Ambivalence towards discourse of disaster resilience

This paper investigates empirically how the international aid community (IAC)—donors and practitioners—considers and implements disaster resilience in a specific country setting, Nepal, and throughout the rest of the world. A key finding is that there is ambivalence about a concept that has become a discourse. On a global level, the IAC utilises the discourse of resilience in a cautiously positive manner as a bridging concept. On a national level, it is being used to influence the Government of Nepal, as well as serving as an operational tool of donors. The mythical resilient urban community is fashioned in the IAC's imaginary; understanding how people create communities and what type of linkages with government urban residents desire to develop their resilience strategies is missing, though, from the discussion. Disaster resilience can be viewed as another grand plan to enhance the lives of people. Yet, regrettably, an explicit focus on individuals and their communities is lost in the process

WGS-based telomere length analysis in Dutch family trios implicates stronger maternal inheritance and a role for RRM1 gene

Telomere length (TL) regulation is an important factor in ageing, reproduction and cancer development. Genetic, hereditary and environmental factors regulating TL are currently widely investigated, however, their relative contribution to TL variability is still understudied. We have used whole genome sequencing data of 250 family trios from the Genome of the Netherlands project to perform computational measurement of TL and a series of regression and genome-wide association analyses to reveal TL inheritance patterns and associated genetic factors. Our results confirm that TL is a largely heritable trait, primarily with mother’s, and, to a lesser extent, with father’s TL having the strongest influence on the offspring. In this cohort, mother’s, but not father’s age at conception was positively linked to offspring TL. Age-related TL attrition of 40 bp/year had relatively small influence on TL variability. Finally, we have identified TL-associated variations in ribonuclease reductase catalytic subunit M1 (RRM1 gene), which is known to regulate telomere maintenance in yeast. We also highlight the importance of multivariate approach and the limitations of existing tools for the analysis of TL as a polygenic heritable quantitative trait

The best of intentions? Managing disasters and constructions of risk and vulnerability in Asia

Drawing on research on landslide risk reduction in Nepal and the impacts of the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 in southern Thailand, this paper considers how risk, in the context of natural hazards, is produced by processes of social and economic transformation; understood and experienced by vulnerable groups; and framed by governments and experts. In so doing, we propose an agenda for more effective disaster risk management. We open the discussion by exploring the spatiality of risk, vulnerability and opportunity in the two research contexts, in particular, why people live in hazardous places and the processes that explain the intersection of human settlement and livelihoods on the one hand, and risk on the other. The paper then turns to consider the way that “risk”—and the framing and prioritisation of risk(s) by governments, experts and by vulnerable groups themselves—plays a role in setting the disaster risk management agenda. Underpinning this is the hidden question of what evidence is used—and valued—in the identification and delineation of risk. In order to understand disaster vulnerability, we argue that it is necessary to look beyond the immediate “hazardscape” to understand the wider risk context both spatially and structurally. Effective disaster risk management requires not only an appreciation of the different framings and understandings of risk, but a true integration of knowledge and expertise

A comparison of the governance landscape of earthquake risk reduction in Nepal and the Indian State of Bihar

On 25 April 2015, a Mw 7.8 earthquake struck central Nepal, killing more than 8700 people. An earthquake of this magnitude has long been anticipated in Nepal and the neighbouring northern Indian state of Bihar, which straddle the active Himalayan frontal fault system. Drawing on field research undertaken before the earthquake, this paper traces the progress made in earthquake risk reduction efforts at the national scale in Nepal and at the sub-national scale in Bihar. With their contrasting ‘governance landscapes’, we examine the political and institutional context and power relations among different stakeholder groups, as well as the interests and political will motivating earthquake risk reduction. Nepal is a post-conflict country, with a weak legislative and institutional setting for earthquake risk reduction, and a multitude of different stakeholders (government, multi and bi-lateral donors, UN organisations, and national and international NGOs) engaged in the disaster risk reduction process. Bihar, by comparison, has a strong, hierarchical, sub-national government system with minimal influence of non-government stakeholders in earthquake risk reduction. While Nepal appears to have progressed further in strengthening earthquake resilience, the institutional structures in Bihar are stronger and could potentially support more sustainable resilience building in the long-term. The role of individual ‘champions’ in both instances (in Nepal among a national NGO, donors and multilateral agencies, and in Bihar within the government) has been instrumental in shaping the earthquake risk reduction agenda and initiatives

Governance struggles and policy processes in disaster risk reduction: A case study from Nepal

