Weaving Equity into Infrastructure Resilience Research and Practice: A Decadal Review and Future Directions

After about a decade of research in this domain, what is missing is a systematic overview of the research agenda across different infrastructures and hazards. It is now imperative to evaluate the current progress and gaps. This paper presents a systematic review of equity literature on disrupted infrastructure during a natural hazard event. Following a systematic review protocol, we collected, screened, and evaluated almost 3,000 studies. Our analysis focuses on the intersection within the dimensions of the eight-dimensional assessment framework that distinguishes focus of the study, methodological approaches, and equity dimensions (distributional-demographic, distributional-spatial, procedural, and capacity equity). To conceptualize the intersection of the different dimensions of equity, we refer to pathways, which identify how equity is constructed, analyzed, and used. Significant findings show that (1) the interest in equity in infrastructure resilience has exponentially increased, (2) the majority of studies are in the US and by extension in the global north, (3) most data collection use descriptive and open-data and none of the international studies use location-intelligence data. The most prominent equity conceptualization is distributional equity, such as the disproportionate impacts to vulnerable populations and spaces. The most common pathways to study equity connect distributional equity to the infrastructure's power, water, and transportation in response to flooding and hurricane storms. Other equity concepts or pathways, such as connections of equity to decision-making and building household capacity, remain understudied. Future research directions include quantifying the social costs of infrastructure disruptions and better integration of equity into resilience decision-making.Comment: 37 pages, 11 figures, 2 table

Enhancing Ontario’s Rural Infrastructure Preparedness: Inter-Community Service Sharing in a Changing Climate — Environmental Scan

Given the research that has been done in this environmental scan and the gaps found in this research, it is our aim to find out: What types of service sharing are going on in Ontario municipalities, particularly in rural/remote areas? How can inter-community service sharing (ICSS) benefit the asset management planning process in these rural/remote areas to enhance capacities for climate change resilience? Climate change (CC) will exacerbate deterioration to existing infrastructure and increase replacement costs. Improved preparedness reduces risks and increases efficiency, readiness and coping capacity. To increase the preparedness of Ontario rural communities, this project develops CC-Prepared Inter-Community Service Sharing (ICSS) as an innovative strategy that expands cost-effective solutions within Ontario’s standardized Asset Management Planning (AMP) process. Overseen by a Project Advisory Board (PAB), it identifies a suite of best practice ICSS processes and principles and a range of factors and indicators that influence the uptake of ICSS as a viable and practical opportunity targeted to enhance rural infrastructure preparedness for CC. It utilizes a multimethod, interdisciplinary approach involving an environmental scan, interviews, a survey and case studies and develops an ICSS Toolkit consisting of reports, workbook, policy brief and media kit. Knowledge translation and transfer (KTT) includes blogs, teleconferences, articles, presentations and a workshop. For small rural Ontario communities, this study enhances management of CC impacts on infrastructure through the development of a CC-Prepared ICSS strategy, increasing anticipatory, collective actions that reduce dam age and increase efficiencies. It informs sound municipal/provincial level programs and policies about innovative ICSS that benefit rural communities through the identification of Ontario-wide trends, case study best practises and action-oriented recommendations

Risk of Capital Flight Due to a Better Understanding of Climate Change

The physical risks of climate change, including both gradual global warming and an increase in extreme weather events are likely to cause increasing financial and economic losses. This helpdesk report examines the evidence on the risk of capital flight in vulnerable countries due to a better understanding of physical climate change risks. It finds that: there are challenges in assessing physical risks; there are no examples of capital flight from developing countries due to a better understanding of the physical risks of climate change; the physical risks of climate change will differentially affect businesses and the financial performance of sectors, and as well as creating risks, could also create opportunities for investors, and the potential mechanisms for building resilience to natural disasters and facilitating recovery following a disaster could help vulnerable countries and regions adapt to the physical risks of climate change.FCDO (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Improving Water Security: A Process to Address "Too Little, Too Much, Too Dirty, Too Erratic"

The Sustainable Water Partnership is proud to present Toolkit #1, a resource for working to improve water security.  This is the first in a series of six toolkits which present an effective and efficient process to address water risks, including long-term water stresses that constrain social and economic development and sudden shocks that can quickly ruin the health and livelihoods of vulnerable populations. It provides a brief introduction to water security, as well as a detailed walkthrough of SWP's five-step Water Security Improvement (WSI) process

Agriculture and climate change: An agenda for negotiation in Copenhagen

Table of Contents: •Overview by Gerald C. Nelson •Agricultural Science and Technology Needs for Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation by Rudy Rabbinge •Reducing Methane Emissions from Irrigated Rice by Reiner Wassmann, Yasukazu Hosen, and Kay Sumfleth •Direct and Indirect Mitigation Through Tree and Soil Management by Brent M. Swallow and Meine van Noordwijk •The Potential for Soil Carbon Sequestration by Rattan Lal •Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Livestock Systems by M. Herrero and P. K. Thornton •The Role of Nutrient Management in Mitigation by Helen C. Flynn •Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification Methodologies for Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use by Sean Smukler and Cheryl Palm •Synergies Among Mitigation, Adaptation, and Sustainable Development by Pete Smith •The Importance of Property Rights in Climate Change Mitigation by Helen Markelova and Ruth Meinzen-Dick •The Important Role of Extension Systems by Kristin E. Davis •Adaptation to Climate Change: Household Impacts and Institutional Responses by Futoshi Yamauchi and Agnes Quisumbing •The Constructive Role of International Trade by Franz FischlerClimate change, Copenhagen, Science and technology, rice, Soil fertility management, Greenhouse gas, Nutrients, Forestry resources, Land use, Sustainable development, International trade, extension activities, Household behavior, Institutional Impacts,

