Boundary-Spanning in Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery through Solution-Focused Coaching Approach

Universities must forge new links, form coalitions and facilitate engagement with local stakeholders to reduce future natural disaster impacts. This paper introduces a conceptual framework and key features of an integrated model of boundary-spanning strategies and solution-focused coaching (SFC) approach in disaster risk reduction and recovery (DRRR). The model is based on stakeholders’ strengths, relationship-building. It is a goal setting approach in DRRR that uses boundary spanning strategies to empower multi-stakeholders in envisioning a more resilient community in the face of future disaster. Through stakeholders-community boundary spanners collaborations, DRRR shared goals and plans are co-produced.   Keywords: Boundary-spanning, solution-focused coaching, disaster risk reduction and recovery eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2022. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v7i19.320

Enhancing Disaster Preparedness through Participatory Activities in a School in Malaysia

Children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of flood slide presentation and a child-friendly participatory approach using the HVCA (Hazard, Vulnerability and Capacity) Assessment adapted from Plan International Child-Centred Disaster Risk Reduction on students’ preparedness for flood. This study used instruction on flood knowledge and preparedness coupled with participatory teaching sessions on DRR. Qualitative information was gathered using classroom observations and interviews. The findings indicated that school curriculum did not cover disaster awareness and these students in this study felt more prepared for flood after an intervention that consisted of flood knowledge and preparedness slide presentation and HVCA participatory sessions

Windstorm Resilient Rural Housing: Lessons learned in Temerloh, Malaysia

In 2019 alone, Temerloh district located in central Peninsular Malaysia has been hit by unpredictable wind storms in localised areas which damaged more than 185 rural homes.  This research set out to assess the structural vulnerabilities of damaged rural houses to severe winds in Temerloh and lessons learned from windstorm damage through field surveys of damaged homes between March 2019-August 2019 and supplemented by district-level post-windstorm reconnaissance reports prepared by Malaysia Civil Defense Force (APM) and other information gathered from local government. Results indicate poor performance of structural and non-structural building components in resisting high wind loads due to inadequate design, under-strength of failed building materials and defective construction details. The results of this study could have important implications for government agencies, NGOs, builders, and engineers in assisting rural communities in reconstructing windproof resistant homes and planning for future windstorm risk management efforts specially catered to homeowners in Temerloh.Keywords: Rural housing; Windstorm; Resilience; Malaysia eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v4i12.181

Analyzing Post-Disaster Reconstruction Stakeholder Networks: Malaysian rural housing

This article uses the social network analysis to identify resource coordination and information exchange of stakeholders in the inter-organizational network by studying the project-related interactions of rural housing reconstruction in Temerloh, Pahang that were funded by the Malaysian government, His Majesty the King and NGO. The data was collected through content analysis and interviews with 23 government agencies, NGOs, and community stakeholders. Findings from the analysis established that government agencies had the highest actor centralities, with the Rural Development Ministry and the local government level being the most central among the government agencies, whereas the homeowners had the lowest centralities. Keywords: post-disaster housing reconstruction, social network analysis, rural Malaysia eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2023. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under the responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v8i23.4511

Disaster response network analysis in rural Temerloh, Pahang communities during the Malaysia 2020-2021 flood

Disaster risk reduction practices can be viewed as a collaborative environment managed by a diverse group of stakeholders including governments, private sectors and non-governmental organizations and research institutes as well as local communities. Insufficient collaboration and failure to coordinate across groups can lead to unsuccessful disaster recovery efforts. This study investigates the organizational roles and collaboration network among governmental and community organizations participating in Malaysia 2020-2021 flood response in rural Temerloh, Pahang. Social network analysis was conducted using Gephi open-source software to examine the general patterns of structures and the characteristics of the networks of stakeholders. News reports and organizational situation reports about the inter-organizational interaction and collaboration of stakeholders were identified using the manual coding analysis and analysed using Gephi, a social network analysis open-source software. The analysed results were ranked based on the categories of the centrality parameter, which highlights the extent of collaboration of key stakeholders in the network. The findings of this study indicate Malaysian Civil Defence (APM) and local government have high degree and betweenness centralities in the network. The number of private sectors active in disaster response was minimal, as were their centralities within the network, where they ranked last in every network measure. Rural communities and victims had lower betweenness centrality scores showed they had low network influence. NGOs are less involved in disaster response but are more involved in relief efforts such as cleaning muddy houses, recruiting medical and non-medical volunteers to help flood victims, distributing cleaning and healthcare supplies, and giving meals