Games for a new climate: experiencing the complexity of future risks

This repository item contains a single issue of the Pardee Center Task Force Reports, a publication series that began publishing in 2009 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future.This report is a product of the Pardee Center Task Force on Games for a New Climate, which met at Pardee House at Boston University in March 2012. The 12-member Task Force was convened on behalf of the Pardee Center by Visiting Research Fellow Pablo Suarez in collaboration with the Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre to “explore the potential of participatory, game-based processes for accelerating learning, fostering dialogue, and promoting action through real-world decisions affecting the longer-range future, with an emphasis on humanitarian and development work, particularly involving climate risk management.” Compiled and edited by Janot Mendler de Suarez, Pablo Suarez and Carina Bachofen, the report includes contributions from all of the Task Force members and provides a detailed exploration of the current and potential ways in which games can be used to help a variety of stakeholders – including subsistence farmers, humanitarian workers, scientists, policymakers, and donors – to both understand and experience the difficulty and risks involved related to decision-making in a complex and uncertain future. The dozen Task Force experts who contributed to the report represent academic institutions, humanitarian organization, other non-governmental organizations, and game design firms with backgrounds ranging from climate modeling and anthropology to community-level disaster management and national and global policymaking as well as game design.Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centr

Building Back Greener: Assessing the Potential of Environmental Management Systems in Disaster Reconstruction

Environmental problems commonly occur in the aftermath of natural disasters. If not managed properly, they jeopardise the success of the entire recovery process. The humanitarian sector has realised this threat and is looking for ways to properly mitigate environmental problems while maintaining their necessary flexibility. The conventional industry broadly uses environmental management systems (EMS) like ISO 14001 to manage their impacts. This thesis aims to assess the potential of ISO 14001 in disaster reconstruction. To this end, it first identifies the environmental problems and their underlying causes. Then it analyses the requirements of ISO 14001 to identify opportunities and barriers for implementing the standard. Based on this, it discusses the overall feasibility and effectiveness of ISO 14001 in disaster reconstruction. The result of this research is that ISO 14001 has the potential to be an effective tool for improving the environmental impacts in the humanitarian sector. Its effectiveness depends however strongly on the quality of the implementation in the field and the context of the disaster. Its feasibility is reduced by a lack of donor support and questionable buy in by the field staff. Thus, it only seems interesting for larger organisations with stable funding and preexisting environmental expertise. Further research opportunities include a more practical evaluation of ISO 14001, as well as assessing the potential of other environmental management tools from the conventional industry in humanitarian emergencies.Disaster Management, Environmental Management, ISO 14001, EMS,Constructio

Using collaborative research methodologies in humanitarian supply chains

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop an existing collaborative research methodology process (Sabri, 2018), contextualise it for application in humanitarian supply chains and test it empirically. Design/methodology/approach: Building on collaborative research methodology and humanitarian supply chain literature, the Sabri’s (2018) collaborative research methodology process is further developed to comprise eight phases of collaborative research contextualised for the humanitarian supply chain domain. The process is applied in a collaborative research case of academia–practitioner knowledge co-creation in a humanitarian supply chain setting, focussing on environmental sustainability improvement. The collaborative case analysis suggests a number of refinements to the elements of the process. This study undertook two cycles of academia–practitioner collaborative research. Findings: In testing the process, a noticeable improvement in the collaboration among different humanitarian stakeholders was observed, leading to improved stakeholder management. The implementation improved the sustainability awareness and social inclusion of the affected population. Rurality, remoteness, security issues and resistance of field staff against change were among the main challenges for supply chain researchers to engage in collaborative research in the humanitarian domain. Originality/value: The paper addresses the rigour‒relevance‒reflectiveness debate in the humanitarian supply chain domain. A collaborative research methodology process derived from action research is further developed using humanitarian literature, and then it is applied in a humanitarian logistics case focussed on environmental sustainability. The present collaborative research process facilitates engaged scholarship among the humanitarian stakeholders, as the researchers’ roles move from observatory to participatory knowledge broker

