Group Updates

ANDROID Doctoral School

Dr Mackee and Dr von Meding were recently invited to deliver a course on 'Overall Systems Resilience' as part of the 2014 ANDROID Online Doctoral School. This programme was run as part of the EU funded ANDROID network and saw several dozen PhD students engage with Jamie and Jason over a Blackboard Collaborate system. It was exciting to see young researchers so eager to explore detailed aspects of resilience in systems, and participants had many interesting questions leading to discussion with the presenters. Special thanks to Prof Srinath Perera and Dr Irina Shklovski for the invitation.


Project News

Two projects related to the Disaster and Development group were recently successful in receiving funding from the discipline of Construction Management at UoN. Dr Von Meding and his CIB W120 joint-coordinator Dr Lee Bosher will be undertaking a study entitled 'Forming Strategy for Resilience in Non-Government Organisations,' while Dr Michael Mak and Dr von Meding will investigate 'A Holistic Framework for Urban Resilience using Feng Shui Approach.' 

New PhD Scholars

The group recently welcomed Steven Crick, a Senior Environmental Scientist from Parsons Brinckerhoff, on board as a part-time PhD researcher. He will be investigating slow-onset disasters in the Hunter Region, particularly looking at DRR and climate adaptation policy. In addition, in the next month we are expecting full-time PhD students from both Vietnam and Italy to join the research group. The arrival of these researchers will bring the number of PhD students in the group to 5, further establishing Disaster and Development research within the University. 

Papers/ Conferences

The group will be represented at the upcoming CIB2014 conference, to be held at the Kandalama Hotel in Sri Lanka next month, by Dr Gajendran and PhD scholar Rafiu Salami. Rafiu will present his paper 'Deficient Housing: Development of a New Theoretical Perspective on Poverty Traps,' which outlines development of the theoretical framework underpinning his PhD research. 

Upcoming W120 meetings

This is a quick post to provide an updated meeting schedule for CIB W120 'Disasters and the Built Environment' to anyone who might wish to participate in our dynamic research network by linking up at a conference!

- IDRC 2014, Davos, Switzerland: 24-28 August 2014 

- 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, Sendai, Japan: 14-18 March 2015

- i-Rec 2015, University College London, UK: [dates TBC]

- Building Resilience Conference 2015, Newcastle, Australia: 10-12 September 2015

- World Building Congress 2016, Finland: 30 May-3 June 2016

In addition, please feel free to browse information on W120 or check out our LinkedIn Group! 

Debt and disaster recovery

I first came across this report a few days ago. I still can't quite reconcile the madness of the scenario facing a country so recently devastated by super storm Haiyan. Under the Marcos dictatorship, the Philippines took out tens of millions of dollars in loans, much of which was embezzled. These corrupt politicians are then able to relocate to countries that will harbour criminals with money.

So first of all, why are there still places like this available in the world? In the digital age, it would be very simple to bring such perpetrators to justice...or at least recover the funds. I would suggest that there is no political will to deal with this.

Secondly, if a corrupt government embezzles borrowed money, why is that country paying off the debt and interest for many years after the government changes? This debt is chewing up 20% of national income. A country cannot be expected to develop under this burden. And then Haiyan hits.

At the same time as Philippines has received hundreds of millions in aid following Haiyan, they have paid 3 times as much out in debt repayments! The main creditor is the World Bank. This is insane. How can the country ever recover from this disaster when the aid is minuscule compared to the amount that is potentially available if some sense was brought to the debt negotiation table.

The Philippines is the most vulnerable nation on earth to hazards, and climate change is massively real for the people living there. Recovery from Haiyan will take some time, but the next storm will not be far behind. We need to consider the wider causes of such disasters and the potential avenues for change and more sustainable development.

Anyone have thoughts on how our global economic systems can change to decrease disaster vulnerability?

CIB W120 - Disasters and the Built Environment

A new CIB working commission was formally revealed today, W120 Disasters and the Built Environment. It will be my honor (Jason von Meding) to act as coordinator of such a dynamic research network. You can view the official newsletter release here. Dr Lee Bosher (Loughborough University, UK) will also act as coordinator of this Commission, and together we released the following statement through the CIB,

“As we move further into an age of rapid urbanisation and increased vulnerability to hazards, this commission will engage with some of the key dilemmas facing humanity. Considering the complex and highly volatile nature of disaster contexts, the commission will advocate a trans-disciplinary and culturally sensitive approach to research. To facilitate such research we aim to build a network of members spanning all global regions, bringing together academics, practitioners and leaders of business and communities.

