Building Coordination Capacity: Post-Disaster Organizational Twitter Networks

Effective coordination is essential for post-disaster reconstruction. Presently, however, there are relatively few tools to help organizations manage coordination and communication of post-disaster construction activities. Given the recent increase in use of social media platforms, we examine the use of Twitter following Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines. A network of organizations in the infrastructure sector is created to capture the coordination structure, as depicted through social media, analyze organizational messaging and determine key actors. A content analysis of tweets further examined emergent themes in the distribution of information through Twitter. This network perspective lends insight into future applications of how organizations can leverage social media as a means of sustained coordination for long-term, on the ground efforts extending past initial emergency relief phases

Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructure Systems: The Role of Coordination, Stakeholder Participation, and Training in Post-Disaster Reconstruction

This early concept research outlines the need to better understand reconstruction processes in post-disaster environments that can create resilient and sustainable infrastructure systems and proposes methodology aimed at addressing gaps in theory and practice. The paper first introduces the rationale for studying project outcomes of sustainability and resilience and proposes a new method to conceptualize resilience through a network perspective. Next, the paper reviews literature on three factors – coordination, stakeholder participation, and training – each of which is posited to influence these project outcomes. After research questions are identified, the paper proposes research methodology that will study coordination, participation, and training across phases of infrastructure reconstruction from a network perspective in the Central Visayas region in the Philippines. In addition to analyzing the influence of each of these factors individually on the project outcomes, fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is proposed as a novel means of capturing snapshots of project phases and analyzing pathways that navigate the complexity of post-disaster reconstruction

Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructure Systems: a Comparative Analysis of Post-Disaster Shelter Coordination, Stakeholder Participation, and Training

Sustainable infrastructure that is used and maintained by communities over time, and resilient to hazards, is sorely needed in developing countries where natural disasters cause disproportionate damages and mortality as well as impede development efforts. Shelter is universally recognized as a foundational element of disaster recovery; and while its ability to provide protection from the elements is a core function, it also affords broader social and economic benefits. Unfortunately, conventional approaches in post-disaster shelter reconstruction focus primarily on rapid and recognizable results over long-term outcomes, perpetuating pre-existing vulnerabilities and failing to provide acceptable standards of service. There exists a need to better understand how shelter recovery processes employed by stakeholders lead to eventual infrastructure system outcomes. This research longitudinally analyzed 19 humanitarian shelter projects following Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines over a three-year period, seeking to answer the overarching research question of what combinations of coordination, stakeholder participation and training across project delivery phases lead to resilient and sustainable community infrastructure systems? A multi-method approach consisting of case study methods and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was employed to analyze the impact of combinations of project processes in leading to infrastructure outcomes. This research (1) identified key factors influencing inter-organizational coordination in post-disaster contexts; (2) identified types of household participation that arise in shelter projects and analyzed their impact on project outcomes; (3) identified methods of construction training used in shelter projects and their impact on household knowledge acquisition; and (4) analyzed combinations of coordination, participation, and training across the planning, design, and construction phases of shelter projects that led to infrastructure resilience and sustainability, in isolation and combination. The results contribute to understanding of shelter processes and organizing structures necessary for resilient and sustainable systems, building theory of reconstruction process pathways. Practically, findings can aid practitioners identify more effective modalities of delivering shelter assistance in post-disaster humanitarian response

Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructure Systems: a Comparative Analysis of Post-Disaster Shelter Coordination, Stakeholder Participation, and Training

