Published papers

© 2018, The Author(s). The need to consider disaster risk reduction at the time of recovery is well-recognized. Viable disaster risk reduction measures should resolve the root causes of predisaster vulnerabilities. Accordingly, we investigated the recovery from the impact of Cyclone Aila in Koyra Upazila, Bangladesh, which was severely damaged by this 2009 cyclone. Our research focused on understanding pre-Aila vulnerabilities to cyclone impact and examined the degree of inclusion of vulnerability reduction measures within the recovery process. A composite methodology that included an institutional survey, key informant interviews, collection of the judgment of experts, focus group discussions, and a score-based quantification technique was adopted. Through a process of understanding pre-Aila vulnerabilities, recognition of the root causes of these inherent weaknesses, and identification of appropriate measures for pre-Aila vulnerability reduction, a set of 23 indicators were selected to represent the most desirable vulnerability reduction measures to implement during recovery. A score-based technique was applied to measure the degree of inclusion of vulnerability reduction within the recovery with respect to the indicators. The scoring result shows that the degree of inclusion of vulnerability reduction within the recovery was poor. The result specifies that among the 23 indicators of potential vulnerability reduction measures, 10 are completely missing and the rest are only partially included. The overall findings imply that the Koyra community continues to live with a vulnerability similar to that of the pre-Aila period.

© 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. A resilient city is a sustainable network of physical systems, constructed urban form, and human communities. Traditional or vernacular built form evolves to achieve higher human comfort by using locally available building materials and construction technology and is more responsive to the geographic conditions. In contrast to the highly bureaucratized building process in modern built form, vernacular architecture is more climate responsive. A typical traditional building of earth emits fewer greenhouse gases, consumes less energy, and maintains a high level of internal thermal comfort. Resilient urban systems must also have resilient communities. Traditional built form results in the creation of social spaces, promotes adherence to socio-cultural value systems and imbibes a feeling of social cohesion. Modern construction techniques, greater energy consumption and the loss of diversity of architectural forms would have significant implications on urban resilience. The paper aims to trace the changing built form in a small settlement of West Bengal and the resultant loss of climate responsive and socially interactive spaces. Based on primary data sources and field observations, the paper also looks into the implications of the loss of such spaces on urban resilience and assesses the perception of the locals who prefer modernization of built form.

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd As a social subsystem that is an inextricable part of the community, schools have the potential to play a role as a principal actor in building community resilience against disasters through their mandate for education, information sharing, and their broad stakeholder networks. This study aims to examine the current status of the school-community collaborative network and its contributing factors in enhancing disaster resilience in the tsunami risk area in Aceh. In the first part of this paper, we analyzed the findings from a study in coastal areas of Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar to explore the current condition of the school-community collaboration. In the second part, we analyzed the findings from a study in coastal areas of Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar to explore the current condition of the school-community collaboration. The study was conducted using a case study methodology. The data collection involved in-depth interviews with six teachers and six school principals, Focus Group Discussion (FGDs) at six schools, questionnaire survey to 148 teachers and school principals in 37 schools, and a workshop of 30 participants that come from schools, school committees, government, community leader, universities, and NGOs. The steps involved in identifying the network stakeholders, the strength of the relationship between parties in the network, and the opportunities and challenges schools face in building relationships. This study demonstrates that school-community collaborative network can be an active and needed support for the school itself while also providing a mutual benefit to the other stakeholders in the network. Some factors that contributed to strong school-community collaborative network were also identified.

© 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Flood is a critical issue in Bangladesh. Regular flooding affects 20% of the country, increasing in extreme years. Various measures, policy planning and actions have been taken in different time period. Legislation and policy planning are essential for flood management, which should be guided by distinct policy, strategies, legal frameworks, and action planning. A review of legislative and institutional arrangements is required for effective and sustainable flood management. In this research, the evolution of flood management actions and policies is reviewed considering the related environmental and social changes. The approach to flood management is shifting to a more comprehensive risk reduction effort following environmental changes such as climate change. Extreme floods are increasing. The history of extreme flood management is short compared to that of annual flood management. However, extreme floods have significant impacts. Thus, a holistic approach by all stakeholders is encouraged. This review could help to examine how to increase local involvement in flood control and water management projects.