Week 2

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Week 2

• Vulnerability
• Social Justice
• Resilience

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• Vulnerability the conditions determined by
  physical, social, economic, and environmental
  factors or processes, which increase the
  susceptibility of a community to loss from hazard
  impacts
• (United Nations 2005)

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Vulnerability due to physical and environmental
factors
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Social and economic factors

• Blaikie et al (1994) define vulnerability as
• the characteristics of a person or group in
  terms of their capacity to anticipate, cope with,
  resist, and recover from the impact of a hazard
  (p. 9)
• (Blaikie et al 1994. At Risk Natural Hazards,
  Peoples vulnerability, and disasters)

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Vulnerable individuals and groups(Buckle 2006)

• Aged
• Very young
• Disabled
• Poor
• Non dominant language speakers

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Vulnerable individuals and groups

• Socially isolated
• Physically isolated
• Seriously ill
• Dependency on technology based life support.

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Vulnerable individuals and groups

• Inadequate accommodation
• Those on holidays and traveling
• Overseas tourists

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Vulnerable communities rural vs. urban (Cross,
2001)

• Large urban areas vulnerable
• High population growth
• Infrastructure
• Development on hazardous land

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• Rural communities/towns vulnerable
• Whole community likely to be directly impacted by
  a disaster.
• Urban poor migrate from rural areas.
• Highly educated and trained in urban areas.
• Emergency response capabilities.
• Emergency medical care
• Hazard mitigation
• Lag in aid.

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Environmental Justice

• Are environmental hazards concentrated in
  communities with low socio-economic status?

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Schematic of environmental injustice (Buzzelli,
2008)
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Environmental Justice - Canadian examples

• Hamilton, Ontario Ambient pollution exposure.
• Toronto, Ontario Nitrogen dioxide.
• Environmental quality on First Nations reserves
  (eg. Kashechewan, Ont)

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Disaster Resilience

• The capacity of a system, community or society
  potentially exposed to hazards to adapt, by
  resisting or changing in order to reach and
  maintain an acceptable level of functioning and
  structure. This is determined by the degree to
  which the social system is capable of organizing
  itself to increase this capacity for learning
  from past disasters for better future protection
  and to improve risk reduction measures.(UNISDR
• A measure of how well people and societies can
  adapt to a changed reality and capitalize on the
  new possibilities offered (Paton, 2006)

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Elements that support individual disaster
resilience (Buckle 2006)

• Information and advice
• Resources
• Management capacity
• Personal and community support
• Involvement

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Elements that support community disaster
resilience (Buckle 2006)

• Knowledge of hazards
• Shared community values
• Established social infrastructure
• Positive social and economic trends
• Partnerships
• Resources and Skills

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Next class

• Guest Speaker Amy Christianson, Indigenous
  Peoples resilience to hazards.

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Further reading

• Buzzelli, M. (2008). Environmental Justice in
  Canada It Matters Where You Live. Canadian
  Policy Research Networks CPRN Research Report
  December 2008. http//www.cprn.org/documents/5087
  5_EN.pdf
• Paton, D and Johnston, D. (2006). Disaster
  Resilience An Integrated Approach.