36% of the affected areas. These affected areas have occurred periodically with an increase since 1970. A detailed study over the years 2011–2017 showed that most floods in Sweden lead to consequences with a small extent and limited damages.  Furthermore, the counties Västra Götaland, Västernorrland and Värmland had the highest number of occurred landslides. In total, 83.7% of all landslides have occurred within these three counties. This means that the distribution of floods is more evenly distributed between different counties compared to landslides. Within these counties, the areas that have had notable high numbers of landslides are Ångermanälven, Norsälven, Klarälven and the areas nearby Göta älv. Overall, it has been most common that landslides have an extent in the range between 1000–10000 m2 and that an extent over 100000 m2 are rare. / Aktuell forskning visar att vattenrelaterade naturkatastrofer är de vanligaste naturkatastroferna över hela världen samt att dessa ökar i antal. Vattenrelaterade naturkatastrofer orsakar till negativa konsekvenser till följd av skador på infrastruktur och människors hälsa. Denna kandidatuppsats syftar till att ge en översikt av den geografiska utbredningen av inträffade vattenrelaterade naturkatastroferna skred och översvämningar i Sverige. Vidare, är syftet att analysera konsekvenserna av inträffade vattenrelaterade naturkatastrofer, genom att svara på följande frågeställningar:  Hur har skred och översvämningar varit utspridda över tid i Sverige? Hur allvarliga har konsekvenserna av översvämningar och jordskred varit i Sverige? För att besvara dessa frågeställningar utfördes en analys i ArcGIS och Excel för att undersöka den geografiska utbredningen och konsekvenserna av skred och översvämningar. Resultatet visar att de tre län med flest områden som blivit påverkade av översvämningar är: Västerbotten, Västernorrland and Örebro. Dessa län utgör 36% av de drabbade områdena. Antalet påverkade områden av översvämningar har inträffat periodvis med en ökning sedan 1970. En detaljerad analys över åren 2011–2017 visade att de flesta översvämningar i Sverige resulterade i konsekvenser med liten utbredning och små skador.  Vidare, hade Västra Götaland, Västernorrland och Värmlands län högst antal inträffade skred. Totalt har 83.7% av alla skred inträffat inom dessa tre län. Detta innebär att fördelningen av områden påverkade av översvämningar har varit jämnare fördelade mellan olika län jämfört med skred. Inom dessa län är de områden som har haft anmärkningsvärt högt antal skred: Ångermanälven, Norsälven, Klarälven och områdena i närheten av Göta älv. Överlag har det varit vanligast att jordskred har en utbredning mellan 1000–10000 m2 och att en utbredning över 100000 m2 är ovanlig.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic shook the global economy to its core, enforcing wide-ranging working from home (WFH) movements in addition to traditional working from office (WFO) structures. As the debates continue over how to permanently embed WFH into the work reality, to do so successfully, the components of changing work venues must be evaluated. Hence, there is a growing urgency to adapt to the new ways of working through focused organizational and managerial intervention. Utilizing the grounded theory, the analysis of qualitative interview data from Germany and Sweden formed the foundation of the paper’s research on changing work venues concerning individual and organizational resilience. Here, young professionals shared experiences of WFH during the pandemic in conjunction with their time WFO before and after COVID-19 restrictions. Through the theoretical framework of resilience as practice, this paper establishes three processes that have a major impact on the quality of home office in relation to resilience: (1) adapting to WFH, (2) acknowledging the advantages and disadvantages of WFO and WFH, and (3) emphasizing individual preferences and differences. The study suggests that the more structured and faster the company adapted to WFH during the transitional period, the less pronounced the employee’s possible negative experiences were. Concerning the benefits of different work venues and individual preferences, this paper concludes that WFH is a substantial supplement to traditional work on-site with the potential to increase individual and organizational resilience.

