Alternatives to Long Distance Resettlement for Urban Informal Settlements Affected By Disaster and Climate Change

Planned or managed resettlement is increasingly being seen as a logical and legitimate disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation strategy for urban informal settlements in many developing country cities. Our understanding of the 50+ year history of “Development-induced Displacement” (i.e. resettlement for resource extraction or development project purposes) strongly suggests that resettlement, particularly long distance resettlement, often triggers significant, negative impacts for resettled communities. We now understand that long distance resettlement should be seen as an option of last resort. Under most climate change scenarios, informal settlements in coastal, or riverside locations are expected to be impacted negatively by climatic change, and thus the question of whether or not to resettle (despite the negatives associated with this) still arises. This paper will present several emerging and innovative alternatives to long distance resettlement, including the so-called “vertical resettlement”, amphibious and floating housing, “near-site” resettlement, and in-situ climate change adaptation/upgrading. These alternatives collectively allow for a local “re-imagining of informal settlements” rather than simply “resettlement”. The research methods used in this paper include a review of secondary data (n=20), and limited primary field research involving resettlement site observation and several key informant interviews (n=2).     Keywords: resettlement, climate change, near-site resettlement, floating houses, amphibious houses, in-situ upgrading, vertical resettlemen

Directrices para una reubicación ‘dirigida’

Aunque desde hace 20 años se viene reconociendo la probabilidad de que se produzcan desplazamientos relacionados con el cambio climático, la comunidad internacional se ha tomado con calma el desarrollo de instrumentos específicos que guíen los procesos de reubicación más allá de los que genéricamente hacen referencia al desplazamiento

Magnitudes of households’ carbon footprint in Iskandar Malaysia: Policy implications for sustainable development

The carbon footprint of households is a significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for 24% of total emissions. As a result, it is critical to quantify a household’s carbon footprint in order to reduce it over time. One of the best ways to measure carbon emitted from various sectors of the economy, including household daily activities, is to calculate a country’s carbon footprint (CF). This study statistically examined the magnitude of households’ carbon footprints and their relationships with household daily activities and certain socio-economic demographic variables in Malaysia. Results revealed that the average household carbon footprint amounted to 11.76 t-CO2. The average also showed that the primary carbon footprint, 7.02 t-CO2 or 59.69% was higher compared to the secondary carbon footprint which was 4.73 t- CO2 or 40.22% and assessment revealed significant differences among household types. The largest carbon footprint was evident in a medium-high cost urban area, estimated at 20.14 t-CO2, while the carbon footprint found in a rural area was 9.58 t-CO2. In the latter, the primary carbon footprint was almost double the figure of 5.84 t-CO2 (61%) than the secondary carbon footprint of 3.73 t-CO2 (39%). The study reveals a higher carbon footprint in urban areas compared to rural ones depicting the effects of urbanisation and urban sprawl on household lifestyles and carbon footprints. Despite some limitations, the findings of this study will help policymakers design and implement stronger policies that enforce low-carbon activities and energy-saving goods and services in order to reduce urban Malaysia’s carbon footprint dramatically

Social learning for enhancing social-ecological resilience to disaster-shocks : a policy Delphi approach

Publisher Copyright: © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.Purpose: The plethora of contributions to social learning has resulted in a wide range of interpretations, meanings and applications of social learning, both within and across disciplines. However, advancing the concept and using social learning methods and tools in areas like disaster-shocks requires interdisciplinary consolidation of understandings. In this context, the primary focus of this paper is on the contributions of social learning to disaster risk reduction (DRR). Design/methodology/approach: By applying a three-round policy Delphi process involving 18 purposefully selected scholars and expert-practitioners, the authors collected data on the meanings of social learning for two groups of professionals, DRR and social-ecological resilience. The survey instruments included questions relating to the identification of the core elements of social learning and the prospects for enhancing social-ecological resilience. Findings: The results revealed strong agreement that (1) the core elements of social learning indicate a collective, iterative and collaborative process that involves sharing/networking, changes in attitudes and knowledge and inclusivity; (2) social learning from disasters is unique; and (3) linkages between disciplines can be built by promoting interdisciplinarity, networks and knowledge platforms; collaboration and coordination at all levels; and teaching and practicing trust and respect. Social learning is useful in preparing for and responding to specific disaster events through communication; sharing experience, ideas and resources; creating synergies for collective action and promoting resilience. Research limitations/implications: The policy Delphi process involved a limited number of participants to control the quality of the data. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first of its kind to identify the core elements of social learning, specifically, in the disaster-shock context. It also makes significant contributions to the interdisciplinary integration issues. Practical implications: The practical implications of this study are related to pre-disaster planning and mitigation through the application of social learning on disaster-shocks. Social implications: The social implications of this study are related to valuing social learning for the improvement of disaster planning, management, and policy formulation and implementation in reducing disaster risks. Originality/value: The study provides a consensus view on the core elements of social learning and its role in DRR and resilience building. Relevant to all stages of DRR, social learning is best characterized as a collective, iterative and collaborative process. It can be promoted by enhancing networking and interdisciplinarity.Peer reviewe

