“How Do We Actually Do Convergence” for Disaster Resilience? Cases from Australia and the United States

Shefali Juneja Lakhina; Elaina J. Sutley; Jay Wilson

doi:10.1007/s13753-021-00340-y

Volume 12 Issue 3

Dec. 2021

Turn off MathJax

Article Contents

Article Navigation > International Journal of Disaster Risk Science > 2021 > 12(3): 299-311

Shefali Juneja Lakhina, Elaina J. Sutley, Jay Wilson. “How Do We Actually Do Convergence” for Disaster Resilience? Cases from Australia and the United States[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2021, 12(3): 299-311. doi: 10.1007/s13753-021-00340-y

Citation:

Shefali Juneja Lakhina, Elaina J. Sutley, Jay Wilson. “How Do We Actually Do Convergence” for Disaster Resilience? Cases from Australia and the United States[J]. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science, 2021, 12(3): 299-311. doi: 10.1007/s13753-021-00340-y

Citation:

PDF

“How Do We Actually Do Convergence” for Disaster Resilience? Cases from Australia and the United States

doi: 10.1007/s13753-021-00340-y

1 Wonder Labs, San Jose, CA 95128, USA;
2 Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045, USA;
3 Clackamas County Disaster Management, Oregon City, OR 97045, USA

Funds:

a grant received from the New South Wales’ Office of Emergency Services’ Community Resilience Innovation Program (2015-2017) for the implementation of a collaborative project ‘‘Resilient together: Engaging the knowledge and capacities of refugees for a disaster-resilient Illawarra’’

The New South Wales case study is based on a doctoral research funded by the Australian Research Council (#DE150100242)

and an in-kind contribution in the form of a regional workshop convened by the Wollongong City Council. The views expressed are those of the lead author and do not represent the position of any agencies listed here. The North Carolina case study is possible due to the collaborative effort of more than 25 researchers

the work is supported by the Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning, a NIST-funded Center of Excellence. The center is funded through a cooperative agreement between the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology and Colorado State University (Grant Number 70NANB15H044). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and may not represent the official position of the National Institute of Standards and Technology or the U.S. Department of Commerce. The work presented here is also partially supported by the National Science Foundation under CMMI Grant No. 1847373. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. The Oregon case study is possible due to ongoing research and policy work by the City of Portland, Multnomah County, and Portland State University. Special thanks to collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10, Emergency Management Program and the Center for Sustainable Economy. The views expressed are those of the author and may not represent the official position of Clackamas County. sThe authors thank Bala Balakrishnan for moderating our panel discussion at the 44th Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop and Carolin Cunningham for her participation in the panel discussion. Thanks to Prof. Ilan Kelman and anonymous reviewers for insightful feedback that greatly improved an earlier draft. Gratitude to Prof. Lori Peek for her thought leadership in defining a framework for convergence research in the hazards and disasters field and for providing valuable feedback on a revised draft. Thanks to Prof. Shi and Dr. Li for helpful editorial suggestions on refining the final draft.

Available Online: 2021-12-25
Publish Date: 2021-12-25

Abstract

Abstract

In recent years there has been an increasing emphasis on achieving convergence in disaster research, policy, and programs to reduce disaster losses and enhance social well-being. However, there remain considerable gaps in understanding “how do we actually do convergence?” In this article, we present three case studies from across geographies—New South Wales in Australia, and North Carolina and Oregon in the United States; and sectors of work—community, environmental, and urban resilience, to critically examine what convergence entails and how it can enable diverse disciplines, people, and institutions to reduce vulnerability to systemic risks in the twenty-first century. We identify key successes, challenges, and barriers to convergence. We build on current discussions around the need for convergence research to be problem-focused and solutions-based, by also considering the need to approach convergence as ethic, method, and outcome. We reflect on how convergence can be approached as an ethic that motivates a higher order alignment on “why” we come together; as a method that foregrounds “how” we come together in inclusive ways; and as an outcome that highlights “what” must be done to successfully translate research findings into the policy and public domains.
- Convergence research,
- Disaster resilience,
- Disaster risk reduction,
- Research ethics

FullText(HTML)

References(54)

References

Aitsi-Selmi, A., V. Murrary, C. Wannous, C. Dickinson, D. Johnston, A. Kawasaki, A. Stevance, and T. Yeung. 2016. Reflections on a science and technology agenda for 21st century disaster risk reduction. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science 7(1): 1–29.