Sustainable infrastructure that is used and maintained by communities over time, and resilient to hazards, is sorely needed in developing countries where natural disasters cause disproportionate damages and mortality as well as impede development efforts. Shelter is universally recognized as a foundational element of disaster recovery; and while its ability to provide protection from the elements is a core function, it also affords broader social and economic benefits. Unfortunately, conventional approaches in post-disaster shelter reconstruction focus primarily on rapid and recognizable results over long-term outcomes, perpetuating pre-existing vulnerabilities and failing to provide acceptable standards of service. There exists a need to better understand how shelter recovery processes employed by stakeholders lead to eventual infrastructure system outcomes. This research longitudinally analyzed 19 humanitarian shelter projects following Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines over a three-year period, seeking to answer the overarching research question of what combinations of coordination, stakeholder participation and training across project delivery phases lead to resilient and sustainable community infrastructure systems? A multi-method approach consisting of case study methods and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was employed to analyze the impact of combinations of project processes in leading to infrastructure outcomes. This research (1) identified key factors influencing inter-organizational coordination in post-disaster contexts; (2) identified types of household participation that arise in shelter projects and analyzed their impact on project outcomes; (3) identified methods of construction training used in shelter projects and their impact on household knowledge acquisition; and (4) analyzed combinations of coordination, participation, and training across the planning, design, and construction phases of shelter projects that led to infrastructure resilience and sustainability, in isolation and combination. The results contribute to understanding of shelter processes and organizing structures necessary for resilient and sustainable systems, building theory of reconstruction process pathways. Practically, findings can aid practitioners identify more effective modalities of delivering shelter assistance in post-disaster humanitarian response

Characterizing Post-Disaster Reconstruction Training Methods and Learning Styles

Large disasters damage or destroy infrastructure that is then reconstructed through programmes that train community members in construction techniques that reduce future risks. Despite the number of post-disaster reconstruction programmes implemented, there is a dearth of research on education and training in post-disaster contexts. To address this gap, we applied a mixed methods approach based upon experiential learning theory (ELT) to three shelter programmes administered in Eastern Samar, Philippines following Typhoon Haiyan. First, we characterize post-disaster training programmes based on learning modes and then, compared this to the learning styles of community members. To assess learning modes of training programmes, we analysed qualitative data from interview accounts of community members and aid organizations; and, to delineate community member’s learning style preferences, we analysed quantitative data from survey questionnaires. Findings show that aid organizations administered training largely in lecture format, aligning with the reflective observation mode of ELT, but lacked diversity in formats represented in other poles of ELT. Moreover, analysis revealed that community members tended to grasp new information in accordance with the concrete experimentation mode, then preferred transforming newly acquired knowledge via the reflective observation mode. The lecture-based training predominately administered by aid organizations partially aligned with community learning preferences, but fell short in cultivating other forms of knowledge acquisition known to enhance long-term learning.National Science Foundatio

Infrastructure Hazard Resilience Trends: An Analysis of 25 Years of Research

Hazard research has made significant strides over the last several decades, answering critical questions surrounding vulnerability and recovery. Recently, resilience has come to the forefront of scholarly debates and practitioner strategies, yet there remain challenges implementing resilience in practice, the result of a complex web of research that spread across numerous fields of study. As a result, there is a need to analyze and reflect on the current state of resilience literature. We reviewed 241 journal articles from the Web of Science and Engineering Village databases from 1990 to 2015 to analyze research trends in geographic location of studies, methods employed, units of analysis, and resilience dimensions studied, as well as correlations between each of these categories. The majority of the studies analyzed were conducted in North America, used quantitative methods, focused on infrastructure and community units of analysis, and studied governance, infrastructure, and economic dimensions of resilience. This analysis points to the need to: (1) conduct studies in developing country contexts, where resilience is particularly important; (2) employ mixed-methods for additional depth to quantitative studies; (3) connect units of analysis, such as infrastructure and community; and (4) expand on the measurement and study of environmental and social dimensions of resilience.National Science Foundatio

