Gender equality plans (GEPs) as a framework to devise gender equality measures for disaster research

Abstract Recently, disaster scholars have started to take a critical stance toward how disaster research is conducted and the extent to which disaster studies are inclusive toward research participants and researchers from diverse backgrounds. This article endorses an inward gaze to reflect on the dynamics playing out within the disaster research in terms of gender imbalances. Importantly, the article is not a review of the studies on gender issues in disaster contexts; rather it seeks to put forth a strategy to illuminate and redress the dynamics of inequality within the disaster research community, taking the gendered power relationships as a starting point. The article starts from the consideration that, despite an increased attention on the gendered dimensions of humanitarian crises, gendered aspects within the disaster research teams and organizations have been largely neglected. In particular, there is a lack of data pertaining to the gender presence and gender biases in the disaster research workforce and in the production of disaster-related knowledge. In order to fill this gap, a systematic plan to collect pertinent gender data and implement appropriate measures is needed. Here, we propose to adopt the framework of the gender equality plans (GEPs), an instrument promoted by the European Commission to advance gender equality in research performing organizations. The actions proposed in this paper seek to encourage reflections on the structural bases upon which disaster research is organized and to support the identification of the aspects we want to preserve and of those we need to change

An integrated governance framework to map out and act on the interrelationships between human mobility and disaster risk

In modern complex societies with profoundly interlinked sectors and sub-sectors, policymakers and scholars need to adopt systemic thinking as an analytical lens for mapping the intersections and interdependencies between social systems and their related vulnerabilities. This paper argues for an integrated governance approach to manage the risks and opportunities arising from the interactions between human mobility (HM) and disaster risk (DR). The analysis of HM and DR governance frameworks at the international and national levels (including through the case study lens of Bangladesh) shows that some progress has been made in integrating aspects of HM into DR governance and vice versa. Although respective frameworks have been integrated to a certain extent, further points of convergence and overlap still need to be adequately addressed. The policy integration process can be guided and facilitated by combining two conceptual frameworks originating in the HM and DR governance fields: the human mobilities perspective and the systemic risk approach. The paper concludes by proposing an HM-DR governance framework informed by these perspectives and steered by an interagency standing committee

Global Crisis Atlas: Mapping for Situational awareness

This report is produced by the Peace & Stability team of the Joint Research Centre, which seats under the umbrella of the Disaster Risk Management Unit (E1) – Directorate Space, Security and Migration. The team deals with projects related to the understanding of crisis and conflict risk dynamics. The ultimate objective is the enhancement of situational awareness and the support to decision-making processes of EU policymakers during critical or potentially critical situations. Global Crisis Atlas (GCA) is one of the work packages of the Peace & Stability team. It consists of a repository of digital maps, accessible by the means of a web interface, that furnish an overview of the elements that influence (or might influence) the rise or unfolding of crises and conflicts. GCA maps are produced to respond to the intelligence requirements of the European External Action Service and to complement the information already provided by its intelligence centre (INTCEN - EU Intelligence and Situation Centre). The current report is divided into four chapters. The first two chapters serve as presentation of the GCA theoretical framework (chapter 1) and of the tool’s features and functionalities (chapter 2). The last two chapters highlight future developments in terms of new functionalities implemented as well as innovative approaches to the understanding of crises and conflicts that the GCA tool may enable.JRC.E.1-Disaster Risk Managemen

Do ICTs Help To Maintain Social Capital In The Disaster Recovery Phase? A Case Study Of The L'aquila Earthquake

The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially of the social networking sites (SNSs), in emergency situations is constantly on the rise. With this study, we have investigated the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) after the massive changes that occurred in the physical environment following the L’Aquila earthquake (central Italy) in 2009. Two years after the disaster, thirteen key individuals affected by the earthquake were interviewed through semi-structured interviews. Results suggest that new media can serve, to some extent, similar functions of sustaining the creation and maintenance of social relationships as the ones previously fulfilled by physical spaces. Although limited, this research may have the potential to open up an interesting debate on the web-mediated construction of the concept of “place” in the wake of a disaster.

