Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience Newsletter
Real World Simulations for Emergency Planning
Plus:
• The L’Aquila Trial • Vulnerability of Drylands to Wind Erosion • Community Resilience to Natural Hazards • Green Social Work Volume 7, Number 1
www.dur.ac.uk/ihrr
Winter 2013
Contents From the Executive Director ...................................................................................... 3 GMFuturos .............................................................................................................. 4 Earthquakes without Frontiers .................................................................................... 5 New PhD Fellowship to Investigate Community Resilience to Natural Hazards. ................ 7 Appeal for Aid to Help Survivors of Typhoon Haiyan ..................................................... 8 Researching the Vulnerability of Drylands to Wind Erosion Hazards ............................... 10 Real World Simulations for Emergency Planning: The REScUE Project .......................... 12 Green Social Work: A Paradigmatic Shift from Ecological and Environmental Social Work .. 16 The L’Aquila Trial and its Impact on Society ............................................................... 18 Tipping Points Annual Report 2012–2013 ................................................................. 20 Vulnerability and Resilience: A Reflective Approach .................................................... 21 Publications ........................................................................................................... 22 IHRR in the Media .................................................................................................. 23 Latest from IHRR Blog ............................................................................................ 23 Launch of Work Package 5 of the Tipping Points project: Critical Transitions .................. 24 IHRR Presents ........................................................................................................ 26 Awards / Grants ....................................................................................................... 27 Upcoming Event .................................................................................................... 27 Welcome ................................................................................................................ 27
Want to submit news about your research in hazard, risk or resilience at Durham University? Contact: brett.cherry@durham.ac.uk
2
IHRR Newsletter
From the Executive Director
A
s this Newsletter goes to press, aspects of Hazard, Risk and Resilience are more than ever in the public eye due to events such as the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Public responses such as donations to the major aid agencies working to bring assistance to the communities affected by such crises are very important. Also, these kinds of events remind us how necessary it is for societies around the world to prepare as well as they can for extreme events and develop effective resilience strategies. In this Newsletter we report on several examples of activities associated with the Institute of Hazard Risk and Resilience which illustrate different ideas of risk and resilience, as well as some of the public debates and tensions surrounding social responses to potential risk. The GMFuturos project, for example, is advancing well with their crosscultural comparative study on the debates, perceptions and practices surrounding GM technologies in Mexico, Brazil and India. In a report about the REScUE Project led by Dr Graham Coates, we see how in the case of emergency planning potential risks can be identified in advance using software to model different kinds of emergency scenarios. In terms of research into environmental risks and hazards, Junior Research Fellow Dr Laura
Winter 2013
Turnbull describes recent results from her project on large scale soil erosion risks in the USA, and Professor Lena Dominelli introduces how ‘green social work’ addresses the impacts of environmental disasters. We also include an article on a very thought-provoking seminar in the IHRR series by Dr Giulio Selvaggi, former Director of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology in Italy. His presentation explored the controversies surrounding legal proceedings taken against scientists trying to inform public strategies for earthquake resilience. We are also pleased to announce Hanna Ruszczyk’s PhD Fellowship investigating Community Resilience to Natural Hazards, provide an update on the Earthquakes without Frontiers project and a report on the launch of Work Package 5: Critical Transitions from the Tipping Points project. IHRR works to create and support the kind of multidisciplinary research environment in Durham University which allows research on these important issues of risk and uncertainty to flourish. Postgraduate student Ria Rampersad eloquently expresses her personal views about the significance and complexity of risk and resilience, which have drawn her to undertake the Masters in Risk programme at Durham University and to join the IHRR Postgraduate Forum. Ria is one of a growing cohort of early career researchers who are working to expand knowledge and skills that are essential for societies to prepare for and build resilience to hazardous events, as well as action to mitigate the risks we face as far as possible. Professor Sarah Curtis Executive Director of IHRR
3
GMFuturos Dr Susana Carro-Ripalda Department of Anthropology
Team in Mexico with workshop participants
Dr Joanildo Burity presents at GMFuturos workshop
GMFuturos Mexico research team at press conference (Dr Susana Carro-Ripalda (centre), Dr Marta Astier Calderon (right) and Carmen Patricio.
4
The GMFuturos project, which is investigating public debate over genetically modified crops in different countries, has nearly completed field research in Mexico. Researchers completed the fieldwork in rural communities around Lake Pátzcuaro, the participant observation in Langebio (National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity), the focus groups with urban consumers in Morelia, and the indepth interviews with key national stakeholders. GMFuturos also held a very well-attended and successful National Workshop at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in Mexico City, which generated a lot of local media interest. The workshop centred on maize, which is a key crop in Mexico (its centre of origin), and gave voice to the different opinions surrounding the controversial permit requests for the commercial cultivation of GM maize in northern states. Additional stakeholder interviews were undertaken in November 2013. The Brazilian case study is also nearly finished after the completion of fieldwork with farmers in Chapecó, research at Embrapa Soja (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), focus groups with consumers in Florianópolis, and questionnaires administered to national key stakeholders. The Brazilian workshop took place at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, with great attendance and a lively discussion about the situation and debates surrounding GM soy in Brazil at present, including the perceived need to reopen public debates and to create proper channels of reliable information about GM. For the Indian case study, a National Workshop will take place in Dehli 13-14 January 2014 that will include key Indian stakeholders. An International Policy Summit in London is planned for April 2014. Updates on the Policy Summit and other GMFuturos dissemination events will be posted on the project’s website: https://www.dur.ac.uk/ihrr/gmfuturos/.
IHRR Newsletter
Earthquakes without Frontiers Dr Katie Oven Department of Geography
Professor Jonathan Rigg
public to create a demand for earthquake safety, in particular, earthquake safe construction. This gives a particular flavour to how problems are engaged with and taken forward.
National University of Singapore We are now 18 months into our five-year Earthquake without Frontiers research programme which involved a dazzling number of researchers from the natural and social sciences, and around 20 institutions spread across four case study countries. The field research is being undertaken in Nepal, India (Bihar State), Kazakhstan and China (Sichuan and the Ordos Plateau). Already, on the social science side of the project, a common problem -- how to build resilience in the context of earthquakes -- is taking a very different form. In Nepal we have a context where national level governance structures are generally weak following a decade-long civil conflict and an ongoing political impasse. Despite this, there are a wealth of bilateral, multilateral and NGO agencies and institutions driving forward the earthquake risk reduction agenda. With so many actors involved, coordination challenges arise, but achievements are being made including the retrofitting of hospitals and schools, urban search and rescue training, the training of local masons in earthquake safe construction, and communitybased disaster risk reduction programmes. Just across the border in Bihar State is a very different governance context. Like Nepal, Bihar has a long history of weak governance and underdevelopment, however, Bihar has undergone a transformation in recent years. The Chief Minister has made disaster risk reduction a priority and there are now strong state institutions in place including a State Disaster Management Department and Authority, with funding from the State Government. Here, emphasis has been placed on awareness-raising amongst government stakeholders and the wider Winter 2013
Evidence of seismic culture – the wooden cathedral constructed in 1907. In China, the structures of national and regional government are generally well functioning and effective, impressively so. But this, we sense, may create the problem of a local-level gap at times of crisis, when formal structures are interrupted
Residential buildings from the Soviet era in Kazakhstan.
