Heritage and Resilience: Issues and Opportunities for Reducing Disaster Risks

This paper examines the unique role of cultural heritage in disaster risk reduction. Itintroduces various approaches to protect heritage from irreplaceable loss and considers ways to draw upon heritage as an asset in building the resilience of communities and nations to disasters. The paper proposes ways forward and builds on the current momentum provided by the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters” (HFA) and the advancement of a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction (HFA2) and the post-2015 development agenda. Cultural heritage is often associated with grandiose monuments and iconic archaeological sites that can hold us in awe of their beauty, history and sheer scale. However, the understanding of cultural heritage has undergone a marked shift during the last few decades in terms of what it is, why it is important, why it is at risk and what can be done to protect it. Cultural heritage today encompasses a broader array of places such as historic cities, living cultural landscapes, gardens or sacred forests and mountains, technological or industrial achievements in the recent past and even sites associated with painful memories and war. Collections of movable and immoveable items within sites, museums, historic properties and archives have also increased significantly in scope, testifying not only to the lifestyles of royalty and the achievements of great artists, but also to the everyday lives of ordinary people. At the same time intangibles such as knowledge, beliefs and value systems are fundamental aspects of heritage that have a powerful influence on people’s daily choices and behaviors. Heritage is at risk due to disasters, conflict, climate change and a host of other factors.At the same time, cultural heritage is increasingly recognized as a driver of resilience that can support efforts to reduce disaster risks more broadly. Recent years have seen greater emphasis and commitment to protecting heritage and leveraging it for resilience;but initiatives, such as the few examples that are presented here, need to be encouraged and brought more fully into the mainstream of both disaster risk reduction and heritage management. These are issues that can be productively addressed in a post-2015 framework for disaster risk reduction and, likewise, in the post-2015 development agenda

Burning issues: control of fire management in central Kalimantan, Indonesia

Mode of access: World Wide Web.Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2004.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 173-183).Electronic reproduction.Also available by subscription via World Wide Webxii, 183 leaves, bound ill., map 29 c

Preparing for a changing climate : the potential consequences of climate variability and change

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/This report summarizes the key findings and recommendations of the Pacific Islands Regional Assessment of the Consequences of Climate Variability and Change (the Pacific Assessment). The Pacific Assessment was conducted as a regional contribution to the first U.S. National Assessment of the Consequences of Climate Variability and Change (the National Assessment). The Pacific Assessment sought to nurture the critical partnerships necessary to develop and use climate information to understand and respond to the challenges and opportunities presented by climate variability and change. Based on extensive involvement of exerts and stakeholders from diverse knowledge groups, the assessment aimed to combine research and analyses with dialogue and education. The Assessment was an exciting and highly interactive process involving over 200 participants who were engaged through small discussion groups and two key workshops organized to encourage and accommodate broad-based regional participation in research and dialogue. The Pacific Assessment sought to achieve two, mutually supportive objectives: development of a more complete understanding of the regional consequences of climate variability for Pacific Island jurisdictions, considering economic, social and other environmental stresses; and, support for a dialogue among scientists, governments, businesses and communities in the Pacific Region that promotes the use of climate information to support decision-making. This dialogue allows diverse stakeholders to develop a shared understanding of climate effects and possible responses, and to use climate information to support decision-making. The concept of shared learning and joint problem-solving emerged as a defining characteristic of the Pacific Assessment and reflects an evolving paradigm of assessments as a process of dialogue among scientists and stakeholders.Sponsors: National Science Foundation (NSF grant OCE9907547), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the East-West Center.Introduction -- Pacific Islands region -- Challenges and opportunities -- Planning for the 21st century -- Appendix A. Overview of the national assessment -- B. Members of the Pacific Assessment Core Scientific Team -- C. Members of the Pacific Assessment Steering Committee -- D. Overview of the Workshop on Climate and Island Coastal Communities, November 2000 -- E. Overview of the Workshop on the Consequences of Climate Variability and Change for Hawaii and the Pacific: challenges and opportunities, March 1998 -- F. Proclamation by the Governor of Hawaii