Disaster-Related Resilience as Ability and Process: A Concept Guiding the Analysis of Response Behavior before, during and after Extreme Events

Extreme weather and climate events research needs concepts to analytically capture processes that describe how extreme they are: depth of impact but mainly also temporal aspects such as length, speed and quality of recovery. This paper analyses resilience as a concept to provide these dimensions. The use of the term resilience proliferates in many contexts and disciplines. Interpretations may overlap or even contradict each other. This paper seeks to make a case for a more nuanced understanding of resilience, including the use of “qualifier adjectives” to emphasize differences. Starting from the original etymological meaning of resilience as “bouncing back” the paper aims an innovative (re)conceptualization to facilitate the practical use of resilience in disaster risk management. It is recommended to distinguish between resilience as ability, being a hazard independent pre-disposition for recovery, and resilience as a process, describing different bouncing back and bouncing forward mechanisms inherent in the different recovery phases. This proposed distinction would enable the assessment of recovery abilities before calamities occur and hence could serve as guide to disaster preparedness programmes. The suggested analysis of resilience as a process would open opportunities to use the concept describing preemptive resilience response (presilience), recovery as bouncing back towards a state preceding the hazard event, as well as progressive resilience (prosilience) as bouncing forward and transition of the disaster recovery phase into adaptation and further development.

Spatial Industrial Accident Exposure and Social Vulnerability Assessment of Hazardous Material Sites,Chemical Parks,and Nuclear Power Plants in Germany

Industrial accidents have shown that many people can be affected,such as in Seveso,Italy,in 1976.Industrial accidents in nuclear power plants have also led to fatalities and evacuations.To better guide preparedness against and mitigation of industrial accidents,an assessment is necessary to evaluate hazard exposure and the type of potentially vulnerable social groups that need to be taken into account.This study conducted a spatial assessment of three types of industrial facilities in Germany:facilities registered under the Seveso Directive,chemical parks,and nuclear power plants.The method consisted of a spatial assessment using a Geographic Information System of exposure around hazardous sites registered under the S eveso Directive in Germany and of census data to analyze social vulnerability.Hazards analyzed included industrial accidents and earthquakes.The results revealed that most industrial sites are in urban areas and that population density,the numbers of foreigners,and smaller housing unit sizes are higher in close proximity to these sites.The buffer zones analyzed in circles between 1 and 40 km show a decreasing vulnerability with more distance.This can guide emergency management planners and other stakeholders to better prepare for major accidents and better devise disaster risk reduction strategies specifically for different social groups.

Benefits and Challenges of Resilience and Vulnerability for Disaster Risk Management

This article addresses resilience and vulnerability as two prominent concepts within disaster risk science. The authors provide an overview of current uses and bene?ts of and challenges to resilience and vulnerability concepts for disaster risk management(DRM). The article summarizes the evolution of these concepts and of attempts to de?ne them precisely,and addresses the potential bene?ts of conceptual vagueness.The usage and conception of resilience and vulnerability within a selection of strategies and legislations in DRM are compared. Complementing this analysis of disaster risk research and management practice, a survey identi?es some of the bene?ts of and challenges to the concepts of resilience and vulnerability as seen by a peer-community. Synthesizing the three approaches, we conclude that a certain conceptual and methodological ‘‘haze’’ prevails, which hampers the transfer of information and ?ndings within disaster risk science, from science to practice, and vice versa. But this vagueness offers opportunities for communication between disaster risk science, policy, and practice. Overall, evaluations of the resilience and vulnerability concepts are lacking, which demands the development of criteria to identify and assess the challenges to and bene?ts of resilience and vulnerability for DRM.

Social Vulnerability(Re-)Assessment in Context to Natural Hazards: Review of the Usefulness of the Spatial Indicator Approach and Investigations of Validation Demands

While social vulnerability assessments(SVA)use spatial indicators and indices that have become state of the art, they also receive substantial critique. This article analyzes, by means of a literature review of 63 articles, if and in which aspects such an indicator approach is regarded as useful by scientific studies. The findings indicate a need for more research on the validation and justification of indicators. This article supports the conceptual development of SVA by adding to reflection about advancements and applications, but also shortcomings. The main advancement area discussed is validation and the demand for establishing benchmark criteria for vulnerability. Based on this, longitudinal monitoring of vulnerability and validation studies are conceivable based on existing SVA, but these efforts demand more conceptual development.

Common Criteria for the Assessment of Critical Infrastructures

Society is reliant on infrastructure services, such as information and communication technology, energy, water, and food supply, but also on governmental, cultural, and search and rescue organizations. The goal of project KritisKAT at the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance in Germany is the development of generic criteria for the identification and evaluation of infrastructures regarded as “critical” for society. Acknowledging that full protection against all threats and cascading effects is not possible, the approach focuses on the impacts rather than the prevention of threats. The development of generic criteria requires the prioritization of infrastructures and identification of their key characteristics for civil protection purposes, risk management activities, and strategic proactive planning. For this purpose, the development of a national critical infrastructure priority inventory is based on a thorough examination of the range of criteria typically used in similar approaches. The specific focus of this paper is to identify and simplify essential characteristics of infrastructure criticality. The main outcome of this study is the development of common criteria generally applicable to a variety of infrastructures.

How 'Sustainable' are Post-disaster Measures? Lessons to Be Learned a Decade After the 2004 Tsunami in the Indian Ocean

This article addresses the sustainability implications of post-disaster measures in the context of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami by presenting an analysis of the current situations and changes in some of the affected regions. Sustainability implications of measures are captured by investigating the persistence of the social and economic living conditions in relation to post-disaster measures, and the alignment of the measures with basic environmental aspects. Based on major concepts relevant in disaster science and sustainability research, the study explored sustainability aspects of post-disaster measures implemented after the 2004 tsunami, by conducting selected interviews among the participants of the 2015 international seminar ‘‘11 Years after the Indian Ocean Tsunami 2004'' and a broader online survey. Information was sought about(1) the current state of vulnerability of the local population in the regions affected;(2) the main lessons that have been identified to improve project design and management of recovery and vulnerability reduction;and(3) project sustainability implications with respect to the state of today's vulnerability. Based on the analysis of the information on these three priority areas, selected tasks for future disaster risk management are identified, such as more integrative planning and improved coordination with international organizations and local people.

Loss and Damage as an Alternative to Resilience and Vulnerability?Preliminary Reflections on an Emerging Climate Change Adaptation Discourse

One relatively novel way of assessing the characteristics and limitations of resilience and vulnerability(R&V)is undertaken in this article by investigating a growing alternative paradigm—loss and damage(L&D)policy.The idea of L&D as an emerging policy may be surprising to many in the disaster risk management community,and so we first outline the origins of this trend,and then explore the potential benefits and pitfalls of adopting it.This short article represents our preliminary opinions and observations regarding this reintroduction of a longestablished concept.We also present results from a very brief peer-group survey on some of the first immediate reactions towards L&D policy.At this early stage,this article cannot offer a full-fledged analysis,but our reflections may serve as a starting point to encourage further discussion.

From Application to Evaluation:Addressing the Usefulness of Resilience and Vulnerability

What are the benefits of the resilience and vulnerability concepts for disaster risk management?This question goes beyond the previous stage of enquiring what exactly both terms and concepts mean,how they can be measured or applied.We aim to demonstrate the potential of applied resilience and vulnerability research for disaster risk management(DRM),while addressing accompanying challenges.