5
but there are no alternatives to fill this gap. In Kazakhstan our research is only at an early stage, but here the issue of post-socialist transition will loom large, we expect. While there are some visible signs of a ‘seismic culture’ -- for example in the ‘earthquake-proof ’ wooden cathedral, reputedly built without a single nail -- our initial discussions do not lend us to think that this culture has survived through the turbulence of the Soviet and independence years.
in Asia and the UNDP, is an interesting example of cross-border cooperation and engagement for DRR. With Nepal identified as one of the project’s initial partner countries what, exactly, are the lessons for Nepal from China in terms of the country’s top-down approach to disaster management? And for China, in terms of Nepal’s vigorous NGO and community-engagement with earthquake hazard?
About EwF: A key question, of course, is whether this is a case of ‘horses for courses’, where we should both expect and celebrate difference: that the desired end of resilience can be secured in very different ways and that these need to be sensitive to national histories, cultural contexts, development capacities, and political realities. Or, alternatively, are these different approaches compromising the ends? Perhaps unsurprising, it is likely that the ‘reality’ lies somewhere between these two positions, but this raises the question of what cross-country learning can be achieved. The recently launched Sharing and Learning on Community Based Disaster Management in Asia programme, a collaboration between the UK-DFID, the Chinese Government, developing countries
6
Earthquakes without Frontiers (EwF) is a five-year research project (2012-2017) funded by the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council (NERC). The project brings together natural and social scientists from IHRR at Durham University, the National University of Singapore, Cambridge, Leeds, Northumbria and Oxford Universities; the British Geological Survey and the Overseas Development Institute; as well as collaborators in the case study countries of Nepal, India (Bihar State), China and Kazakhstan.
The
project team are working collaboratively with local scientists, policy makers, and governmental and non-governmental organisations with the aim of increasing the resilience of populations exposed to earthquakes and related hazards along the AlpineHimalayan Belt.
IHRR Newsletter
New PhD Fellowship to Investigate Community Resilience to Natural Hazards Durham postgraduate researcher Hanna Ruszczyk has been awarded a PhD Fellowship that is funding her research on community resilience and earthquakes. Hanna’s postgraduate award has been made possible thanks to a generous gift from a Durham Alumnus. Hanna’s research, will investigate the role of resilience in disaster risk reduction. She will study how resilience strategies can be operationalised within urban communities vulnerable to seismic hazards in Nepal and Bihar, India. Her PhD programme is based in the Department of Geography and linked to IHRR, and is supervised by Dr Katie Oven and Dr Colin MacFarlane.
Hanna Ruszczyk (centre). For her PhD, Ruszczyk is making a comparative analysis between Nepal and Bihar, which will investigate how to build individual and community level capacity for resilience. Both have their own particular strengths and weaknesses when it comes to adapting and building resilience to natural hazards. ‘I’m looking at how they can learn from each other’, said Ruszczyk. ‘There is a clear social element of resilience, but what are the most important components of resilience to be aware of ?’, she asks.
about what resilience actually is could assist the communities they work with. ‘Practitioners have a sophisticated understanding of resilience, but in some cases may be too close to their work to give an adequate assessment’, said Ruszczyk. One of the reasons for defining resilience is that without a solid definition attuned with the work of practitioners and the daily lives of people afflicted by hazards, the concept could fade into the background without making much of an impact on the ground. Ruszczyk’s research will analyse and attempt to put into practice community resilience in order to see if it has a wider application within urban settings. She will be working closely with members of the Earthquakes without Frontiers Nepal/India team which includes Dr Katie Oven, Professor Alex Densmore and Professor David Petley (Geography), Samantha Jones (Northumbria University) and Harry Jones (Overseas Development Institute). Ruszczyk has worked as project manager for two UN agencies, the United Nations Development Programme and the International Labour Organization. She then completed a Masters by Research at Durham University through a study of local understandings of resilience in Nepal. She will present this work to NGO practitioners in disaster risk reduction at a special symposium in December in Kathmandu on community based disaster risk reduction and management resilience. This knowledge exchange will help her to develop her approach to resilience and extend the network of partners who she plans to work with for her PhD research.
Resilience is currently defined in many different ways by practitioners, but coming to a consensus Winter 2013
7
Appeal for Aid to Help Survivors of Typhoon Haiyan
Credit: DFID
Professor Sarah Curtis and Professor Lena Dominelli are calling for immediate global support to help survivors of the typhoon disaster in the Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan has caused severe devastation in the Philippines leaving an unknown number of people dead. While early estimates have been made, the number of fatalities is likely to rise. Survivors are without food, clean drinking water or shelter. Immediate global support, especially funding, is needed for providing assistance to affected communities. Durham University Professor and IHRR CoDirector Lena Dominelli, a sociologist and international social worker in disaster resilience, is in touch with survivors of the typhoon disaster in the Philippines who she says are desperately in need of humanitarian aid.
8
‘It’s absolutely essential that money is sent to people for buying food, clean drinking water, and medical supplies for those who have critical conditions. A lot of the areas destroyed by the typhoon have no power supplies and no communications except by satellite phone’, said Dominelli. Dominelli added that rebuilding housing and reopening schools is crucial to helping communities rebound from the disaster. All of the people that Lena spoke with on the ground had lost their homes due to the typhoon: ‘Some were in their beds when the typhoon struck, and awoke when the roof was blown off their house. Suddenly they were inundated with water and debris, and then the whole house lifts off the ground. Their immediate thought was where can we go to protect ourselves? So they went to neighbours, cowering together in the wind and rain. Neighbours are really quite important in protecting people and looking to each other for support’.
IHRR Newsletter
‘In some neighbourhoods everyone lost their homes; in others many were seriously damaged. The people I support are some of the poorest people, and their houses would have been really flimsy to begin with because they can’t afford good housing. In the longer term it’s crucial that we find ways of sharing resources to provide people with good quality housing that can withstand future disasters’. Financial contributions no matter how small can assist local charities in providing support to communities at the centre of the disaster. Dominelli says international charities such as the Red Cross, Medicins sans Frontières and Save the Children that have local branches in the Philippines, and the UK-based Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), are examples of organisations that have networks essential to delivering aid where it is needed most and require donor support. While encouraging donations from around the world to support disaster relief efforts in the short-term, this is also a time to reflect on how to improve capacities for disaster risk reduction and preparedness for future calamities in the Philippines, and all other countries vulnerable to extreme weather events and geohazards. Doing so is essential for reducing loss of life and
Winter 2013
infrastructural damage, and recovering more speedily in future events. Professor Sarah Curtis, Executive Director of the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience said: ‘This crisis is very distressing for us all because of the human suffering and loss involved. It illustrates once again how important it is to build international collaboration to prepare for hazards and risks and to respond to them when they occur. At this stage in the crisis encouragement for direct financial aid donations seems the most useful action for institutes like IHRR to be taking. As the process of reconstruction gets underway, IHRR will be in touch with colleagues in the Philippines and other countries to find out whether we can support transfer of learning from experience and knowledge that may be helpful for those working to recover from this event’. Dominelli added: ‘Good preparedness is proactive, people have to start thinking in advance. If this were to happen, what are the worst case scenarios? What would we do in such situations? Who would do what? How can we build community-based disaster strategies that will help people to survive and thrive? We want them to be able to thrive in order to withstand future calamities’.