Text in Afrikaans / In hierdie studie is die noodsaaklike bestuursrol van die rampverpleegster tydens rampoptrede en direk daarna verken, nagevors en beskryf. Haar bevoegdheid om die verskillende rampbestuurstake effektief te kan verrig voor, tydens en na rampe wat buite 'n hospitaal plaasvind, is oak nagegaan. Bestuurstake is geidentifiseer waarmee verpleegsters tydens rampsituasies buite hospitale vertroud behoort te wees. Die navorsingsprojek het deur middel van vraelyste biografiese data ingesamel met betrekking tot die persone wat as rampverpleegsters by Burgerlike Beskerming in Pretoria geregistreer is, met die doel om 'n kursus aan te beveel wat pertinent op hul behoeftes gerig is. Die rampverpleegster se behoefte aan toepaslike verdere opleiding, inoefening of leiding betreffende die ge1dentifiseerde bestuurstake, is bepaal. Dit het geblyk dat opleiding in die meeste take nodig is, en 'n kursus in rampbestuur vir verpleegkundiges is ontwerp / In this study the essential management role of the disaster nurse during disaster action was outlined, researched and described. Her competency to effectively execute disaster relief tasks before, during and after a disaster occurring outside a hospital, was studied. Management tasks were identified which nurses should have mastered regarding disaster situations occurring outside hospital boundaries. Research data were gathered by means of a questiorinaire on the biographic detail of disaster nurses registered with · Civil Defence in Pretoria, in order to recommend a course specifically aimed at fulfilling their requirements. The research project identified requirements of the disaster nurse for appropriate further training, practise and guidance regarding the identified-management tasks. It became evident that training is required in most of the tasks, and a training course for nurses in disaster management was designed / Health Studies / M.A. (Verpleegkunde)

Thesis (DPhil (Geography and Environmental Studies))—University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / Background The Disaster Management Act (Act 57 of 2002) instructs a paradigm shift from preparedness, response and recovery towards risk reduction. In order to plan for and mitigate risks, all spheres of government must firstly assess their hazards, vulnerabilities, capacity to cope and therefore risks. Studies in this regard, in South Africa, have however only focussed on current risks. Climate Change has now been accepted by leading international studies as a reality. Climate change can impact upon many aspects of life on earth. Studies to quantify the impact of climate change on water resources, biodiversity, agriculture and sustainable development are steadily increasing, but human health seem to have been neglected. Only general predictions, mostly regarding vector-borne disease and injury related to natural disasters are found in literature. Studies in South Africa have only focussed on malaria distribution. Most studies, internationally and the few in South Africa, were based on determining empirical relationships between weather parameters and disease incidence, therefore assessing only the hazard, and not the disaster risk. Methodology This study examines the impact of climate change on human health in the Western Cape, within the context of disaster management. A qualitative approach is followed and includes: · A literature overview examining predicted changes in climate on a global and regional scale, · A discussion on the known relationships and possible impacts climate change might have on human health, · A disaster risk assessment based on the status quo for a case study area, the Cape Winelands District Municipality, · An investigation into the future risks in terms of health, taking into account vulnerabilities and secondary impacts of climate change, resulting in the prioritisation of future risks. · Suggestions towards mitigation within the South African context. Results The secondary impacts of climate change were found to have the larger qualitative impact. The impact of climate change on agriculture, supporting 38% of the population can potentially destroy the livelihoods of the workforce, resulting in poverty-related disease. Other impacts identified were injuries and disease relating to temperature, floods, fire and water quality. Conclusion Risk is a function of hazard, vulnerability and capacity to cope. The impact of an external factor on a ‘spatial system’ should be a function of the impacts on all these factors. Disasters are not increasing because of the increase in the frequency of hazards, but because of the increasing vulnerability to hazards. This study illustrated that the major impacts of the external factor could actually be on the vulnerabilities and the indirect impacts, and not on the hazard itself. Climate change poses a threat to many aspects of the causative links that should be addressed by disaster management, and its impacts should be researched further to determine links and vulnerabilities. This research also illustrates that slow onset disasters hold the potential to destroy just as much as extreme events such as Katrina, Rita or a tsunami. It also reiterates that secondary impacts may not be as obvious, but are certainly not of secondary importance.