A better climate for disaster risk management

Climate-related disasters are by far the most frequent natural disasters, exacting a heavy toll on people and economies. Their frequency and economic losses have steadily increased over the past few decades, stretching the response capacities of governments and humanitarian organizations. One of the many ways this challenge can be addressed is by making more effective use of the increasing wealth of climate information and tailoring it to the needs of those who could use it, to better predict and prepare for such disasters before they occur. Written in partnership with a range of humanitarian organizations, A Better Climate for Disaster Risk Management is the third in the Climate and Society Publication series. This issue highlights recent advances in the use of climate information to manage risks and improve livelihoods, such as new partnerships and user-designed information platforms. It draws together and analyzes experiences from 17 case studies that capture the current state of knowledge. It also highlights research innovations in technical boxes throughout the publication. A problem-solving framework is used to demonstrate the challenges and opportunities facing disaster risk managers in using climate science with a three step approach: identifying the problem, developing tools, and taking action, reflected in the chapter titles. The case studies and experiences presented in this book draw on a wealth of practical experience from within the humanitarian community. They acknowledge the enormous effort and investment by very many national and local governments, international organizations, and an increasing range of other actors in the field of climate information for disaster risk management. This publication adds to the growing body of knowledge, focusing on the experiences of a number of mostly non-governmental actors, especially the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and how through partnerships, they have helped to integrate state of the art climate science and information into improved decision-making. Exploring the use of climate information for disaster risk management, it identifies both the achievements and the obstacles associated with this endeavour. From them are distilled the lessons learned, and a series of recommendations. Of these, effective partnership is highlighted as the single most critical ingredient for success. Climate information that can be acted upon is best created in dialogue between the users and providers, and partnerships between climate scientists and disaster risk managers should promote knowledge sharing, trust, and the development of innovative solutions. Efforts to better apply climate information in disaster risk management should first focus on immediate opportunities and potential ‘quick wins’. Practical engagements can be fostered by initially concentrating on countries and regions with relatively good seasonal forecast skills, and where humanitarian decisions can be influenced to provide large and immediate returns on investment. Disaster risk managers must, however, improve their understanding of the potential as well as the limitations of climate information, as the development of realistic expectations is vital to maintaining trust in the information and those who provide it. Cases demonstrate that when climate information can be integrated into existing decision-making support tools or systems, it becomes an important piece of the information that is considered and taken up in the routine activities of disaster risk managers. The relative contribution that seasonal, decadal, and long-term trends make to current and future climate also needs to be better understood. To achieve the goal of providing relevant climate services to support disaster risk management, climate information providers such as national meteorological services must tailor their information to the problem at hand, either by refining products through iterative interaction with partners or by simplifying the presentation. Although there have been many achievements and advances, much potential remains to be realized. Herein lies the opportunity: to build trust and improve the sharing of knowledge between the providers of climate services, and those who can use those services to enhance disaster risk management, jointly reducing human suffering and achieving more sustainable development

Supply Chain Management in Humanitarian Relief Logistics

Hundreds of millions of people are affected by disasters each year. This thesis explores the use of supply chain management techniques to overcome the barriers encountered by logistics managers during humanitarian relief operations. Using grounded theory methodology, barriers were analyzed based on academic, organizational, and contemporary literature. Possible solutions to these barriers were selected from available supply chain management literature. This work is different from others in that it marries supply chain principles from different disciplines (including private, nonprofit, and military sectors) to benefit humanitarian operations. It also serves to advance the body of knowledge on this subject so that future logistics managers can build upon the concept. The result of the study is a simple framework of supply chain management solutions for overcoming logistics difficulties during humanitarian relief operations. (3 tables, 66 refs.

Climate forecasts in disaster management: Red Cross flood operations in West Africa, 2018

In 2008, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) used a seasonal forecast for West Africa for the first time to implement an Early Warning, Early Action strategy for enhanced flood preparedness and response. Interviews with disaster managers suggest that this approach improved their capacity and response. Relief supplies reached flood victims within days, as opposed to weeks in previous years, thereby preventing further loss of life, illness, and setbacks to livelihoods, as well as augmenting the efficiency of resource use. This case demonstrates the potential benefits to be realised from the use of medium-to-long-range forecasts in disaster management, especially in the context of potential increases in extreme weather and climate-related events due to climate variability and change. However, harnessing the full potential of these forecasts will require continued effort and collaboration among disaster managers, climate service providers, and major humanitarian donors

Disaster response and climate change in the Pacific

AbstractDisasters, and therefore disaster response, in the Pacific are expected to be affected by climate change. This research addressed this issue, and focused on the immediate humanitarian needs following a disaster, drawing upon adaptive capacity as a concept to assess the resilience of individual organisations and the robustness of the broader system of disaster response. Four case study countries (Fiji, Cook Islands, Vanuatu and Samoa) were chosen for deeper investigation of the range of issues present in the Pacific. The research process was guided by a Project Reference Group, which included key stakeholders from relevant organisations involved in Pacific disaster response to guide major decisions of the research process and to influence its progression.Given the complexity of issues involved, including the contested definitions of adaptive capacity, the research team developed a conceptual framework to underpin the research. This framework drew upon concepts from a range of relevant disciplines including Earth System Governance, climate change adaptation, health resources, resilience in institutions and practice theory. Objective and subjective determinants of adaptive capacity were used to assess the ‘disaster response system’, comprised of actors and agents from government and non-government sectors, and the governance structures, policies, plans and formal and informal networks that support them.Results revealed the most important determinant of adaptive capacity in the Pacific to be communications and relationships, with both informal and formal mechanisms found to be essential. Capacity (including human, financial and technical); leadership, management and governance structures; and risk perceptions were also highly important determinants of adaptive capacity. The research also found that in small Pacific island bureaucracies, responsibility and capacity often rests with individuals rather than organisations. Leadership, trust, informal networks and relationships were found to have a strong influence on the adaptive capacity of organisations and the broader disaster response system.A common finding across all four case study countries affecting adaptive capacity was the limited human resources for health and disaster response more generally, both in times of disaster response and in day-to-day operations. Another common finding was the gap in psychosocial support after a disaster. Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as an immediate post-disaster humanitarian need was relatively well established amongst responding organisations (although long term WASH issues were not resolved), while other humanitarian needs (health care, and food and nutrition) had varying stages of capacity – often limited by human, financial and technical resources. Adaptive capacity was therefore constrained by current gaps which need addressing alongside a future focus where risk is changing.Drawing on these and other findings, recommendations for addressing key determinants of adaptive capacity were developed for relevant stakeholder groups including policy makers and practitioners in the disaster and emergency response sectors in Australia and the Pacific