9
Researching the Vulnerability of Drylands to Wind Erosion Hazards Dr Laura Turnbull Department of Geography
Loss of Soil Fertility, Damage to Vegetation, Burial of Seeds
Anthropogenic Disturbance e.g. Overgrazing
Reduction in Surface Roughness, Increased Wind Speeds
Loss of Soil Fertility, Cover and Soil-Surface Disturbance
Loss of Soil Fertility
Climatic Driver e.g. Drought, Change in Precipitation Patterns
Increase in Runoff and Soil Erosion
Figure 1: Conceptualisation of ecogeomorphic feedbacks and land degradation in the southwestern USA.
Figure 2: Vegetation cover and distribution controls on sediment flux, according to level of site disturbance.
10
Funding from an IHRR small research grant enabled me to spend two months visiting Dr Jayne Belnap, a United States Geological Survey (USGS) research scientist, at the Canyonlands Field Station, Moab, Utah, USA. The overarching purpose of this visit was to explore and develop research ideas to determine the potential hazards that arise as a result of land degradation in drylands. One such hazard that both occurs as a result of land degradation and contributes directly to land degradation is wind erosion. Over recent decades, the southwestern USA has experienced major dust storms in response to agricultural land abandonment and widespread disturbances to soil surfaces that are reminiscent of the dust bowl era. These dust storms pose a health hazard and have multiple undesired consequences, including loss of soil fertility in dust-emitting regions, and alterations
BSNE (Big Spring Number Eight) dust sampler used to measure sediment transport. IHRR Newsletter
in the energy balance in high-elevation regions where dust deposited on snowpack alters surface albedo. Most research to date on dust emissions in drylands has focussed on dust emission hot spots that produce a disproportionate amount of dust relative to their size and to dust emissions from surrounding areas. However, unconcentrated wind erosion in drylands that occurs across vast areas may also result in significant soil loss and represent a major source of dust to the atmosphere. Due to the prevalence of ecogeomorphic feedbacks in drylands (feedbacks between ecological and geomorphological processes) an increase in wind erosion and dust emissions may exacerbate further the land degradation problem (Figure 1). In view of the gap in our understanding of controls on unconcentrated dust emissions in drylands, we set out to determine how climate variability and surface characteristics control unconcentrated dust emissions in drylands. Thus, in collaboration with the USGS and colleagues from the United States Department of Agriculture, a vast dataset was assembled, consisting of near-surface measurements of sediment transport, from 108 sites across the southwestern USA, mostly concentrated in Utah and New Mexico. This is the largest dataset of its kind. Ancillary data were also gathered to quantify meteorological conditions and surface characteristics – both vegetation and soilsurface characteristics which together determine erodibility of the soil surface.
irrespective of the degree of disturbance. The mechanisms by which disturbances such as grazing by livestock render environments more susceptible to wind erosion include the physical destruction of soil-surface stabilizers (such as biological soil crusts made up of cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, lichens, and bryophytes which live in the upper few millimetres of the soil, binding soil particles together, and desert pavements which form a protective layer at the soil surface), a reduction in the degree of soilsurface roughness and removal of vegetation roughness elements. Ongoing research as part of this collaboration is investigating in greater detail how differences in soil-vegetation complexes and different manifestations of disturbance alter the susceptibility of drylands to wind erosion under different climatic conditions. This field trip was funded by the IHRR Small Grants Scheme which supports initiatives to bring researchers together and help build collaboration. For more information about the scheme contact: ihrr.admin@durham.ac.uk. Researcher Behind the Study: Dr Laura Turnbull is an IAS
Junior
Research
Fellow in the Department of Geography and IHRR. Contact: Laura.Turnbull@durham. ac.uk
Initial findings from this study show that both vegetation cover and average size of bare spaces between individual plants exert a great influence on average daily sediment transport. Vegetation controls on sediment transport vary greatly, depending on the degree of site disturbance. While, in general, higher sediment transport occurs at the disturbed sites, it can also occur at undisturbed sites that have high vegetation cover. This result indicates that some sites are naturally more susceptible to wind erosion Winter 2013
11
Real World Simulations for Emergency Planning: The REScUE Project An emergency is a sudden danger that requires immediate attention. It may be limited in scale, involving many injuries and deaths over multiple sites. Emergency planning focuses on the most effective ways possible to manage incidents that have large numbers of casualties. Normally it is limited to a series of plans relating to certain types of events, especially emergencies that are well known and happen quite frequently. However, these may not cover operations for all potential incidents, particularly unprecedented incidents – low probability high impact events – which make emergency planning especially challenging. When you have only scarce resources available for planning, what do you do to plan for such rare events? Using computer-based tools that model emergency response can help make management and resilience planning more effective in the event of unusual, more serious disasters. Research from the REScUE project based at Durham University has produced an emergency
12
response simulator that can assist fire, police, ambulance and other services in responding to mass casualty events. The agent-based modeller and simulator allows responders to prepare for unique emergencies. If adequate preparation is in place for a given emergency situation it can likely help prevent it from turning into a disaster. Both emergency and disaster situations require multiple levels of assistance and cooperation in order to prevent loss of life. This includes teams of specialists: fire fighters, police officers and medical units, working towards common goals such as reducing loss of human life and suffering. While there are plans in place for dealing with a range of different emergency situations, not all scenarios are the same, making planning far from straightforward. It is possible to create realistic training scenarios for emergency responders, but they are usually costly. Discussion and ‘table-top’ methods are
IHRR Newsletter
responders, such as fire fighters and medics, are represented as agents in the model, each having specific actions they are able to undertake according to the plan they must follow in a given incident involving casualties. ‘That was important because I always wanted to make sure this wasn’t another piece of software that was developed based on only an academic’s view of the world’, Coates said.
used but may be too limited in scope, especially when preparing for unprecedented events. In comparison, computer modelling of major incidents is far more cost-effective and allows testing of a wide range of incidents in a short period of time under various sets of conditions. The REScUE project worked closely with practitioners who actually provide emergency services in the field. ‘Looking at existing work I found that it was often lots of academics working without the involvement of practitioners’, said Dr Graham Coates, who is the principal investigator of REScUE. He found that in order for an emergency response simulator to work properly under different kinds of environmental conditions and scenarios, it needs to be in touch with the way practitioners act in an emergency. Using the emergency response simulator developed by the REScUE project in Durham,
Winter 2013
The emergency services and academic worlds don’t often rub shoulders, but the REScUE project did so deliberately in order to develop a tool they could actually use to plan for emergencies. Researchers met with emergency planners including police, fire and ambulance units every six months over a three year period so planners and responders had the opportunity to provide consultation over different aspects of the project. Both planners and responders provided constructive feedback that the researchers used to help improve the simulator.
