Lec 6 - engaging at the LOCAL (community) scale Flashcards
Objectives of lecure
• The emergence of Community-based DRR (CBDRR)
• Key concepts:
- Participation -> sharing ideas between eachother
- Risk perception
- Behavioural change
• The tools and methods used in community participation
• A community shares resources and the same geographic area
• REMEMBER, this course is about providing frameworks to tackle situations
What is the challenge of community DRR?
• Effective DRR is not reaching the most at-risk
• Distribution of DRR not equal even though the poorest are the most affected
-does not help that disasters affect development
• There is a call for ‘actionable knowledge’ - DRR put into practice in locally appropriate ways
- isn’t just about the knowledge but also about knowing how to implement it
• Challenge is also joining the gap between community actions and gov./policy gap (funding, data etc)
• Need to combine top-down hazard and science-based approach vs. the bottom-up vulnerability, social science-based approach.
Info on the emergence of the CBDRR
• Historically, communities would take collective actions after disasters due to failure frpm top-down approach
• While Eng. paradigm dominated developed world from mid 20th C, CBDRR emerged in 80s-90s from the socio-political aspects of disaster risk.
- formed part of the Development Paradigm
The recent mainstreaming of CBDRR
UN defn for a community = a social group which has a number of things in common such as shared experience, locality, culture, heritage and social interests … emphasis on cohesion
- yet, communities cannot implement community-based disaster plans on their own.
• Note that there is a lot of miscommunication about CBDRR - CBDRR has been mainstreamed by policy makers and often contrasts with grass-roots CBDRR approaches.
- should not make assumptions about the homogeneity of communities (e.g. different groups/countries), - think about internal politics, conflicts, voiceless, marginalised (singel mums/disabled)
Key characteristics of CBDRR
- Participation is important - community are the main actions; most vulnerable groups should be prioritised.
- Risk reduction measures should be community-specific
- Existing capacities should be recognised e.g. local knowledge, resources etc
- DRR is linked to development - main aim fo CBDRR is to strengthen capacities.
- Outsiders (e.g. NGOs, govs) have supporting roles.
What is participation in DRR:
• Engagement of the affected population in one or more asepcts of the project cycle (assessment, design, implementation, M&E (monitoring and evaluation)
• More than simply a set of tools.
• Not imposed, but a product of shared objectives in the context of what is actually possible
• Many community and external actor factors can affect participation including:
- Political issues, resources, culture
- secutirty/safety, language barreir, access to community
What are teh approaches to community participation:
1) Instrumental approach
• Community approach is seen as a means of achieving project objectives
• Although this can lead to capacity development, this is not a project objective in itself.
2) Collaborative approach
• Based on an exchange of resources to reach shared objectives
• Implementing agencies aim to build capacity and learn from it
• Communities may act via existing formal structures (e.g. elders) or may create temporary structures for the purpose of project
3) Supportive approach (Semi opposite to instrumental approach)
• Recognise, work through and build existing or potential community capacities.
• More of a back seat view, externals just provide resources/guidance for community to do their own projects.
The ‘Ladder of participation’ describes different types of participation. Factors affecting the approach and types of participation adopted:
• The level fo technical knowledge required
• The project scope and community risk perceptions
• Who has ‘decision-making power’
• Policy and financial constraints
Types of participatory methodologies/frameworks: VCA, PADR
Vulnerability and Capacity Assessment (VCA) (shown before - that surveys stuff) and the Participatory Assessment of Disaster Risk (PADR)
- these are methods for investigating local components/drivers of risk and community capacity
- they are often structured around elements of the PAR model (shown before)
- they used to raise awareness of risk, allow diff. voices to be heard, provide info. for design of DRR actions, engage and empower communtiies and most importantly!!! they can embed behavioural change…
- they look at threats, consequences, actions and barriers.
What makes a DRR project successfull?
- H/E/V reduced; local capacities and disaster resilience increased.
- Increased risk awareness and knowledge of appropriate DRR actions
- Local ownership of the project
- Adoption of DRR good-practices and behaviours
- Maintenance of any structural/infrast. solutions
- SUmmed up, i.e. long term behavioural change by ALL (not jsut communities)
Adoption of change: from risk perception to new behaviours
• All about how thr process of adopting innovations can be expressed as a series of steps: a ‘ladder of adoption’ - the movement from awareness to adoption
Factors affecting motivations, intentions and actions
1) Motivating factors (perspectives)
• Risk perception: what is the threat, does it pose a threat?
• Critical awareness of the hazards: how much time spent thinking about this particular hazard
• hazard anxiety : how much death might the hazard cause?
2) Intention formation factors (beliefs)
• Outcome expectancy: will my actions be effective in reducing the problem?
• Self-efficacy - do I have teh capacity to act effectively
• Problem-focused coping: will I try and confront the problem?
• Response efficacy: are there enough resources to allow me to tackle the problem
Moderating factors affecting the conversion of intentions into actions:
• Timing of Hazard activity
• Sense of community responsibility
• Response efficacy
• Normative beleifes - community perceptions
Understanding different risk perceptions
• Vulnerability can affect risk perceptions - poorer people become more exposed to hazards. Vul. can lead to denial of the threat too.
• Uncertainty about risks/solutions can affect perceptions/decisions of all stakeholders
• Communication and capacity-building strategies should increase open knowledge.
• Action learning and capacity building embeds new behaviours
• Communication is thus very important where there are many forms communication can take:
- modes (written, verbal, visial)
- Channels (direct/indirect
- purpose (provide info, faciliate participation)
NOTE: this is now the end of DRR concepts - next lecture will focus on applying this all in practice - how we as Civil Engineers can do this! i.e. our role as civ engs.