Post-Disaster Reconstruction Training Effectiveness

Training in a post-disaster environment offers an opportunity to build resilience within high-risk communities. Education research amasses a field of study that is large in both depth and breath, but there is a considerable lack of focus in post-disaster contexts, specifically the effectiveness of post-disaster training programs. Addressing this gap meant exploring recovery efforts in the Philippine region of Eastern Samar following Super Typhoon Haiyan, regarded as the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded at landfall. The purpose of this research first explores expanding education theories into the post-disaster context and second, examines the practical implementation of training programs in the wake of the 2013 typhoon. A mixed methods approach combined qualitative data derived from accounts of community members and aid organizations with quantitative data that delineated community members learning style preferences in respect to experiential learning theory (ELT). Findings show that aid organizations administered training largely in lecture format, aligning with the reflective observation mode of ELT, but lacked diversity in formats represented in other poles of ELT. Moreover, analysis revealed that community members showed a preference toward divergent learning styles. Since aid organizations provided predominantly lecture based training, this partially aligned with community learning preferences, but fell short in cultivating other forms of knowledge acquisition. Based on this research, the application of existing learning theories will improve construction training as it applies to a post-disaster environment.National Science Foundatio

Knowledge Adoption in Post-Disaster Housing Self-Recovery

The purpose of this study is to explore communication of hazard-resistant construction techniques after disaster in the absence of outside influence. It further aims to unpack the barriers and drivers in the adoption of knowledge processes to identify strategic recommendations to enlarge adoption of safer construction practices by local construction actors. This paper is based on an analysis of stakeholders’ perspectives during post-disaster reconstruction in the Philippines in the province of Busuanga after Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. Data were collected from six communities that received no external housing assistance, analyzing surveys from 220 households, 13 carpenters, 20 key actors coordinating reconstruction or recovery efforts, as well as 12 focus group discussions. This research argues for a stronger role of governmental agencies, vocational training schools and engineers. Current communication of typhoon-resistant construction knowledge is ineffective to stimulate awareness, understanding and adoption by local construction actors and self-recovering households. The analysis in this study focuses on a small sample of communities in the west of the Philippines that are not frequently affected by typhoons. This is one of the few scholarly works in the Philippines focused on adoption of safer construction practices by community-based construction actors when technical housing assistance is absent

Emergent Coordination Practice in Post-Disaster Planning of Infrastructure Systems

Post-disaster contexts present one of the most challenging functional environments for organizations. The effective allocation of resources and harmonious synchronization of reconstruction activities are considered paramount factors in effective recovery. Coordination has been examined through numerous ideological lenses from scholars, however the notion of emergent practice has underscored recent trends in disaster literature. Past findings have suggested that the dynamic and adaptive structures that result from emergent coordination are more effective in handling the demands of post-disaster complexity, however there is little evidence to show how these practices develop. We examine the case of Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines to demonstrate how coordination practice emerged in the planning of infrastructure systems, applying theory from emergence to explain adoption of practice that lends insight into coordinating behavior of organizations. Findings demonstrate that geography and sectors under the humanitarian clusters were most influential in shaping coordination structures while informal relationships and institutional policies were the defining factors in the emergence of communicative processes. Characterizing these organizational behaviors as they evolve in real time has yet to be documented and serves to better inform future organizational communication strategies in humanitarian contexts and theory on social movements of organizations under time-pressured environments.National Science Foundatio

Characterizing Post-Disaster Shelter Design and Material Selections: Lessons from Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines

Following a disaster, communities, governments, and organizations are required to make rapid decisions that will govern the path towards long-term recovery. Hazard-resistant shelter designs have long been heralded as necessary for facilitating resilient and sustainable reconstruction; however, there is sparse documentation of designs implemented. We examine the case of design and building material selection for 20 shelter projects following Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, using photo documentation, interview data and field observations as a means to document rates of design adoption and choices in material selection. Findings use the shelter cluster ‘8 Key Messages’ as a framework to assess level of improved shelter design. Results highlight improved foundations, roofing, building shape and site selection and identify deficits in structural elements, including connections, bracing, and joints. Findings quantify design features that saw poor uptake by organizations and hold potential to inform future practice that encourages hazard-resistant design in the Philippines and other future international disaster responses.National Science Foundatio