This feedback including recommending documentation that responders adhere to in the field, such as standard operational procedures, works well for programming ‘agents’ in a computer simulation. Fire fighters for example have a specific set of actions and activities for emergencies. Coates explained that agents in the models have ‘got a number of attributes and behaviours; and the actions they perform are based on practitioner literature’. So while the agents may not behave exactly like people, they follow the same operations as responders do in the field. This is especially useful for developing
13
‘Our work is actually related to response but it sits within the preparedness phase of emergency management. You can run what if scenarios and essentially build up a response for a new or unprecedented situation’, Coates said.
that most closely corresponded to the situation at hand. This approach can be limited in application: ‘What if, when you look through the set of emergency response manuals, there isn’t a plan that closely fits what’s happened? This is a way of trying out responses to inform the strategy you should employ if that situation did occur in reality’.
In live planning simulations only one simulation can be run at a time, but the computerized emergency response simulator developed by Coates and colleagues can run many simulations simultaneously, and responders can use these
David Hay, former Head of Regional Resilience for the North East who was an advisor on the REScUE project agrees: ‘ultimately a line of plans on a shelf is meaningless unless there is familiarity with the context and that only
to create effective emergency plans for varied situations. While other emergency planning simulators are confined to 2D grid designs, this simulator can accurately model any area of the UK in 3D, using Ordnance Survey data. ‘The ability to model any area or region of the UK using emergency planning simulations has never been done in the UK before our project’, said Coates.
comes through discussion, consultation and the process of engaging. One of the cornerstones of planning is the process itself not the final plan’, he said.
plans to get people who are in critical condition to hospital as quickly as possible.
Usually emergency planners have a set of manuals for emergency response. In the event of an emergency they would use the response
14
Modelling approaches that focus on individual actors or agents can assist emergency planners and managers in determining the amount of resources needed during an incident for example, and how to get the people in the most critical conditions to hospital in a timely manner. It can evaluate triage, for example, where casualties are identified by responders based on the level of IHRR Newsletter
injury they have, which determines how urgently they are in need of care. According to Coates and colleagues, academic literature supports the fact that emergency responders tend to ‘over triage’, meaning they assign people with lesser injuries as in need of urgent care, which may reduce the availability of resources such as ambulances for people whose injuries are far worse. When modelling these scenarios responders can actually account for this in the emergency response simulator to see how much this will affect available resources. The goal here is to minimise the suffering of the worst injured, allowing responders to decide in advance how to prioritise use of emergency services. Despite the sophistication of the ‘agents’, tools like the REScUE simulator are not currently used in emergency planning. However the hope is that this will change. After its completion, the tool developed at Durham was made available to the resilience planning team of Newcastle City Council and the Cleveland Emergency Planning Unit, which includes fire, police and ambulance services. Both project partners were interested in using the tool for preparing for unprecedented events, but both Coates and Hay stress that in most cases (whatever the cause of an emergency) what matters most is assessing the damage, especially the casualties involved, to minimise loss of life and suffering.
Furthermore, modelling for emergency planning could still improve over time and be adopted for wider use. ‘If you think about flight simulators, they were first met and used with caution, but now they are an accepted technology used to train pilots’, said Coates. Preparation is essential to emergency and disaster response. Simulators show that emergency planning simulators can play a major role in how responders prepare, enhanced by tailoring the software to the needs of responders. ‘The planning process is critically important, that sharing of information, and expertise, which is what I liked from the beginning about the REScUE project. This is about reality, about building in real data in actual physical environments that people can see around them’, said Hay.
Researcher Behind the Study: Dr Graham Coates is an
engineer
with
a
PhD in computational engineering design. He is a Senior Lecturer in
the
School
Engineering
of and
Computing Sciences at
The REScUE team, together with Hay, and with contributions from IHRR, also organised two multidisciplinary conferences at Durham on emergency planning that included emergency practitioners throughout the UK.
Durham University and
‘The best way of selling this solution is maintaining constant dialogue, building relationships and trust between researchers and practitioners’, said Hay.
Contact: Graham.Coates@durham.ac.uk
Winter 2013
a member of IHRR’s management
board.
He is currently leading a project on agent-based modelling for flood planning in urban environments.
15
Green social work: A paradigmatic shift from ecological and environmental social work Professor Lena Dominelli School of Applied Social Sciences
Green Social Work Disaster Intervention Agency Social Contexts
Adaptation
Shock
Resources
Risk
Power Relations
Resilience
Physical Environment Knowledge and Skills
The GSW intervention cycle through which preparedness, prevention and mitigation become threads linking every stage of a disaster from immediate relief following a shock to recovery and reconstruction. Social work is a recent entrant to deliberations on and interventions in 21st century disasters like climate change and associated extreme weather events. Green social work (GSW) aims to engage with these types of disaster by promoting holistic, sustainable interventions that draw upon interdisciplinary collaboration between the physical and social sciences and community participation in coproducing solutions. GSW differs from its closest rivals: ecological social work and environmental social work. Ecological social work focuses on the profession’s traditional concern of the ‘person-in-their environment’, but the environment involved is the social environment composed of institutions like the family, community, school and welfare providers. The physical environment is ignored,
16
and the political and economic contexts in which people’s lives are embedded are also neglected. The focus is largely therapeutic. It is not concerned with the causes of social problems or the interaction between the exploitation of the environment and the social consequences that flow from it. Environmental social work does focus on the physical environment, but it does not consider the science behind disasters; collaborate across the physical and social sciences divide; critique contemporary models of industrialisation and urbanisation that take the physical environment for granted; or focus on grassroots mobilization to transform social structures by co-producing solutions to social problems like climate change and the disasters it generates. I define green social work as: ‘A form of holistic professional social work practice that focuses on the: interdependencies amongst people; the social organisation of relationships between people and the flora and fauna in their physical habitats; and the interactions between socio-economic and physical environmental crises and the interpersonal and institutional behaviours that undermine the well-being of human beings and planet earth. It proposes to address these issues by arguing for a profound transformation in how people act within and conceptualise the social basis of their society, their relationships with each other, living things and the inanimate world.’ (Dominelli, 2012: 25) Green social work therefore is not simply about being ‘green’ in terms of promoting recycling, renewable energies and self-sufficiency in energy production and consumption. It also seeks to secure social and environmental justice locally and internationally. Green social workers would understand the links between the imperative to meet human needs for food, clothing, shelter, housing, health, education, social services from cradle to grave, and leisure without costing the IHRR Newsletter
Earth. It would become involved in projects that engage local people in discussing and mobilising around how together they can meet their needs sustainably, using the Earth’s resources in ways that enable current needs to be met without undermining the capacity of future generations to do likewise. The Brundtland Commission (1987) promoted a similar version of social development regarding sustainability, but it did not critique the destruction of the Earth’s air, water and soil, and undermining of people’s well-being through the pollution arising from industrialised forms of production. This means of production undervalues the fragility of the Earth’s resources to prioritise profitmaking above other values and urbanised lifestyles that are costly not only in terms of (un)paid work-life (im)balance, but also resource consumption from the uncontrolled growth of mega-cities, concreting-over of green spaces and the urbanization of rural areas. To achieve their goals, green social workers undertake the following tasks: • ‘tackling structural inequalities including the unequal distribution of power and resources and environmental degradation; • eliminating poverty and various ‘isms’ producing/aggravating existing inequalities; • promoting global interdependencies, solidarity and egalitarian social relations; • utilising limited natural resources such as land, air, water, energy sources and minerals for the benefit of all rather than the privileged few; and • protecting the Earth’s flora, fauna and physical environment.