Chang, S.E. 2016. Socio-economic impacts of infrastructure disruptions. Natural Hazard Science. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199389407.013.66.

Cunningham, N. 2019. Oil rush: How Portland has become a crucial hub for fossil-fuel exports despite opposition from city government and the local community. Oregon Business, 17 December 2019. https://www.oregonbusiness.com/article/energy-environment/item/18932-oil-rush. Accessed 22 Sep 2020.

Davidson, R.A. 2015. Integrating disciplinary contributions to achieve community resilience to natural disasters. Civil Engineering and Environmental Systems 32(1–2): 55–67.

DOGAMI (Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries). 2012. Earthquake risk study for Oregon’s critical energy infrastructure hub: Final report to Oregon Department of Energy and Oregon Public Utility Commission. https://www.oregongeology.org/earthquakes/CEI-Hub-report.pdf. Accessed 21 May 2020.

Ellis, G. 2018. Refugees help the NSW State Emergency Service and their community as liaison officers. Illawarra Mercury, 7 November 2018. https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/5744452/refugees-help-the-ses-and-their-community-as-liaison-officers/. Accessed 20 Sep 2020.

Esnard, A.M., and B. Lai. 2018. Interdisciplinary approaches to examining post-disaster school recovery. Risk Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13137.

Flynn, J., P. Slovic, C.K. Mertz, and C. Carlisle. 1999. Public support for earthquake risk mitigation in Portland. Oregon Risk Analysis 19(2): 205–216.

Fritz, C.E., and J.H. Mathewson. 1957. Convergence behavior in disaster: A problem in social control. Washington, DC: National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences.

Gaillard, J.C., and L. Peek. 2019. Disaster-zone research needs a code of conduct. Nature 575(7783): 440–442.

Gaillard, J.C. et al. 2019. Online petition. Power, prestige and forgotten values: A disaster studies manifesto. https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/power-prestige-forgotten-values-a-disaster. Accessed 18 Aug 2020.

Goldstein, B.E., A.T. Wessells, R.P. Lejano, and W.H. Butler. 2014. Narrating resilience: Transforming cities through collaborative storytelling. Urban Studies 52(7): 1285–1303.

Greenberg, M., and K. Lowrie. 2011. Celebrating three decades of public policy-oriented interdisciplinary research. Risk Analysis 31(1): 7–11.

Kendra, J., and T. Wachtendorf. 2003. Reconsidering convergence and converger legitimacy in response to the World Trade Center disaster. In Terrorism and disaster: New threats, new ideas, ed. L. Clarke, 92–122. Bingley, UK: Emerald.

Kendra, J., S. Knowles, and T. Wachtendorf, eds. 2019. In Disaster research and the second environmental crisis. Assessing the challenges ahead. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature.

Lakhina, S.J. 2018a. Co-learning disaster resilience toolkit: A person-centred approach to engaging with refugee narratives and practices of safety. University of Wollongong, Australia. https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/57379. Accessed 14 Aug 2020.

Lakhina, S.J. 2018b. Resilient together: Engaging the knowledge and capacities of refugees for a disaster-resilient Illawarra. University of Wollongong, Australia. https://www.preventionweb.net/files/57379_resilienttogetherkeyfindingsinfogra.pdf. Accessed 14 Aug 2020.

Lakhina, S.J. 2019. Co-learning disaster resilience: A person-centred approach to understanding experiences of refuge and practices of safety. PhD dissertation. University of Wollongong, Australia.

Lakhina, S.J., C. Eriksen, J. Thompson, R. Aldunate, J. McLaren, and S. Reddy. 2019. People from refugee backgrounds contribute to a disaster-resilient Illawarra. Australian Journal of Emergency Management 34(2): 19–20.

Miller, H.L. 2020. Is forest park a fire hazard? Street Roots Magazine, 19 September 2020. https://www.streetroots.org/news/2020/09/19/what-if-forest-park-catches-fire. Accessed 22 Sep 2020.

Mitsova, D. 2018. Integrative interdisciplinary approaches to critical infrastructure interdependency analysis. Risk Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13129.

Mostafavi, A., and N.M. Ganapati. 2019. Towards convergence disaster research: Building integrative theories using simulation. Risk Analysis. https://doi-org.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13303.