In the neo-liberal climate of reduced responsibility for the state, alongside global platforms established to implement the Hyogo Framework for Action, a new arena opens for a multitude of stakeholders to engage in disaster risk reduction (DRR). The key role that the state can play in instituting effective DRR tends to receive little attention, yet in situations where the state apparatus is weak, such as in Nepal, it becomes evident that integrating DRR into development is a particularly challenging task. Due to the political situation in Nepal, progress has been stalled in providing a legislative context conducive to effective DRR. This paper traces the evolution of key DRR initiatives that have been developed in spite of the challenging governance context, such as the National Strategy for Disaster Risk Management and the Nepal Risk Reduction Consortium. Informed by in-depth interviews with key informants, the argument is made that the dedicated efforts of national and international non-governmental organisations, multilateral agencies and donors in mainstreaming DRR demonstrate that considerable progress can be made even where government departments are protective of their own interests and are slow to enact policies to support DRR. The paper suggests however, that without stronger engagement of key political actors the prospects for further progress in DRR may be limited. The findings have implications for other post-conflict countries or weak states engaging in DRR

The role of formal and informal networks in supporting older people's care during extreme weather events

We use theories of formal and informal networks of care, within a local governance system, to interpret networks supporting older people during extreme weather events. Drawing on international literatures about network governance and emergency management this paper outlines an approach which considers the views of older people and service providers to explore resilience of infrastructures and service agencies. During emergencies, links between different networks of care are important to avoid discontinuities that could endanger older people's health and well-being. This paper explores the scope to draw on local knowledge and local caring networks to inform preparedness for extreme weather

Use of scenario ensembles for deriving seismic risk

High death tolls from recent earthquakes show that seismic risk remains high globally. While there has been much focus on seismic hazard, large uncertainties associated with exposure and vulnerability have led to more limited analyses of the potential impacts of future earthquakes. We argue that as both exposure and vulnerability are reducible factors of risk, assessing their importance and variability allows for prioritization of the most effective disaster risk-reduction (DRR) actions. We address this through earthquake ensemble modeling, using the example of Nepal. We model fatalities from 90 different scenario earthquakes and establish whether impacts are specific to certain scenario earthquakes or occur irrespective of the scenario. Our results show that for most districts in Nepal impacts are not specific to the particular characteristics of a single earthquake, and that total modeled impacts are skewed toward the minimum estimate. These results suggest that planning for the worst-case scenario in Nepal may place an unnecessarily large burden on the limited resources available for DRR. We also show that the most at-risk districts are predominantly in rural western Nepal, with ∼9.5 million Nepalis inhabiting districts with higher seismic risk than Kathmandu. Our proposed approach provides a holistic consideration of seismic risk for informing contingency planning and allows the relative importance of the reducible components of risk (exposure and vulnerability) to be estimated, highlighting factors that can be targeted most effectively. We propose this approach for informing contingency planning, especially in locations where information on the likelihood of future earthquakes is inadequate

Earthquake science in DRR policy and practice in Nepal

Nepal is a geologically active country with a long history of destructive earthquakes – most recently in the 2015 Gorkha earthquake sequence. There have been substantial advances in the scientic understanding of earthquake hazard in Nepal, but it is not clear how that understanding has informed, or could inform, national and international investment in earthquake disaster risk reduction (DRR) activities, and to what effect. This paper aims to understand the role that earthquake science plays in DRR policy and practice in Nepal by seeking answers to the following: What earthquake science is used by DRR stakeholders in Nepal, and for what purpose? To what extent is earthquake DRR policy and practice in line with current scientific knowledge? Where and how is scientific knowledge seen as particularly useful for policy and practice, and where is it seen to be less useful and why? What are the drivers of and constraints on the production and use of earthquake science? Are there opportunities to better produce or broker scientific knowledge for policy and practice? What effects could better use of earthquake science deliver, and to whom? This working paper is written for anyone with an interest in earthquake DRR in Nepal, in particular scientists who generate earthquake science and practitioners and policy-makers who could use it

Simple rules to minimise exposure to coseismic landslide hazard

Landslides constitute a hazard to life and infrastructure and their risk is mitigated primarily by reducing exposure. This requires information on landslide hazard on a scale that can enable informed decisions. Such information is often unavailable to, or not easily interpreted by, those who might need it most (e.g. householders, local governments and non-governmental organisations). To address this shortcoming, we develop simple rules to minimise exposure to coseismic landslide hazard that are understandable, communicable and memorable, and that require no prior knowledge, skills or equipment to apply. We examine rules based on two common metrics of landslide hazard, (1) local slope and (2) upslope contributing area as a proxy for hillslope location relative to rivers or ridge crests. In addition, we introduce and test two new metrics: the maximum angle to the skyline and the hazard area, defined as the upslope area with slope >40∘ from which landslide debris can reach a location without passing over a slope of 10∘) channels with many steep (>40∘) areas that are upslope”. Because local slope alone is also a skilful predictor of landslide hazard, we can formulate a third rule as “minimise the angle of the slope under your feet, especially on steep hillsides, but not at the expense of increasing skyline angle or hazard area”. In contrast, the upslope contributing area has a weaker and more complex relationship to hazard than the other predictors. Our simple rules complement but do not replace detailed site-specific investigation: they can be used for initial estimations of landslide hazard or to guide decision-making in the absence of any other information