We are delighted to build upon the rich research network and collaborative efforts initiated by TG63 over the past 6 years with the establishment of W120. We are confident that this commission can address the research agenda around ‘Disasters and the Built Environment’ in a significant way and provide a forum for cutting-edge research dissemination and dialogue.” 

The Commission will be working towards a series of objectives and outputs, and we would welcome new members or collaborators to get in touch. 

Announcing IJAR Special Issue on Post-Disaster Reconstruction

It is with great pleasure that I would like to announce the publication of a special issue of IJAR (International Journal of Architectural Research) focusing on post-disaster reconstruction. This issue has been guest-edited by three of the Disaster & Development Research Group (von Meding, Mackee & Gajendran) and represents a collection of papers that add to the body of knowledge in this research area, each composed from a built environment perspective.

You are now warmly invited to download the entire issue or individual papers here. We are delighted to publish this collection in Open Access format, allowing the works to be disseminated far and wide without restrictions. Please consider sharing with your research networks!

Thank you to all the authors and reviewers that contributed to the issue, and to the Editor-in-Chief of IJAR, Prof. Ashraf Salama, for his support and encouragement over the past 18 months.

Does our research have an impact?

As news filters through, reporting the death and devastation wreaked on the Philippines by Typhoon Haiyan, I pause to consider whether we are doing all that we can through our research to prevent events such as this from occurring? Are we really conducting studies with potential for impact in the field? 

Human tragedy unfolds around the world for the victims of disaster on a daily basis. We do not even hear about the majority of events occurring, but they do occur nonetheless. Disasters are affecting more and more people, through a combination of a) the accelerating frequency of hazards threatening human populations and b) growing global inequality, conflict and urbanisation leading to heightened conditions of vulnerability. 

As Typhoon Haiyan sadly demonstrates, we cannot prevent hazards of brutal force from coming into contact with human populations. What we can do is determine the conditions of the people affected. As long as we allow an elite group of individuals to control the global economy and corporations to set government agendas, it is difficult to see the majority of people desperately exposed to hazards ever improving their conditions. 

Greed and an attitude of entitlement. Such characteristics, present among those with power to change high level systems, indirectly cause immeasurable suffering, trapping billions in a vulnerable state. The endless capitalist quest for new markets to exploit and resources to plunder leaves us little room to develop solutions to the underlying issues of vulnerability. 

For this reason I believe that science must grow more vocal in its criticism of systemic abuses and inequalities. Our research must be undertaken with this context to the fore, not ignorant of it. 

For some researchers and academics, offering an argument on such issues will be well outside of familiar intellectual territory. However, I would suggest that no matter how many new tools we provide for storm prediction; no matter how many management frameworks we develop for efficient response and recovery; no matter how well we build community capacity, capital and resilience; the cycle of vulnerability will be perpetuated indefinitely if we ignore the root causes. 

Therefore be bold, deviant and passionate as you advocate for the vulnerable and build evidence to bring about change. 

Upcoming Papers

Two papers have been generated by the team in the area of disaster management for the upcoming AUBEA conference to be held in Auckland from 20-22 November. The first is an agenda setting paper, exploring the context of New South Wales and its exposure to disaster risk, a particularly timely output as we are currently experiencing extreme wildfire conditions in the region and the debate around climate change and resilience is on the table once more. The second paper explores the conditions that must be created in order to fully engage the commercial construction industry in post-disaster reconstruction. The study identifies the key barriers to engagement and argues for extensive benefits to both the humanitarian sector and the construction industry through closer collaboration, formulating a framework to define a potential path forward. The full papers will be presented at AUBEA and will be available thereafter. 

PAPER 1

DEFINING A RESEARCH AGENDA FOR SLOW-ONSET DISASTER RESEARCH IN THE HUNTER REGION, NSW

J. Von Meding¹, R. Le Goff¹, G. Brewer¹, J. MacKee¹, T. Gajendran¹, S. Crick²

¹University of Newcastle, Australia

²Parsons Brinckerhoff

PAPER 2

ENGAGING THE COMMERCIAL CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN A POST-DISASTER CONTEXT

J. von Meding¹, A. McVeigh¹, Z. Amiri², C. Burke³

¹ University of Newcastle, Australia

2 Alaodoleh Semnani Institute of Higher Education, Iran

³ Queen’s University Belfast, UK