Socioeconomics determinants of household carbon footprint in Iskandar Malaysia

Understanding the complex links between socioeconomic variables and carbon emissions can reveal household spending and lifestyle patterns. This study oversees those issues and examines consumption patterns and their related variables such as climate change understanding, attitudes, and knowledge, in order to better comprehend the complicated linkages. This study revealed that eight socioeconomic elements influence a household’s carbon footprint: (i) household income (β = 0.476, p < 0.05), (ii) green attitudes (β = − 0.196, p < 0.05), (iii) residential space (β = 0.157, p < 0.05), (iv), education levels (β = 0.131, p < 0.05), (v) household’s tenure status by ownership (β = 0.130, p < 0.05), (vi) household’s age (β = 0.112, p < 0.05), (vii) size of household (β = 0.101, p < 0.05), and, (viii) female-headed household (β = − 0.077, p < 0.05). Approximately 83.6% of respondents are mindful of climate change, but only 2.6% correctly define it as a long-term shift in weather patterns. The study found that 82% of households are willing to change their consumption habits and lifestyle to reduce their household’s carbon footprint. In order to achieve a low carbon society, our research advocate a multipronged approach and policy action is crucial based on the results. Further, robust climate change educational and awareness programmes is decisive at the multilevel and scale in Malaysia to achieve its carbon emissions reduction target by 2050

31st Annual Meeting and Associated Programs of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC 2016) : part two

Background The immunological escape of tumors represents one of the main ob- stacles to the treatment of malignancies. The blockade of PD-1 or CTLA-4 receptors represented a milestone in the history of immunotherapy. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors seem to be effective in specific cohorts of patients. It has been proposed that their efficacy relies on the presence of an immunological response. Thus, we hypothesized that disruption of the PD-L1/PD-1 axis would synergize with our oncolytic vaccine platform PeptiCRAd. Methods We used murine B16OVA in vivo tumor models and flow cytometry analysis to investigate the immunological background. Results First, we found that high-burden B16OVA tumors were refractory to combination immunotherapy. However, with a more aggressive schedule, tumors with a lower burden were more susceptible to the combination of PeptiCRAd and PD-L1 blockade. The therapy signifi- cantly increased the median survival of mice (Fig. 7). Interestingly, the reduced growth of contralaterally injected B16F10 cells sug- gested the presence of a long lasting immunological memory also against non-targeted antigens. Concerning the functional state of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), we found that all the immune therapies would enhance the percentage of activated (PD-1pos TIM- 3neg) T lymphocytes and reduce the amount of exhausted (PD-1pos TIM-3pos) cells compared to placebo. As expected, we found that PeptiCRAd monotherapy could increase the number of antigen spe- cific CD8+ T cells compared to other treatments. However, only the combination with PD-L1 blockade could significantly increase the ra- tio between activated and exhausted pentamer positive cells (p= 0.0058), suggesting that by disrupting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis we could decrease the amount of dysfunctional antigen specific T cells. We ob- served that the anatomical location deeply influenced the state of CD4+ and CD8+ T lymphocytes. In fact, TIM-3 expression was in- creased by 2 fold on TILs compared to splenic and lymphoid T cells. In the CD8+ compartment, the expression of PD-1 on the surface seemed to be restricted to the tumor micro-environment, while CD4 + T cells had a high expression of PD-1 also in lymphoid organs. Interestingly, we found that the levels of PD-1 were significantly higher on CD8+ T cells than on CD4+ T cells into the tumor micro- environment (p < 0.0001). Conclusions In conclusion, we demonstrated that the efficacy of immune check- point inhibitors might be strongly enhanced by their combination with cancer vaccines. PeptiCRAd was able to increase the number of antigen-specific T cells and PD-L1 blockade prevented their exhaus- tion, resulting in long-lasting immunological memory and increased median survival