for by others. (Dominelli, 2012: 25) Eradicating poverty is central to GSW because it exacerbates the impact of disasters because: • Countries in the Global South bear 76 percent of damages caused by disasters; 92 percent of people affected by disasters live in them; and 65 percent of the economic losses occur there (IFRC, 2009). • The poor state of their infrastructure (transportation network, communication links, power, utilities, and buildings including houses, hospitals, medical clinics and schools) impede recuperative capacities. • Resources that facilitate recovery, e.g., social networks, money, insurance, are scarce. • Disasters exacerbate existing social inequalities. Poverty levels are likely to rise as income inequalities grow between and within countries, and austerity bites across Western countries, and impacts upon others. Through its interventions, Green Social Work offers hope for the future of the planet and all it encompasses. Professor Lena Dominelli is a Co-Director of IHRR. Her recent book Green Social Work is available online: http://amzn.to/195eXqn Contact: Lena.Dominelli@durham.ac.uk References: Brundtland, G. (1987). The world commission on the environment and development. New York: United Nations. Dominelli,
L.
(2012).
Green
Social
Work,
Cambridge: Polity Press.
A key aim of GSW is to replace the socio-political and economic forces that have a deleterious impact upon the quality of life of poor and marginalised populations; secure the policy changes and social transformations necessary for enhancing the well-being of people and the planet today and in the future; and advance the duty to care for others and the right to be cared Winter 2013
IFRC (International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) (2009). World disasters report: Focus on displacement and migration. Geneva: IFRC
17
The L’ Aquila Trial and its Impact on Society Brett Cherry Research Writer, Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience Dr Giulio Selvaggi is former Director of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in Italy. He gave the first IHRR seminar of the term on the L’Aquila earthquake and its aftermath. He is one of six scientists in Italy found guilty of manslaughter for downplaying the risk of earthquakes in the region. They are appealing the verdict. The aftermath of the L’Aquila earthquake is possibly one of the most politicised and publicised incidents of recent times involving controversy over the interpretation of information provided by scientists.
government to the general public of L’Aquila misinformed them about the actual risk of an earthquake occurring. Selvaggi explained how one week prior to the earthquake he attended a meeting between the High Risk Commission (HRC) and the Italian National Civil Protection (NCP) Agency. The HRC is tasked with forecasting and mitigating large-scale risks, which includes serving as an interface between the scientific community and government. The NCP are responsible for taking action to protect the public from potential risks. However, the advice given by scientists to the High Risk Commission did not seem to be accurately reflected in the message the NCP disseminated to the public, which downplayed the risks of a serious earthquake.
Seismic Hazard Map distributed by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology The 2009 L’Aquila earthquake led to the deaths of 309 people. It revealed the unpreparedness of the city in dealing with the 6.3 magnitude earthquake and the vulnerability of the buildings that collapsed. It is well known that L’Aquila is in a region of Italy with high risk of earthquakes. Unfortunately, the message conveyed by
18
One of the scientists with INGV, Dr Enzo Boschi, who is one of the six scientists found guilty by the court, had told the HRC: ‘It is unlikely that an earthquake like the one in 1703 could occur in the short-term, but the possibility cannot be totally excluded’. Boschi was referring to an 18th Century earthquake event in L’Aquila that was part of the 1703 Apennine earthquake sequence that lasted for 19 days, killing many people throughout Italy. Selvaggi also stated in one official INGV report that ‘the earthquake sequence is not going to decrease the probability of a large earthquake in L’Aquila’.
IHRR Newsletter
However, shortly before this advice was given by INGV to the HRC, the Vice Head of NCP said, in an individual interview to a local TV crew: ‘the scientific community continues to assure me that it’s a favourable situation because of the continuous discharge of energy’. This interview was broadcast by many local TV stations during the days after the meeting, but the HRC members learned of the interview well after the earthquake. The NCP claims that they received this information from seismologists, including Selvaggi, but there is no record of any of them saying this, only the newspaper report that simply repeats what the NCP originally announced.
At the seminar in Durham, Selvaggi argued that the L’Aquila disaster was ‘not a scientific problem, but a ‘problem with public order’. Selvaggi said ‘science had been used to supply unpreparedness’. It seemed that the NCP was trying to allay public concerns by announcing that the earthquake risks were not significant, but this resulted in delays in evacuation from buildings that collapsed and may have increased the toll of injuries and lives lost.
shocks that occurred before the 2009 earthquake was not unusual for this region. There was no evidence that the tremors were ‘discharging’ seismic energy or that the sequence was building into a large earthquake. In court, Selvaggi and his colleagues were accused of not informing the public that earthquakes are preceded by ‘swarms’ of shocks that take place prior to a large earthquake. However, earthquakes are not always preceded by swarms, something both the prosecution and the judge did not seem to understand.
‘There are 30-40 seismic sequences every year in Italy. It’s a common way to release seismic energy, not to discharge, but to release. The statistics show that only 8 out of 1,000 earthquakes are preceded by a 4.0 mag earthquake. And in the last 8 years only one preceded a large earthquake, the L’Aquila earthquake’, said Selvaggi. The seismic sequence that took place before the L’Aquila earthquake was not a warning sign as there was no way of telling if a large earthquake was going to occur. The National Civil Protection Agency seemed to have misinterpreted the message from scientists from INGV that L’Aquila is a region of Italy with high earthquake risk; that it does receive regular sequences of shocks, but these are not associated with the likelihood of a major earthquake occurring; and that the risk of a large magnitude and potentially devastating earthquake should not be underestimated in
Selvaggi explained that buildings in L’Aquila were known to be vulnerable as early as 1985 and that the public authorities had been told this years earlier, but no action was taken. The medieval city remained unprepared and during the 2009 earthquake many of its ancient buildings were either severely damaged or destroyed. In 2004 earthquake hazard maps were released with L’Aquila clearly shown in the high earthquake risk area. The sequence or ‘swarm’ of Winter 2013
Dr Guilo Selvaggi presenting at IHRR seminar
19
this region, especially when the vulnerability of L’Aquila is taken into account. Selvaggi said that ‘reducing vulnerability was one of the main messages we gave during the meeting [with HCR]’. At the trial, according to Selvaggi the judge denied this, saying it was ‘useless to improve resilience of buildings to earthquakes’.
‘We went from discharge of energy, to discharge of responsibility’ , said Selvaggi at the seminar. Selvaggi explained that the scientists found guilty by the court did nothing more than provide advice based on scientific evidence, showing clearly that L’Aquila was at risk of an earthquake occurring. The threat was there and it was known
to be there for some time, but it was not known when it was going to occur. It was also known that many of the buildings in the city were built prior to the implementation of building codes for earthquakes in Italy. In Italy, to this day, as in many seismically active parts of the world, buildings that are in danger of collapsing during an earthquake remain. If the public authorities had acted earlier on the messages about potential risks reported by the scientists, it is possible that the death toll from the L’Aquila earthquake would have been reduced because L’Aquila would have been more prepared for this kind of disaster. The scientists who warned of the risks involved argue that they have been falsely judged to be guilty of a crime they did not commit.
