URBAN RESILIENCE, DISASTERS AND DATA Flashcards
RESILIENCE?
Resilienceis the ability of an individual, household, community, society or system to withstand, cope with and quickly recover from shocks and stresses.
Shocks and stresses might include drought, floods and other natural hazards, as well as long-term changes in the climate and environmental degradation. They can result in shortage of resources and failed infrastructure and other situations that have the capacity to cause harm.
Understanding the concept of resilience is useful in addressing climate risk and unexpected events.
On a wider level, you could think of resilience as the capability of the system or country to manage risks and reduce the occurrence of hazards and to adapt to change over the long term.
Responses to climate change largely fall into two categories:
MITIGATION AND ADAPTATION
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MITIGATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE?
Mitigationinvolves trying to reduce thecausesof climate change, such as reducing carbon emissions and protecting forests and wetlands which act as carbon sinks. Thus, mitigation strategies aim to reduce the sources or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases
ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE?
Climate changeadaptationinvolves addressing theeffectsof climate change by making communities more resilient. It involves adjustments in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic effects in order to moderate the harm they may cause.
VULNERABILITY?
Vulnerabilitymeans the degree to which individuals, communities or systems are susceptible and less able to cope with harm
The ability of a system to adapt to climate change and cope with its consequences is called the
ADAPTIVE CAPACITY OF THE SYSTEM
By 2025, what % of world’s population will live in water-stressed river basins?
50%
EXAMPLES OF RESILIENCE IN THE WATER SECTOR, ADAPTATION MEASURES?
Improving resilience in the water sector means developing the adaptive capacity of the system. Countries need to adopt appropriate adaptation measures in their water supply sector that will reduce wastage, promote wise use of fresh water and improve water management practices.
These adaptation measures include:
Efficient use of water resources: ensure effective use and fair sharing of existing resources; develop new water sources and reservoirs; promote efficient use of water by consumers through education and tariff structures; develop water reuse and recycling; develop rainwater harvesting schemes.
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Leakage reduction: ensure that equipment and fittings of the water supply system are properly maintained to reduce the frequency of leakage, and that they are repaired promptly.
Testing existing technologies for resilience: water and sanitation services should be robust enough to ensure that water quality, water quantity and sanitation systems can be maintained.
Protecting ecosystem resilience: the impacts of natural disasters and climate change should be monitored to maintain the resilience of water and wetland ecosystems. Ecosystem resilience means that the effects of events like fires or drought do not make fundamental long-lasting changes to biodiversity within the ecosystem.
Flexible management approaches: decision makers need to be able to adapt to the full range of climate scenarios and the demands they generate.
WATER CONSERVATION?
Water conservation covers a broad range of activities from using less water at home to national policies to protect freshwater ecosystems. Its purpose is to manage water sustainably by using less or using it more efficiently so that present and future needs of people and the environment can be met. An example of water conservation in agriculture is the use of drip-feed irrigation, which provides water directly to the soil near the roots of the growing crops.
Other examples of water conservation from agriculture include changing the variety of crop that is grown to those that require less water and are more drought-resistant. Changing techniques for planting can also reduce water use, for example, creating a small hollow around the stem of a plant can ensure that water seeps into the ground close to the roots rather than running off over the surface.
RECYCLING WATER?
Wastewater recycling will become an increasingly important source of new water resources. It means finding ways to use water more than once. Recycled water can be used to recharge groundwater aquifers, supply industrial processes, irrigate certain crops and supplement domestic supplies. Recycling helps provide usable water and reduces pollution of existing supplies.
Many industrial and domestic processes do not require water of drinking standard. For example, water for flushing toilets does not need to be of the same quality as drinking water. There has been a significant increase in the availability and use of treated wastewater for a wide range of applications in different parts of the world and this is an area that is likely to grow.
CATCHMENT MANAGEMENT (WATER)
In the past, responsibility for management of water resources has often been divided among several different agencies or administrative departments. For example, responsibility for providing water supply for domestic users would be entirely separate from water for irrigation, even though they would both be using the same resource. This lack of coordination creates problems because it does not recognise the processes and connections of the water cycle or the links between the various parts of the water resource system.
To overcome this problem, the natural boundaries of the water catchment should be recognised. Thecatchment area, also known as the watershed, of a river is the total area of surrounding land that slopes towards the river.
URBAN RESILIENCE?
Urban resilience is when the systems and services of the town or city survive shocks and stresses, the people and organisations are able to accommodate these stresses into their day-to-day decisions, and the city’s institutional structures continue to function.
There is no single action that will make a city resilient to climate change. Resilience is developed through many actions, which build upon each other and where the focus is on preparation for disaster rather than response to it.
This means that plans for resilience should be included as part of any urban development plan.
The Asian Development Bank (2014) identifies the following guiding principles for urban resilience:
1) Combine ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ measures in the plan: this highlights that the actions and behaviours (soft measures) of individuals, communities and institutions are as critical to city resilience as protecting physical structures such as buildings and transport networks (hard measures). Resilience needs regulations, information systems and social networks.
2) Engage multiple stakeholders: cities are diverse and complex, so engaging businesses, civil society and government is necessary to build resilience and to form city-wide plans of preparedness.
3) Enlist different geographic and governance scales: cities have links with rural areas, internationally, and with each other. These links can be vital for building resilience, providing relief and sharing information about best practice.
4) Look to the future: planning processes have to address current issues but should also consider possible future situations, even though they may be uncertain.
5) Use local expertise: people with local knowledge can exchange information with external experts to build long-term adaptive capacity.
6) Build leadership: effective resilience needs strong leadership and accountability.
7) Focus on vulnerable communities: meaningful urban resilience must meet the needs of poor and vulnerable households who lack the resources available to others.
EARLY WARNING SYSTEMS?
- An important element of resilience is having contingency plans that can be put into action if disaster strikes. These are plans that provide answers to such questions as ‘what if the town floods?’ or ‘what if there’s an earthquake?’ To be effective these plans need an early warning system to alert people of impending danger to trigger avoidance actions and reduce risk.
Early warning systemsrefer to a set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timely and meaningful warning information to enable individuals, communities and organisations threatened by a hazard to prepare and to act appropriately and in sufficient time to reduce the possibility of harm or loss. Or, to put it more simply, early warning systems are designed to let people know when something bad is going to happen so they can prepare themselves and try to avoid harm.
An early warning system can bring safety, security and peace of mind.
Early warning systems make contingency planning and evacuation procedures more precise and help put people and their property and livelihoods out of harm’s way.
In Africa there is a high degree of vulnerability to natural and climate hazards, particularly among the poorest households and those located in remote areas.
Communication to these and other people through an early warning system can help reduce disaster risk by improving preparedness and giving greater protection to people and their livelihoods.
