Why Information Matters: A Foundation for Resilience

Embracing Change: The Critical Role of Information, a research project by the Internews' Center for Innovation & Learning, supported by the Rockefeller Foundation, combines Internews' longstanding effort to highlight the important role ofinformation with Rockefeller's groundbreaking work on resilience. The project focuses on three major aspects:- Building knowledge around the role of information in empowering communities to understand and adapt to different types of change: slow onset, long-term, and rapid onset / disruptive;- Identifying strategies and techniques for strengthening information ecosystems to support behavioral adaptation to disruptive change; and- Disseminating knowledge and principles to individuals, communities, the private sector, policymakers, and other partners so that they can incorporate healthy information ecosystems as a core element of their social resilience strategies

Graph Based Semi-supervised Learning with Convolution Neural Networks to Classify Crisis Related Tweets

During time-critical situations such as natural disasters, rapid classification of data posted on social networks by affected people is useful for humanitarian organizations to gain situational awareness and to plan response efforts. However, the scarcity of labeled data in the early hours of a crisis hinders machine learning tasks thus delays crisis response. In this work, we propose to use an inductive semi-supervised technique to utilize unlabeled data, which is often abundant at the onset of a crisis event, along with fewer labeled data. Specif- ically, we adopt a graph-based deep learning framework to learn an inductive semi-supervised model. We use two real-world crisis datasets from Twitter to evaluate the proposed approach. Our results show significant improvements using unlabeled data as compared to only using labeled data.Comment: 5 pages. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1805.0515

MULTILEVEL GOVERNANCE IN EUROPEAN RIVER BASINS: CHALLENGES IN THE INTEGRATION OF ADAPTATION, DISASTER RESPONSE, AND RESILIENCE

This dissertation examines some of the strengths and weaknesses in basin level governance particularly as it relates to three current policy priorities: adaptive governance, international frameworks for response to natural and man-made disasters, and resilience in integrated water resources management. While these priorities are well-established in the academic and policy literature, in practice the ability to implement them at multiple levels has proven challenging. Though my dissertation highlights these challenges using case studies of European river basins, the observations and lessons for improving integrated management at multiple levels of governance, in multiple sectors, and among various actors are more broadly relevant to other natural resource governance settings. The first paper of this dissertation explores adaptive governance in the Tisza sub-basin, considering both constraints and policy options for strengthening adaptive governance at the sub-basin level. The Tisza is the largest sub-basin to the Danube River basin, and faces increasing pressures exacerbated by climate change. The Tisza countries have experienced challenges with managing climate change adaptation in a nested, consistent, and effective manner pursuant to the European Union Water Framework Directive. This is due, in part, to inefficiencies in climate change adaptation, such as weakened vertical coordination. This paper examines the conceptual domains relating to adaptation in international governance, and adaptation in transboundary water management in particular, with a focus on multilevel governance. International laws and policies governing transboundary waters in the Danube basin and Tisza sub-basin are reviewed. Using interviews and document analysis, the paper highlights challenges to adaptation in the Tisza sub-basin, including policy, fiscal, institutional, and capacity. The paper concludes with an exploration of possible policy options for sub-basin management, such as the development of a sub-basin commission, the establishment of a permanent Tisza expert group to be housed at and coordinated by the ICPDR, the use of new or existing bilateral treaties, and designing a framework for managing the Tisza. The second paper analyzes the transition in international frameworks of response to natural and man-made disasters as incorporated and integrated at multiple levels of governance. It begins with a discussion of the distinctions between so-called “natural” disasters and “man-made” accidents, how and why they are treated differently, and how recent developments in international law and practice are raising questions about the merits of these historic distinctions. Anthropogenic climate change drives more extreme and sometimes cascading disasters that require complex and overlapping types of response; it is argued that the distinctions in response to natural and man-made disasters are counterproductive, outdated, and ultimately flawed. The paper examines the policy and institutional frameworks governing response to natural disasters and man-made accidents in the Danube River basin and Tisza River sub-basin. Using expert interviews and legal and policy analysis, it then explores the differences in how natural disasters and man-made accidents are monitored and how they are responded to. The paper concludes with an analysis of the implications of transitioning policies toward a more holistic framework for response, regardless of whether the cause is natural, man-made, or (as is increasingly the case) some combination. The third paper advances the concept of a new approach – resilient IWRM – and how this approach can be applied to the management practices of the Danube and Rhine River basins and other river basins around the world. Using the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the leading framework for resilience, and supported by expert interviews, the paper analyzes what resilience measures have been addressed, and what gaps remain in the basin management frameworks of the Danube and Rhine River basins. The paper concludes with a discussion of the current constraints in the resilient IWRM framework of the Danube and Rhine River basins, in addition to options for overcoming these challenges. This dissertation concludes with a discussion of crosscutting dimensions of analysis, specifically the challenges faced in integrating climate change adaptation, response to natural and man-made disasters, and resilience into multiple levels of water governance. While these conceptual elements are well-established, the ability to operationalize these elements has proven difficult from multiple perspectives highlighted in this dissertation. The difficulties suggest a more nuanced and pragmatic approach to both their framing and their operationalization