Tipping Points Annual Report 2012–2013 2012-13 has been a busy and productive year for the Tipping Points project funded by the Leverhulme Trust. With all five Work Packages (WPs) now active the Tipping Points team have produced research on a wide variety of ‘tipping points’, carrying the project forward into new frontiers of knowledge, and creating opportunities to encourage new collaborations between multiple disciplines. This report includes the latest updates from the project. Tipping Points Annual Report: http://bit.ly/17xRkCd
20
IHRR Newsletter
Vulnerabiliy and Resilience: A Reflective Approach Ria Rampersad Department of Geography What is resilience? What does it mean to cope? Who defines vulnerability? The area of risk and resilience encompasses notions of hard science, predictions, models and policies but it is also affected by subjectivity, perception and feeling. Which of these factors dominate? The framing of risk is inherently an individual task. Theoretically, it may involve objective input but the owners of risk are the ones who decide what risk is. Risk is personal. The MA in Risk, Health and Public Policy has allowed me to know risk but in so doing has also permitted me to realise my own resilience. It is perhaps not coincidental that the very people who study these phenomena tend to develop an intimate understanding of what these terms mean.
By no means is resilience natural; it is arguable if risk can even be defined as such. It is a skill that must be cultivated. It is a state of being, a presence of mind that must be learnt. At both the academic and personal thresholds the theories of risk and effective responses are discourses that must be learnt and engendered. A seed that must be planted and nurtured for growth; the individual and the collective all have a stake in this process. It requires the participation of stakeholders and those affected by risk. Its attainment is dependent on sheer drive and consideration for the well-being of all. Ria Rampersad is a postgraduate student of the MA in Risk, Health and Public Policy in the
Department
Geography Institute
of
and of
the
Hazard,
Risk and Resilience.
As students, we take risks in moving to new societies; we take risks in integrating ourselves into new cultures and climates. In opening ourselves to growth and knowledge we expose ourselves to hidden risks, to small losses. It is the paradoxical feature of risk, at once limiting and beneficial. It doesn’t only apply at the microlevel, for modernity is a state characterised by risk. There are constant trade-offs to achieve success and development. This is not to say that we must live in fear of these pursuits, rather, we learn to adapt to their effects.
This course provides a
programme
of
multidisciplinary training. It helps students like Ria to explore their personal interests in ideas of risk by expanding their knowledge and skills of scientific and social understanding of risk and resilience. For more information in
Risk
about
visit:
the
MSc/MA
Programmes
https://www.dur.ac.uk/geography/
postgraduate/riskmasters/
Vulnerable communities have learnt and perfected this art for decades. In the face of devastation, human and material loss people shoulder their burdens and forge on. How? The answer lies in the power of the mind. In the way that we view these risks, are they beyond our capabilities or are we stronger than these setbacks? How do we build these ideals? It is a lesson not only for individuals but societies. Response to risk is made effective by community engagement and input, knowledge transfer and communication. Winter 2013
21
Publications Atkinson, S. (2013) Beyond components of wellbeing: the effects of relational and situated assemblage. Topoi 32 (2): 137-144 Atkinson, S., White, M. (2013) Beyond the Local Agenda: International Perspectives in Community-based Arts & Health. Arts & Health 5 (3): Special Issue of six papers plus an editorial introduction. Barreau, J.-B., Sachet, M., López-Romero, E., Daire, M.-Y. & Olmos-Benlloch, P. (2013). ALERT Mobile: managing coastal archaeological heritage in Western France. 2013 Digital Heritage International Congress, Marseille, France, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.: 611-614. Brain, M.J., Rosser, N.J., Norman, E.C., Petley, D.N. (2013) Are microseismic ground displacements a significant geomorphic agent? Geomorphology (in press) Damby, D.E., Horwell, C.J., Baxter, P.J., et al. (2013) The respiratory health hazard of tephra from the 2010 Centennial eruption of Merapi with implications for occupational mining of deposits. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 261:SI Dominelli, L. (2013) Mind the Gap: Built Infrastructures, Sustainable Caring Relations, and Resilient Communities in Extreme Weather Events. Australian Social Work, 66:2, http://dx.doi. org/10.1080/0312407X.2012.708764 Dominelli, L. (2013) Environmental justice at the heart of social work practice: Greening the profession. International Journal of Social Welfare, 22:4 Garnett, P. and Bissell J. (2013) Modelling Social Networks Reveals How Information Spreads. The Conversation.
22
López-Romero E., Ballesteros-Arias P., Güimil-Fariña A. & Daire M.Y. (in press) Human occupation and formation of the cultural landscape in Galicia’s Atlantic Islands National Park. In M.Y. Daire, C. Dupont, A. Baudry, C. et al. (ed.) Ancient maritime communities and the relationship between people and environment along the European Atlantic Coasts / Anciens peuplements littoraux et relations Homme/Milieu sur les côtes de l’Europe atlantique. Proceedings of the Homer 2011 Conference, Vannes (France), 27/09-1/10 2011 (British Archaeological Reports International series 2570): 285-294 López-Romero E., Daire M.Y., Proust J.N., Regnauld H. & Pian S. (in press). Le projet ALERT une analyse de la vulnérabilité du patrimoine culturel côtier dans l’Ouest de la France. In M.Y. Daire, C. Dupont, A. et al. (ed.) Ancient maritime communities and the relationship between people and environment along the European Atlantic Coasts / Anciens peuplements littoraux et relations Homme/ Milieu sur les côtes de l’Europe atlantique. Proceedings of the Homer 2011 Conference, Vannes (France), 27/09-1/10 2011 (British Archaeological Reports International series 2570): 127-136 Michie, R. (2013) Financial crisis management and the pursuit of power: American preeminence and the credit crunch. Business History, 55:2 Mueller, E.N.; Wainwright, J.; Parsons, A.J.; Turnbull, L. (Eds.) (2014) Patterns of Land Degradation in Drylands. Springer http://www. s p r i n g e r. c o m / e nv i ro n m e n t / s o i l + s c i e n c e / book/978-94-007-5726-4 Petley, D., Gerard, C. (2013) A risk society? Environmental hazards, risk and resilience in the later Middle Ages in Europe [free online]. Natural Hazards, 69:1 DOI: 10.1007/s11069-013-0750-7
IHRR Newsletter
Petley, D. (2013) Global losses from landslides associated with dams and reservoirs. In: Genevois, R. and Prestininzi, A. (eds) International Conference on Vajont – 1963-2013. Thoughts and analyses after 50 years since the catastrophic landslide, pp 63-72. Straughan, B. (2013) Gene-culture shock waves. Physics Letters A, 377:38. Tomasic, R. and Akinbami, F. (2013) ‘Shareholder activism and litigation against UK banks : the limits of company law and the desperate resort to human rights claims?’, in Directors’ duties and shareholder litigation in the wake of the financial crisis. Cheltenham, England: Edward Elgar, pp. 143-172. Corporations, Globalisation and the Law series.