Alternatives to Long Distance Resettlement for Urban Informal Settlements Affected by Disaster and Climate Change

Planned or managed resettlement is increasingly being seen as a logical and legitimate disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation strategy for urban informal settlements in many developing country cities. Our understanding of the 50+ year history of “Development-induced Displacement” (i.e. resettlement for resource extraction or development project purposes) strongly suggests that resettlement, particularly long distance resettlement, often triggers significant, negative impacts for resettled communities. We now understand that long distance resettlement should be seen as an option of last resort. Under most climate change scenarios, informal settlements in coastal, or riverside locations are expected to be impacted negatively by climatic change, and thus the question of whether or not to resettle (despite the negatives associated with this) still arises. This paper will present several emerging and innovative alternatives to long distance resettlement, including the so-called “vertical resettlement”, amphibious and floating housing, “near-site” resettlement, and in-situ climate change adaptation/upgrading. These alternatives collectively allow for a local “re-imagining of informal settlements” rather than simply “resettlement”. The research methods used in this paper include a review of secondary data (n=20), and limited primary field research involving resettlement site observation and several key informant interviews (n=2). &nbsp; &nbsp; Keywords: resettlement, climate change, near-site resettlement, floating houses, amphibious houses, in-situ upgrading, vertical resettlemen

Building capacity for environmental planning in Viet Nam : the role of development aid environmental impact assessment programmes

This dissertation examines contentions in academic literature that a planning model of EIA' is a promising means by which to support sustainable development in developing countries. The planning model structures EIA as a participatory and value-laden planning process, linked to political planning and decision-making processes, embracing uncertainty, and incorporating multiple ways of knowing about environmental/social impacts. This contrasts with the 'technical model of EIA': a rational/technical product, using scientific techniques and skilled technicians to predict and quantify environmental and social impacts. Research was carried out in Viet Nam, using a comparative case study approach. Development-aid EIA capacity-building programmes were used as case studies (n=9). Crosscase analysis was used to distill patterns, processes and outcomes common to the cases. The research employed a range of data gathering and analytical methods, including: collection of secondary sources, historical analysis, contents analysis, key informant interviewing (n=64) and direct observation. In only five years of effort, development aid programmes have helped to transform the role of EIA in Viet Nam. From a training and awareness raising tool, EIA has become an officially mandated process beginning to influence the design of new projects and the wider Vietnamese development planning process. However, these programmes have a confusingly high degree of variation in EIA models promoted, ranging from a 'strong technical model' to a 'moderate planning model'. The planning model of EIA was not a strong influence when Viet Nam first implemented its EIA process, nor has such a model been fully promoted by development aid capacitybuilding programmes. These programmes have had only limited success in promoting some elements of the planning model of EIA, including: EIA beyond project levels; longer-term EIA processes and impact monitoring, and; awareness of the need to broaden assessment beyond biophysical impacts. A number of areas of change are critical if aid agencies wish to promote a more complete planning model. The dissertation concludes with a call for development aid agencies to reposition EIA capacity-building programmes as a deliberate attempt to transform aspects of the development planning contexts of developing countries, rather than to merely strengthen EIA and planning capacities within an unsustainable development planning process.Applied Science, Faculty ofCommunity and Regional Planning (SCARP), School ofGraduat

Guidance for ‘managed’ relocation

While the potential for climate change-related displacement has been recognised for over 20 years, the international community has been slow to develop climate change-specific instruments to guide the relocation process beyond those that relate to displacement generally

Guidance for 'managed' relocation

While the potential for climate change-related displacement has been recognised for over 20 years, the international community has been slow to develop climate change-specific instruments to guide the relocation process beyond those that relate to displacement generally