Building resilience: Knowledge, experience and perceptions among informal construction stakeholders

Nepal is considered one of the most disaster-prone countries is the world, with vulnerabilities exacerbated by chronic poverty. Whilst a variety of sound buildings codes and regulations has been introduced in the past decades, a challenge exists in implementing these as the majority of the building stock is constructed by informal construction workers. Based on a case study of Nepal’s Banepa Town, this paper aims to explore the role of knowledge, perceptions of and experiences with disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures among informal construction stakeholders. The paper highlights that whilst the level of awareness of hazards and knowledge of the importance of DRR measures among informal construction stakeholders is high, it is also important to consider perceptions and organisational challenges when finding the best solutions for promoting DRR measures. There is still a gap between transforming knowledge into practice, often because of the perceptions (such as trust, experience, and gender) that are predominant in the sector. Understanding these issues is important as this situation is not unique to Nepal: rapid urbanisation in many developing countries has similarly led to a boom in informal construction sectors and construction that has little regard for building codes and regulations

Non-technical barriers for challenging lock-in to urban energy systems: learning from international case studies

In order to meet its 2050 target of 80% carbon reduction, and hence evolve towards a more sustainable energy future, the UK faces a significant challenge of restructuring its energy system, by demonstrating more decentralised energy systems based not only on technological but also on more innovative governance, financial and social approaches. Four exemplar international cases have been compared and critiqued in order to demonstrate the variety and inter-relationship of the non-technical barriers involved during their implementation. This study finds that the main non-technical barriers are not necessarily financial, as is often believed. Governance barriers also play an important role in the success or failure of a project. Social barriers such as public apathy and misinformation regarding energy consumption also often affect the operation of a project. The impacts of the non-technical barriers on the outcome of the four cases are also evaluated and recommendations are provided on overcoming these barriers with regards replicating similar projects in the UK context. This work also provides potentially valuable implications and learning for the innovative development and initiation of renewable energy systems in a variety of countries and settings

Disasters are not natural

Steve, Lee and Ksenia argue for a greater understanding that disasters arising from hazardous events are not natural and that we should therefore avoid using the term ‘natural disaster’

DESURBS deliverable 2.3: generic integrated security and resilience decision support framework

This report constitutes Deliverable 2.3 of the FP7 Security Program research project ‘Designing Safer Urban Spaces’ (DESURBS, Grant Agreement no. 261652). The geographic focus of DESURBS is international, but with specific attention to two case study city locations: Nottingham (UK), and Jerusalem (Israel). This report on Work Package (WP) 2 of the DESURBS project, which draws on these case study cities (and countries), is chronologically the third deliverable of this work package. WP2 encompasses the development of an integrated security and resilience (ISR) design framework, specifically for identifying urban vulnerabilities and improving urban spaces with respect to security threats. It is informed by: • identifying the public and private sector stakeholders responsible for the management of security risks and understanding their roles and interconnectivities (WP 2.1) • assessing security and resilience approaches suitable for urban spaces (WP 2.2) • consolidating security and resilience approaches suitable for urban spaces (WPs 2.3 and 2.4

Alternative future energy pathways: assessment of the potential of innovative decentralised energy systems in the UK

In order to meet its 2050 target of 80% carbon emissions reduction, the UK is facing a challenge of restructuring its energy system, possibly by introducing more decentralised energy (DE) systems. Following semi-structured interviews, four exemplar international cases have been critiqued in order to investigate the variety and interrelationship of the drivers and barriers involved during their implementation, and then compared with the barriers and drivers that can potentially affect the implementation of similar projects in the UK context. The impacts of the barriers on the outcomes of these projects were evaluated, and recommendations were presented on overcoming these barriers if replicating similar projects in the UK context. Governance drivers play the most significant role, whereas financial drivers (commonly believed to be crucial), are deemed to play a lesser role. Social, governance and financial barriers rather than technological barriers constitute the central problem areas for the increased adoption of DE. The drivers and barriers experienced in the international cases were similar to those anticipated in the UK. The case studies present a high potential for replication and scaling up in the UK context and demonstrate that the increased implementation of DE systems could also enhance social and governance benefits