Un’analisi di genere della percezione del rischio Covid-19 e dei comportamenti preventivi in una organizzazione di ricerca: risultati preliminari di un’indagine sul personale CNR

Le organizzazioni di ricerca svolgono un lavoro peculiare nella società: nonostante le molteplici diversità in termini di competenze, modalità di svolgimento del lavoro e tipo di dati e conoscenza prodotti, tutta l’attività scientifica sottende un continuo scambio di opinioni e conoscenze in un ambiente che promuove il libero pensiero e l’incontro di idee. Tali incontri e scambi possono avvenire in momenti formali (per esempio durante conferenze e seminari) ma anche durante momenti informali (pause caffè, cene sociali etc.). La pandemia da Coronavirus ha, per diverso tempo, ridotto significativamente i secondi e trasferito i primi in luoghi virtuali (es. scambio di email e chiamate online). Lo studio si è focalizzato sul comprendere come, in una fase di rilassamento delle norme anti-contagio, una diversa percezione del rischio possa produrre comportamenti preventivi che ostacolano la partecipazione ai suddetti “momenti” e, in un’ultima analisi, il coinvolgimento in attività di produzione della conoscenza (e in attività correlate). In una prospettiva di genere, ciò significa considerare se le lavoratrici della ricerca hanno ridotto i momenti di scambio e di incontro per preoccupazioni legate a possibili contagi in famiglia e con colleghi e, in tal caso, quali altri fattori contribuiscono ad un aumento delle disuguaglianze e ad una minore diversificazione nel lavoro scientifico dopo un’emergenza sanitaria. Questa rappresenta una prospettiva del tutto innovativa se comparata agli studi emersi in fase di pandemia che si sono invece concentrati sull’impatto del genere sul numero di ore di lavoro e sulla distribuzione delle attività lavorative vs attività legate alla cura di casa e famiglia, anche in ambito accademico. Chiedersi quindi “quanto le donne hanno pubblicato o lavorato in meno durante o dopo la pandemia” significa avvalorare lo status quo pre-pandemico basato su valori di competizione e produzione. In questo contributo, e nel nostro studio, accogliamo questa critica muovendo il focus sull’aspetto relazionale della scienza e studiando, in una prospettiva di genere, come la partecipazione a momenti (informali) di scambio della conoscenza possa essere influenzata dalla percezione del rischio

Understanding the interplay between structural and systemic vulnerability : the case of migrant agricultural workers during the Covid-19 pandemic

Disasters and emergencies, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, are known to expose and exacerbate the vulnerabilities of our societal systems. In this short commentary, we propose to distinguish between structural vulnerability, defined as being created within a given system by the interactions of different social, economic and cultural conditions and systemic vulnerability, that emerges out of the complex net of relationships between societal systems. We take the case of the migrant agricultural workers living in informal settlements in Southern Italy to exemplify this distinction and to show the interplay between these two forms of vulnerability during the Covid-19 pandemic

Mainstreaming food systems resilience into health resilience

This STG Resilience Paper is part of the Commission Research Report and Interim Progress Report (June 2021) published by Reform for Resilience.• Food production, distribution and consumption is a fundamental determinant of health resilience. • Human, animal and environmental health are systemically entwined, and this relationship needs to be captured in health-related policies. Systemic thinking is necessary to understand the spillover impacts of food systems - related policies into the health dimension. • The One Health and the agroecological approaches offer relevant frameworks to understand the food-health nexus and its implications in terms of health policy design. • Policies based on the agroecological principles can drive the food systems and health transformation towards resilience, thanks to their capacity to reconcile the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. • Five key areas of the food-health nexus should be considered: food insecurity, unhealthy dietary patterns, foodborne disease, environmental contamination and occupational hazards

MINDtheGEPs D3.1 – Guidelines for GEPs' implementation

<p>This deliverable is a product of MINDtheGEPs. It is meant to provide MINDtheGEPs partner organisations with a useful tool for the development of a Gender Equality Plan. Considering the European Commission legislation concerning Gender Equality and the Horizon Europe eligibility criteria, this deliverable envisages a series of suggestions and recommendations that each partner could follow concerning the most appropriate actions aligned with its proper needs. The deliverable furnishes practical guidelines for putting gender equality plans into practice in the implementing organisation, with schemes on what key areas need to be addressed, what objectives have to be reached, what indicators are required in order to set targets, and the importance of a monitoring system. Guidelines and suggestions are based on the European policy framework but also on lessons learned and experiences gained from several European projects focused on implementing GEPs across Europe.</p&gt