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CO M M U N I T Y- B A S E D O. R . A N D T H E CO - C R E AT I O N O F K N OW L E D G E I N T I M E S OF CRISIS NEIL ROBINSON
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IMPACT © THE OR SOCIETY
COMMUNITY-BASED OPERATIONAL RESEARCH may be one of Operational Research’s least appreciated sub-disciplines. Today, with the world reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, it might become one of the most important. Could the spectacular bottom-up revitalisation of a disaster-hit Japanese town offer lessons for the way ahead?
The largest earthquake ever to hit Japan struck on a March afternoon nine years ago. Its epicentre was 43 miles off the Tōhuku region’s Oshika Peninsula, and its hypocentre – its sub-surface point of origin – was at an underwater depth of approximately 18 miles. With a magnitude of 9.0, it qualified as a “great” quake – that is, one capable of inflicting total destruction.