DESURBS deliverable 2.2: tools for the assessment of security threats

This report constitutes Deliverable 2.2 of the FP7 Security Program research project ‘Designing Safer Urban Spaces’ (DESURBS, Grant Agreement no. 261652). The purpose of this report is to highlight the examples of open access online security and resilience approaches and tools and key documents that support decision making in regard to the Integrated Security and Resilience (ISR) framework (WP2.3), the structure of which has been incorporated into all the WP2 deliverables. The report presents information on the approaches mentioned above, found during the course of an extensive literature review, and from data collection that has been undertaken in the Nottingham (UK) and Jerusalem (Israel) case study cities of the project. This deliverable demonstrates that there is a great number of tools and documents available online, however the majority of them are context-specific and can only provide partial information that can be useful in disaster risk management. It has been identified that many of the tools are multi-hazard and can be used in conjunction with international documents and guidelines. There is however a lack of open-access tools for specific hazards, in particular industrial accidents and ground movements. This is due to a high specificity of these events and a necessity to use high-tech equipment for identification of these hazards and their mitigation

Case study analysis of urban decentralised energy systems

The UK has set an ambitious plan to substantially cut its carbon emissions. In order to meet this 2050 target of 80% reduction, the UK is facing a significant challenge of restructuring its energy system, currently characterised by lock-in to centralisation. There is however potential to challenge this lock-in through the development of more decentralised energy systems - based not only on technological, but also on more innovative political, social and economic approaches. Examples of these unique approaches have already been successfully implemented in many cities worldwide, demonstrating that more decentralised energy systems can lead to enhanced carbon emissions reductions. Using a multi-disciplinary framework, this work critically assesses several urban decentralised energy systems around the world through the assessment of exemplar international case studies. Following semi-structured interviews, this work compares and critiques four diverse international case studies in order to demonstrate and contrast a variety of decentralised approaches. It emphasises the variety and inter-relationships of barriers and drivers involved in the implementation of such projects. Although it is believed that regulations heavily influence the implementation of decentralised energy projects, these projects are frequently driven and motivated by other factors such as reputation, profitability and the opportunity to show that “we can do it”. The main non-technical barriers are not necessarily financial, as is often believed. Governance barriers - such as out-of-date regulations or unreliable partners - also play an important role in the success or failure of a project. Social barriers in the form of public apathy and misinformation regarding energy consumption can also be significant, which often affects the operation on the project

A dilemma of language: ‘‘Natural disasters’’ in academic literature

For decades sections of the academic community have been emphasizing that disasters are not natural. Nevertheless, politicians, the media, various international organizations—and, more surprisingly, many established researchers working in disaster studies—are still widely using the expression ‘‘natural disaster.’’ We systematically analyzed the usage of the expression ‘‘natural disaster’’ by disaster studies researchers in 589 articles in six key aca- demic journals representative of disaster studies research, and found that authors are using the expression in three principal ways: (1) delineating natural and human-induced hazards; (2) using the expression to leverage popularity; and (3) critiquing the expression ‘‘natural disaster.’’ We also identified vulnerability themes that illustrate the con- text of ‘‘natural disaster’’ usage. The implications of con- tinuing to use this expression, while explicitly researching human vulnerability, are wide-ranging, and we explore what this means for us and our peers. This study particu- larly aims to stimulate debate within the disaster studies research community and related fields as to whether the term ‘‘natural disaster’’ is really fit for purpose moving forward

DESURBS draft deliverable 2.1 (d2.1c): roles of key stakeholders

This report constitutes Deliverable 2.1 of the FP7 Security Program research project ‘Designing Safer Urban Spaces’ (DESURBS, Grant Agreement no. 261652). This report on Work Package (WP) 2 of the DESURBS project is chronologically the first deliverable of this work package. The purpose of the deliverable is to report on the identification of public and private sector stakeholders responsible for the management of security risks, as well as understanding of their roles and interconnectivities. Understanding in regard to the case study city of Nottingham is significant, and has enabled the initial creation and development of the ISR framework for WPs 2.3 and 2.4, the structure for which has been incorporated into this deliverable and that for WP 2.2. A field trip to Jerusalem in January 2012 has led to a significant increase in understanding regarding the case study city, and has formed a base from which further data collection will be undertaken. In addition to that, interviews conducted by Partner 8 provided significant insight into the roles of the stakeholders and allowed comparison with the UK (Nottingham) data