Reducing disaster risks 1980–2010: Some reflections and speculations
Through personal reflections on themes covering past experiences, the author considers selected experiences of disaster risk management (DRM) that span 30 years of DRM, and makes some speculations concerning the future, and ponders whether within the selected themes the future looks positive or negative. The observations begin with some memories of the Ocho Rios Conference: a multi disciplinary expedition to examine housing and hazards in Pakistan; issues concerning education and training; and finally the success of a massive reconstruction project of rural dwellings in Pakistan following the 2005 earthquake. Some key questions are considered: the value of community-based risk management; the reduction of short- or long-term risks; the protection of critical facilities; whose reality is being addressed? official neglect of education for DRM; the conditions needed to create highly effective safe reconstruction in rural Pakistan.
Mapping Vulnerability: Disasters, Development and People
Introduction: Mapping Vulnerability * Theorizing Vulnerability in a Globalized World: A Political Ecological Perspective * The Historical Geography of Disaster: 'Vulnerability' and 'Local Knowledge' in Western Discourse * The Need for Rethinking the Concepts of Vulnerability and Risk from a Holistic Perspective: A Necessary Review and Criticism for Effective Risk Management * Complexity and Diversity: Unlocking Social Domains of Disaster Response * The Lower Lempa River Valley, El Salvador: Risk Reduction and Development Project * El Ni o Events, Forecasts and Decision-making * Vulnerable Regions versus Vulnerable People: An Ethiopian Case Study * From Vulnerability to Empowerment * Progress in Analysis of Social Vulnerability and Capacity * Vulnerability Reduction: A Task for the Vulnerable People Themselves * Macro-economic Concepts of Vulnerability: Dynamics, Complexity and Public Policy * Gendering Vulnerability Analysis: Towards a More Nuanced Approach * Assessment of Capability and Vulnerability * Conclusion: Vulnerability Analysis as a Means of Strengthening Policy Formulation and Policy Practice * Notes * References * Index
Science Buddies: Advancing Informal Science Education
An innovative nonprofit enables scientists to present inspiring project ideas based on their own research to K–12 students, parents, and teachers. Every year, about 10 million North American kindergarten through high school (K–12) students complete a science project. What part of these science projects is the most difficult? Formulating a hypothesis? Designing an experiment? Analyzing data? The answer: None of the above. Science Buddies (www.sciencebuddies.org)—a nonprofit developer of software, content, and other resources for informal science and engineering education—found that students have the most difficulty selecting a topic and doing background research to inform their work. Meanwhile, scientists and engineers interested in advising and inspiring students often do not have a means to connect with them (see the first figure). To Science Buddies, these difficulties presented an ideal challenge, and we applied a business methodology to address them, viewing our users as customers and our output as products.