Comparative analysis of spring flood risk reduction measures in Alaska, United States and the Sakha Republic, Russia

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2017River ice thaw and breakup are an annual springtime phenomena in the North. Depending on regional weather patterns and river morphology, breakups can result in catastrophic floods in exposed and vulnerable communities. Breakup flood risk is especially high in rural and remote northern communities, where flood relief and recovery are complicated by unique geographical and climatological features, and limited physical and communication infrastructure. Proactive spring flood management would significantly minimize the adverse impacts of spring floods. Proactive flood management entails flood risk reduction through advances in ice jam and flood prevention, forecasting and mitigation, and community preparedness. With the goal to identify best practices in spring flood risk reduction, I conducted a comparative case study between two flood-prone communities, Galena in Alaska, United States and Edeytsy in the Sakha Republic, Russia. Within a week from each other, Galena and Edeytsy sustained major floods in May 2013. Methods included focus groups with the representatives from flood managing agencies, surveys of families impacted by the 2013 floods, observations on site, and archival review. Comparative parameters of the study included natural and human causes of spring floods, effectiveness of spring flood mitigation and preparedness strategies, and the role of interagency communication and cooperation in flood risk reduction. The analysis revealed that spring flood risk in Galena and Edeytsy results from complex interactions among a series of natural processes and human actions that generate conditions of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Therefore, flood risk in Galena and Edeytsy can be reduced by managing conditions of ice-jam floods, and decreasing exposure and vulnerability of the at-risk populations. Implementing the Pressure and Release model to analyze the vulnerability progression of Edeytsy and Galena points to common root causes at the two research sites, including colonial heritage, unequal distribution of resources and power, top-down governance, and limited inclusion of local communities in the decision-making process. To construct an appropriate flood risk reduction framework it is important to establish a dialogue among the diverse stakeholders on potential solutions, arriving at a range of top-down and bottom-up initiatives and in conjunction selecting the appropriate strategies. Both communities have progressed in terms of greater awareness of the hazard, reduction in vulnerabilities, and a shift to more reliance on shelter-in-place. However, in neither community have needed improvements in levee protection been completed. Dialogue between outside authorities and the community begins earlier and is more intensive for Edeytsy, perhaps accounting for Edeytsy's more favorable rating of risk management and response than Galena's

Collaboration among humanitarian relief organizations and volunteer technical communities : identifying research opportunities and challenges through a systematic literature review

Collaboration is the foundation to strengthen disaster preparedness and for effective emergency response actions at all levels. Some studies have highlighted that remote volunteers, i.e., volunteers supported by Web 2.0 technologies, possess the potential to strengthen humanitarian relief organizations by offering information regarding disaster-affected people and infrastructure. Although studies have explored various aspects of this topic, none of those provided an overview of the state-of-the-art of researches on the collaboration among humanitarian organizations and communities of remote volunteers. With the aim of overcoming this gap, a systematic literature review was conducted on the existing research works. Therefore, the main contribution of this work lies in examining the state of research in this field and in identifying potential research gaps. The results show that most of the research works addresses the general domain of disaster management, whereas only few of them address the domain of humanitarian logistics. Collaboration among Humanitarian Relief Organizations and Volunteer Technical Communities: Identifying Research Opportunities and Challenges through a Systematic Literature Review (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315790817_Collaboration_among_Humanitarian_Relief_Organizations_and_Volunteer_Technical_Communities_Identifying_Research_Opportunities_and_Challenges_through_a_Systematic_Literature_Review [accessed May 26, 2017]