Williams, B.E.R., Kingham, R.J., Bissell, J.J. (2013) Heat flux effects on magnetic field dynamics in solid density plasmas traversed by relativistic electron beams. Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion, 55:9. Wilson, D.T., Hawe, G.I., Coates, G., Crouch, R.S. (2013) A multi-objective combinatorial model of casualty processing in major incident response. European Journal of Operational Research, 230:3 Wistow, J., Dominelli, L., Oven, K., Curtis, S. (2013) The role of formal and informal networks supporting older people’s care during extreme weather events. Policy & Politics.
IHRR in the Media Dissemination of ALERT project, in cooperation with the CSIC (Spain), of the 2013 fieldwork campaign in Galicia (eSCOPES Project, Marie Curie-IEF). Multiple Press and Radio interviews
in Spain: Radio Arousa, Radio Nacional, Radio Galega, Faro de Vigo, Correo Gallego, Voz de Galicia, Diario de Pontevedra and ABC.
Latest from IHRR Blog Intense Heat Wave in China http://wp.me/ pSWpn-1mh
The Sea Nomads of Nain Island http://wp.me/ pSWpn-1ow
Live Worlds, Live Words: Indigenous Language and Environmental Change on the Celebes Sea http://wp.me/pSWpn-1mC
Financial Scandals, Regulation and Democracy http://wp.me/pSWpn-1oQ
Lest We Forget: British Banking during the Global Financial Crisis http://wp.me/pSWpn1mS ‘How Stuff Spreads’: Experiments in social networking http://wp.me/pSWpn-1nl
Our strange desire to find a landslide trigger (Landslide Blog) http://wp.me/pSWpn-1oH Landslides and large dams – presentation given by Prof Dave Petley at the 2013 Vajont conference (Landslide Blog) http://wp.me/pSWpn-1p8
50th anniversary of the Vajont disaster http:// wp.me/pSWpn-1nr
Winter 2013
23
Launch of Work Package 5 of the Tipping Points project - Critical Transitions Dr Marc Botha Department of English Studies IHRR hosted a two-day international workshop (27-28 September 2013), Critical Transitions, to launch the final work package of the Tipping Points project funded by the Leverhulme Trust. The activities of the work package emerge from the conviction that while numerous detailed and persuasive accounts of tipping point phenomena are able to account for particular tipping points in particular systems, they are less effective in offering a more general, and also generalisable, account of tipping points. We seek to begin again with wholes, recognizing that the value of interrogating a general theory of tipping points lies not only in its universality, but also in its capacity to generate accounts of change which stimulate a productive engagement with ideas of futurity. Yet, together with colleagues on the other work packages of the project, we recognize that the term tipping point is itself a contentious one – a metaphoric means of connecting and comparing distinct situations, and a concept in the process of being defined, rather than one which arrives formed, defined or readymade. For this reason, Critical Transitions aims to examine a host of concepts which have been deployed across a range of disciplines in the humanities, social and physical sciences to account for the actual phenomenon of the tip itself. These concepts attempt to grasp transition as a dynamic process. A critical transition is, in this light, a process of change which has a particular force or significance, either intrinsically or in a specific context. The Critical Transitions workshop sought to address only a handful of the thirty or so concepts which will be the subject of a major edited volume around the theme of tipping points, transition, change and futurity. Emphasising the importance of keeping in mind both senses of the word critical when addressing tipping points – the urgency, necessity or problems associated with certain transitions on the one hand, together with the need for sustained critique or critical vigilance regarding our own presuppositions regarding
24
change, on the other – my own opening remarks sought to make space for the wide range of conceptually-grounded but culturally and politically engaged contributions on the subject of critical transitions. These were from a range of disciplines which included literary studies, geography, the health sciences, and philosophy. These offer quite distinct points of access to the issues surrounding transition, and thereby harbour the potential for establishing a pointedly interdisciplinary ground on which to construct or conceptualize a general, critical theory of tipping points. Formal proceedings began with the recitation by renowned philosopher and critical theorist, Professor Christopher Norris (Cardiff University), of an extended philosophical poem he composed specifically for the occasion. Norris’ poem, Ectopiques, addressed the concept of the turn – one of those identified as significant to understanding critical transitions and tipping points as general phenomena. Making a concrete case for the inextricability of form from content, its carefully constructed rhyme and rhythm mirrored and echoed its content. The poem critically interrogates the central debates and shifting vogues in recent thought as species of turn, and settles on the rather unsettling but important point: because any sort of resolution to even our oldest and most persistent problems is increasingly unlikely, it is necessary to turn away from the traditional patterns of discourse and debate, to break with the habit of Utopian/ Dystopian binarism, and, in short, to turn to that which is Ectopian – the inside-out, the unexpected which hides in the familiar, the coincidental. The second and equally compelling contribution, addressed the intertwined concepts of moment and event and was presented by theorist and critic Professor Mark Currie (Queen Mary University of London). Currie, who has written a number of influential texts on temporality – focusing particular attention on the aesthetic, political and cultural dimensions of the temporal structure of discourse – argued that contemporary thought was witnessing a significant paradigm shift. He argued that where the late form of postmodernism associated
IHRR Newsletter
with the end of the twentieth century was marked by an overwhelming sense of inertia, the present intellectual climate is marked by an increased emphasis on change and imminent transformation. For Currie, this is at least partially due to a shift in the place of contingency in contemporary thought, from a force which strips situations of their momentum, to one which potentially drives them forward. Much of Currie’s argument centres on the problems and promises of future anteriority – the tense which indicates the completion of future events and which, extended to the cultural and political spheres, acts as an indicator of the many situations in which the future is treated as though it had already taken place. Following a stimulating and spirited discussion around ideas raised by Currie’s presentation, the work-inprogress of visual artist Edgar Ameti – an artist with whom the Tipping Points team hopes to collaborate further – was exhibited. Ameti’s work picks up on a number of issues raised by the two speakers: it is ectopic in the sense that it involves distressing extremely thick paper, displacing the inner layers of the paper to the outside, in the process constituting what often closely resembles a topographical map in relief; it is temporal in the sense that Ameti’s transformation of contemporary, everyday materials (such as wood into charcoal which is then affixed in various ways to the canvas/paper) seems almost to transform brute matter into temporal matter – matter with a history, and with a trajectory. Having examined two concepts intimately tied to the transitions which give rise to new situations, the second day of the workshop began by turning to the questions of how such novelty comes to have effects in the world, a task most capably undertaken by Dr Jon Adams (LSE), whose work on the theory, methodology and technology of information science bridges the field of critical theory and media practice. Adams’s presentation on the concept of dissemination offered a thoughtprovoking genealogical account which traced the complex relationships of information to its media and mediation, and the systems of its production and reception, drawing on a range of examples from Turing to the contemporary digital, and, indeed, post-digital culture.