Post-disaster housing reconstruction in a conflict affected district, Batticaloa, Sri Lanka: Reflecting on the Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management Approach

Sri Lanka has been the scene of waves of resettlement due to the conflict and the 2004 South Asian Tsunami. Practical Action Sri Lanka, in partnership with DESMIO, a local NGO, sought to facilitate a housing project with people with disabilities and those most vulnerable in Manmunipattu Division of Batticaloa – a conflict affected and hazard prone division. This case study highlights the extent to which Practical Action Sri Lanka's housing intervention reflects a climate smart disaster risk management (CSDRM) approach and whether this has led to an opening of inclusive spaces and citizen engagement on disaster risk management (DRM) in a post-conflict setting

Reducing the Vulnerability of Electric Power Infrastructure Against Natural Disasters by Promoting Distributed Generation

Natural disasters cause significant damage to the electrical power infrastructure every year. Therefore, there is a crucial need to reduce the vulnerability of the electric power grid against natural disasters. Distributed generation (DG) represents small-scale decentralized power generation that can help reduce the vulnerability of the grid, among many other benefits. Examples of DG include small-scale photo-voltaic (PV) systems. Accordingly, the goal of this paper is to investigate the benefits of DG in reducing the vulnerability of the electric power infrastructure by mitigating against the impact of natural disasters on transmission lines. This was achieved by developing a complex system-of-systems (SoS) framework using agent-based modeling (ABM) and optimal power flow (OPF). N-1 contingency analysis and optimization were performed under two approaches: The first approach determined the minimum DG needed at any single location on the electric grid to avoid blackouts. The second approach used a genetic algorithm (GA) to identify the minimum total allocation of DG distributed over the electric grid to mitigate against the failure of any transmission line. Accordingly, the model integrates ABM, OPF, and GA to optimize the allocation of DG and reduce the vulnerability of electric networks. The model was tested on a modified IEEE 6-bus system as a proof of concept. The outcomes of this research are intended to support the understanding of the benefits of DG in reducing the vulnerability of the electric power grid. The presented framework can guide future research concerning policies and incentives that can strategically influence consumer decision to install DG and reduce the vulnerability of the electric power infrastructure

Future-proofing the state: managing risks, responding to crises and building resilience

Summary: This book focuses on the challenges facing governments and communities in preparing for and responding to major crises — especially the hard to predict yet unavoidable natural disasters ranging from earthquakes and tsunamis to floods and bushfires, as well as pandemics and global economic crises. Future-proofing the state and our societies involves decision-makers developing capacities to learn from recent ‘disaster’ experiences in order to be better placed to anticipate and prepare for foreseeable challenges. To undertake such futureproofing means taking long-term (and often recurring) problems seriously, managing risks appropriately, investing in preparedness, prevention and mitigation, reducing future vulnerability, building resilience in communities and institutions, and cultivating astute leadership. In the past we have often heard calls for ‘better future-proofing’ in the aftermath of disasters, but then neglected the imperatives of the message. Future-Proofing the State is organised around four key themes: how can we better predict and manage the future; how can we transform the short-term thinking shaped by our political cycles into more effective long-term planning; how can we build learning into our preparations for future policies and management; and how can we successfully build trust and community resilience to meet future challenges more adequately

Equitable Optimization of Patient Re-allocation and Temporary Facility Placement to Maximize Critical Care System Resilience in Disasters

End-stage renal disease patients face a complicated sociomedical situation and rely on various forms of infrastructure for life-sustaining treatment. Disruption of these infrastructures during disasters poses a major threat to their lives. To improve patient access to dialysis treatment, there is a need to assess the potential threat to critical care facilities from hazardous events. In this study, we propose optimization models to solve critical care system resilience problems including patient and medical resource allocation. We use human mobility data in the context of Harris County (Texas) to assess patient access to critical care facilities, dialysis centers in this study, under the simulated hazard impacts, and we propose models for patient re-allocation and temporary medical facility placement to improve critical care system resilience in an equitable manner. The results show (1) the capability of the optimization model in efficient patient re-allocation to alleviate disrupted access to dialysis facilities; (2) the importance of large facilities in maintaining the functioning of the system. The critical care system, particularly the network of dialysis centers, is heavily reliant on a few larger facilities, making it susceptible to targeted disruption. (3) The consideration of equity in the optimization model formulation reduces access loss for vulnerable populations in the simulated scenarios. (4) The proposed temporary facilities placement could improve access for the vulnerable population, thereby improving the equity of access to critical care facilities in disaster. The proposed patient re-allocation model and temporary facilities placement can serve as a data-driven and analytic-based decision support tool for public health and emergency management plans to reduce the loss of access and disrupted access to critical care facilities and would reduce the dire social costs.Comment: 21 pages, 9 figure

Disaster Risk Management by Communities and Local Governments

This study refers to disaster risk management at the local level. The topic was selected by the members of the Natural Disasters Network of the Regional Policy Dialogue, and was presented during its 3rd Meeting, on March 6 and 7, 2003. The goal of this document is to achieve a better knowledge of the best practices and benefits that disaster risk management represents for Latin America and the Caribbean. Included are comparative case studies of the Philippines, Colombia, Guatemala and Switzerland. Also discussed are strengths and weaknesses of local organizations in decentralized systems and financial services for disaster risk management.Disasters, Financial Risk, Decentralization, Civil Society, Environment, disaster risk management