Quick Response Disaster Research:Opportunities and Challenges for a New Funding Program

Quick response research conducted by social scientists in the aftermath of a disaster can reveal important findings about hazards and their impacts on communities.Research to collect perishable data,or data that will change or be lost over time,immediately following disaster has been supported for decades by two programs in the United States,amassing a collection of quick response studies and an associated research culture.That culture is currently being challenged to better address power imbalances between researchers and disaster-affected participants.Until recently,Canada has not had a quick response grant program.In order to survey the state of knowledge and draw from it in helping to shape the new program in Canada,this article systematically analyzes the body of research created by the two US programs.The results reveal a wide-ranging literature:the studies are theoretically,conceptually,topically,and methodologically quite unique to one another.This diversity might appropriately reflect the nature of disasters,but the finding that many studies are not building on previous quick response research and other in sights indicate opportunities for how a new grant program in Canada can contribute to growing a robust subdiscipline of disaster research.

The 3rd Global Summit of Research Institutes for Disaster Risk Reduction:Expanding the Platform for Bridging Science and Policy Making

The Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes held its 3rd Global Summit of Research Institutes for Disaster Risk Reduction at the Disaster Prevention Research Institute,Kyoto University,Japan,19–21 March,2017.The Global Alliance seeks to contribute to enhancing disaster risk reduction(DRR) and disaster resilience through the collaboration of research organizations around the world.The summit aim was to expand the platform for bridging science and policy making by evaluating the evidence base needed to meet the expected outcomes and actions of the Sendai Framework for Disaster RiskReduction 2015–2030 and its Science and Technology Roadmap.The summit reflected the international nature of collaborative research and action.A pre-conference questionnaire filled out by Global Alliance members identified323 research projects that are indicative of current research.These were categorized to support seven parallel discussion sessions related to the Sendai Framework priorities for action.Four discussion sessions focused on research that aims to deepen the understanding of disaster risks.Three cross-cutting sessions focused on research that is aimed at the priorities for action on governance,resilience,and recovery.Discussion summaries were presentedin plenary sessions in support of outcomes for widely enhancing the science and policy of DRR.

The 2015 Summer Institute for Disaster and Risk Research July 27–August 7,2015,Beijing Normal University Beijing,China Call for Application

The series of Summer Institute for Disaster and Risk Research is part of the implementation of the Hazard and Risk Science Base at Beijing Normal University,funded jointly by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs,Ministry of Education,and the Beijing Normal University.Who can apply?The Summer Institute is designed primarily for junior faculty and young researchers,post-docs and advanced doctoral students,who have shown strong interests and possessed research experience in the disaster and risk field.The application

REVIEW OF RESEARCH ON DISASTER MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT AT LREIS AND DGIS

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Data,Disasters,and Space-Time Entanglements

Disasters connected to natural hazards can at the same time be unfolding events,as well as structural phenomena with unequal disaster risk constructed over an extended timespan.Hence,in disaster studies,temporality and spatiality are central,yet often implicit,concepts employed to make sense of the disaster phenomena.In this article we explicitly focus on temporality and spatiality within qualitative disaster studies,particularly those containing ethnographic elements.We use Doreen Massey’s idea of space-time trajectories to analyze and illustrate how in qualitative disaster studies the trajectories of the disaster,research participants,and the researcher entangle in diverse ways.The focus is on how temporality and spatiality are present in the construction of data.The article is mainly conceptual,with illustrations drawn from empirical fieldwork on Valparaíso fire of 2014 in Chile.We interrogate how researchers’sensitivity to temporality and spatiality challenges the conventional notions and practices of“data”in qualitative disaster studies.The focus in this article is on disaster studies,but it also offers methodological insights to other social sciences that strive to conduct research in the era of“Anthropocene,”with all its shifts and changes,the root causes of which have built over a long time.

Human-Animal Interactions in Disaster Settings:A Systematic Review

This systematic review aimed to assess the current knowledge of human-animal interactions(HAIs)in disaster settings and identify areas for future research.A Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses search was conducted on three multidisciplinary databases,identifying English-language journal articles published between January 2000and February 2022 that explored the benefits of and challenges associated with HAI in disasters and emergencies.The review analyzed 94 articles using both quantitative and qualitative methods.The review found a paucity of universal terminology to describe the bidirectional relationship between humans and animals during disasters and a failure to include all animal types in every stage of disaster and emergency management.Additionally,research predominantly focused on the health and well-being benefits of HAI for humans rather than animals.Efforts to promote social and environmental justice for humans and their co-inhabitants should support the welfare of both humans and animals in disaster settings.Four recommendations were developed based on these findings to increase the inclusion of HAI in research,policy,and practice.Limitations of the review included the exclusion of pre-2000 articles and all grey literature,limited research examining different combinations of animal and disaster types,and limited research outside of North America.

Quick Responses of Canadian Social Scientists to COVID-19:A Case Study of the 2020 Federal COVID-19-Specific Grant Recipients

COVID-19 prompted an abundance of independent and collaborative quick response disaster research(QRDR)initiatives globally.The 2020 federal COVID-19-driven granting opportunities initiated the first official QRDR effort in Canadian history,engaging social scientists to rapidly address the pandemic-related societal influences.This study aims to portray the landscape of this nascent social science QRDR workforce through the first round of federal COVID-19-specific grant recipients.A case study approach was employed to analyze 337 social science projects with 1119 associated researchers,examining the demographic structure of these COVID-19-driven social science researchers and their research projects'characteristics.Accordingly,the findings are presented through the following two streams:(1)From a researcher perspective,this case study describes researcher typology,geographic location,primary discipline,and educational background,highlighting the diverse characteristics of social sciences researchers,and uneven research development across Canada.(2)From a research project perspective,this case study identifies and synthesizes research project subjects,themes,collaborations,and Canadian distinctions,emphasizing the need for galvanizing cooperation and focusing on uniquely Canadian contexts.The case study illustrates challenges associated with data curation that pose barriers to developing a nuanced understanding of the Canadian social science community COVID-19 research landscape.Consequently,the case study develops three recommendations to improve QRDR development in Canada:promoting information transparency,dissemination,and updates;improving hazards and disaster research workforce evaluation;and enhancing multi-stakeholder cooperation.