Winter 2013
Unfortunately due to unforeseen injury, the second speaker of the day, Professor Santiago Zabala (University of Barcelona), was unable to present his paper in person. He was kind enough to allow the paper, which addressed the concept of emergency, to be read in his absence. It provided an incisive account of the resistance in contemporary philosophical thought to the radical possibility of “being shaken” by unforeseen events. According to Zabala, the vocation of a contemporary philosophical hermeneutics, resides precisely in rediscovering ways of remaining open to unpredictable events and changes which are not merely reactionary or conservative. Although it was, of course, a great pity that he could not be present, his paper did provoke a good deal of discussion amongst the participants in the workshop. We were also privileged to hear the leading critic and theorist Professor Derek Attridge (York) deliver a sophisticated account of hospitality. To a significant extent, Attridge’s argument extended to the realm of ethics what Zabala’s paper had claimed for the politics of thought, arguing passionately for the importance of remaining open to the arrival of the unexpected, in the paradigmatic instance of hospitality, literally the arrival of the stranger. Offering incisive accounts of the correspondences and divergences between the thought of leading continental thinkers on the question of hospitality – amongst them Levinas, Derrida and Häglund – Attridge extended the familiar questions regarding otherness, openness to the other, responsibility towards the stranger, and so forth, to demonstrate precisely how pivotal hospitality is in accommodating change and transition. The workshop concluded with a roundtable discussion, chaired by Professor Sarah Atkinson (Geography), a member of the Critical Transitions work package, with contributions from Professor Patricia Waugh (English Studies), leader of Work Package 5, Dr Caitriona Ní Dhúill (School of Modern Languages), Mike White (School of Medicine) and, external participant, Professor Christopher Norris, on the topic of the cultural politics of futurity. A lively discussion ensued on the topic of futurity, and how ideas regarding
25
the future significantly shape very concrete transitions in various social contexts. As with the entire workshop, the contributions and ensuing debate amongst participants and those who attended the session, were as intelligent as they were committed; focused, yet receptive to the ideas of others. It is this balance which we believe constitutes the ground for viable interdisciplinary research and which we hope will pervade all future activities of the Critical
Transitions work package. Our sincere thanks to all who contributed and attended the event, and particularly to the Leverhulme Trust and the Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience, led by Professor Sarah Curtis, for their support and assistance. Dr Marc Botha is a Research Associate of the Tipping Points project in Work Package 5: Critical Transitions. Contact: m.j.botha@durham.ac.uk
IHRR Presents IHRR Postgraduate Forum: Vulnerability and Resilience from Different Disciplinary Perspectives, Lindisfarne Centre, St. Aidan’s College, 30 October 2013 The IHRR PG Forum led by Professor Sarah Curtis was well-attended by students from a wide variety of research backgrounds at Durham. Hanna Ruszczyk (Geography) presented ‘Local Understanding of Resilience in Earthquakeprone Nepal’ followed by a presentation from Dr Elias Lopez-Romero (Archaeology): ‘New Findings from the eSCOPES Project: “preserving by record” and monitoring costal archaeological sites at risk’. The third presentation was given by Rebecca Gomm (Psychology) ‘What contribution might resilience make to demonstrating effective support for women with experiences of trauma and abuse?’. Afterwards group discussion about different perspectives on resilience led by the three presenters was thought provoking and insightful, drawing on the usefulness of resilience within multiple disciplines. After the first round of presentations Dr Andrew Baldwin presented his research on climate migration that was followed by three more presentations from postgraduate students: Sana Chaudhry (Geography): The Balochistan earthquake 2013 and militant insurgency: Will this disaster increase the risk of civil conflict?; Ying Zhou (SASS): A silent large group: Chinese students in the UK; Eris Williams-Reed: Religious Resilience to Disaster in the Ancient World (Classics).
26
British Science Festival 2013 – Tipping Points in Nature and Society The Tipping Points project participated in the British Science Festival in Newcastle. Researchers from all five work packages of the project participated in the Main Programme event ‘Tipping Points in Nature and Society’, organised by Brett Cherry for the UK’s largest national science festival. Dr Philip Garnett, Dr Camila Caiado, Dr John Bissell and Brett Cherry also developed two activities for the BSF’s Young People’s programme: ‘How stuff spreads’ and ‘Drawing Diffusion’, teaching young people about the science of social networking and the spread of information using agent-based models. Feedback received from attendees of the conference and young people’s workshop (including teachers) were very positive. A review of the event is available on the Tipping Points website: https://www.dur.ac.uk/ihrr/ tippingpoints/resources/engagement/bsf2013/. Bavoso, V. Sustainable companies through enlightened boards: combining private and public interest in the decision-making of large public firms, Sustainable Companies: We Make It Happen, 5-6 December 2013, Gamle Festsal, Domus Academica, Norway Petley, D. Large landslides and dams. Vajont 2013, Padua, Italy, 8-10 October 2013 Garnett, P. Graphs for Data Analytics and Modelling, Calculative Devices in the Digital Age, Durham University, 21-22 November 2013 López-Romero, E. Archéologie du littoral atlantique: érosion, action et “science publique”. Séminaire Archéologique de l’Ouest, UMR 6566-CReAAH. Rennes, Campus de Beaulieu, France, 12 December 2013
IHRR Newsletter
Awards / Grants David Divine (School of Applied Social Sciences) was awarded a certificate for ‘Best PhD’ by the Faculty of Social Sciences and Health. Dr Claire Horwell received £10000 in seedcorn funds from DfID/Wellcome Trust in order to prepare a proposal for their R2HC call (Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises).
Dr Claire Horwell received a £10k pilot grant from the Department for International Development for research on volcanic ash. Dr Jonathan Wistow and Professor Sarah Curtis received a NERC PURE Grant for ‘Emergency events and vulnerable people: Harnessing science to practice’.
Upcoming Event Food, Science and Politics: The Role of GM in Food Security 31st January 2014, 7.30pm, Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle The issue of genetically modified (GM) crops is rising to the top of the European socio-political agenda once more. Increasing concerns and views about the sustainability of agriculture in a world stressed by climate change and an unsustainable food supply have increased pressure on EU legislators to lift the current ban on commercial cultivation of the overall majority of GM crops. Large agribusinesses such as Monsanto, with the support of some scientists, believe GM is the only way forward for farmers and the future of agriculture. In response to this dilemma, IHRR and the Star and Shadow Cinema in Newcastle are holding a film led discussion with experts
across multiple disciplines to help the community appreciate what is at stake. This is part of a series of film events on food at the Star & Shadow Cinema in January 2014. For more details visit: http://www.starandshadow.org.uk/
Welcome Dr Vincenzo Bavoso has joined Work Package 2: Financial Crisis in the Banking Sector: Past and Present of the Tipping Points project as a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in Durham Law School and IHRR. An interview with Vincenzo about his research on financial scandal is featured on IHRR’s blog: http://ihrrblog.
org/2013/11/13/financial-scandals-regulationand-democracy/ Senior Research Fellows IAS COFUND Senior Research Fellows Professor Matti Seppälä from the University of Helsinki, Finland and Professor Peng Gao, Syracuse University, USA, visited IHRR and the Department of Geography during the autumn and winter.
Items for the Next Issue IHRR Newsletter only publishes what it knows about. If you have items for the next issue, please e-mail them by 14 April 2014 to: brett.cherry@durham.ac.uk.
Winter 2013
27
Back cover image: Aerial view of Tacloban, Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan
Contact Details: Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience Durham University Lower Mountjoy Durham DH1 3LE, UK Tel: +44 (0)191 3342257 Fax: +44 (0)191 3341801
Director of IHRR: Professor Sarah Curtis Editor: Brett Cherry Design: Cartographic Unit, Department of Geography