National Research Council. 2012. Disaster resilience: A national imperative. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://www.nap.edu/catalog/13457/disaster-resilience-a-national-imperative. Accessed 27 Jul 2020.

National Research Council. 2014. Convergence: Facilitating transdisciplinary integration of life sciences, physical sciences, engineering, and beyond. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

National Science and Technology Council. 2005. Grand challenges for disaster reduction: National Science and Technology Council Committee on Environment and Natural Resources. A report of the subcommittee on disaster reduction. https://www.sdr.gov/docs/SDRGrandChallengesforDisasterReduction.pdf. Accessed 27 Jul 2020.

NSF (National Science Foundation). 2018. Building the future: Investing in discovery and innovation. NSF strategic plan for fiscal years 2018–2022. https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2018/nsf18045/nsf18045.pdf. Accessed 27 Jul 2020.

Olson, R.S., N.M. Ganapati, V.T. Gawronksi, R.A. Olson, E. Salna, and J.P. Sarmiento. 2020. From disaster risk reduction to policy studies: Bridging research communities. Natural Hazards Review 21(2): Article 04020014.

Oregon Solutions. 2019. Critical energy infrastructure hub: Assessment findings. Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA. http://orsolutions.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/CEI-Hub-final-5-6-19.pdf. Accessed 22 Sep 2020.

OSSPAC (Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission). 2013. Oregon resilience plan: Reducing risk and improving recovery for the next Cascadia earthquake and tsunami, report to 77th legislative assembly. https://www.oregon.gov/gov/policy/orr/Documents/Oregon_Resilience_Plan_Final.pdf. Accessed 21 May 2020.

OSSPAC (Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission). 2019. CEI hub mitigation strategies: Increasing fuel resilience to survive Cascadia. https://www.oregon.gov/oem/Documents/OSSPAC_CEI-Hub_report_122019.pdf. Accessed 21 May 2020.

Pacific Northwest Waterways Association. 2019. Columbia Snake River System facts. https://www.pnwa.net/wp-content/uploads/CSRS.pdf. Accessed 21 May 2020.

Peek, L. 2019. Closing comments from the 2019 Natural Hazards Workshop. Director’s Corner, 22 July 2019. https://hazards.colorado.edu/news/director/closing-comments-from-the-2019-natural-hazards-workshop. Accessed 27 Jul 2020.

Peek, L., J. Tobin, R. Adams, H. Wu, and M.C. Mathews. 2020. A framework for convergence research in the hazards and disaster field: The natural hazards engineering research infrastructure CONVERGE facility. Frontiers in Built Environment 6: Article 110.

Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. 2019. Multnomah County 2017 carbon emissions and trends. City of Portland. https://multco.us/sustainability/news/new-report-multnomah-county-2017-carbon-emissions-and-trends. Accessed 21 May 2020.

Portland State University. 2019. Liquid storage tanks at the critical energy infrastructure (CEI) hub; seismic assessment of tank inventory. City of Portland, USA: Portland Bureau of Emergency Management.

Reilly, A.C., R.L. Dillon, and S.D. Guikema. 2018. Agent-based models as an integrating boundary object for interdisciplinary research. Risk Analysis. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13134.

Roco, M.C. 2016. Principles and methods that facilitate convergence. In Handbook of convergence in science and technology, ed. W.S. Bainbridge, and M.C. Roco, 17–42. New York: Springer.

Chapter

Roco, M.C., and W.S. Bainbridge, eds. 2003. In Converging technologies for improving human performance. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer.

Roco, M.C., and W.S. Bainbridge. 2013. The new world of discovery, invention, and innovation: Convergence of knowledge, technology, and society. Journal Nanoparticle Research 15: Article 1946.

Shaw, R., T. Izumi, and P. Shi. 2016. Perspectives of science and technology in disaster risk reduction of Asia. International Journal of Disaster Risk Science 7(3): 329–342.

Spangler, M.B. 1982. The role of interdisciplinary analysis in bridging the gap between the technical and human sides of risk assessment. Risk Analysis 2(2): 101–114.

State of Oregon. 2018. Resiliency 2025: Improving our readiness for the Cascadia earthquake and tsunami. https://www.oregon.gov/gov/policy/Documents/resiliency-policy-agenda.pdf. Accessed 22 Sep 2020.

Subba, R., and T. Bui. 2017. Online convergence behavior, social media communications, and crisis response: An empirical study of the 2015 Nepal earthquake police twitter project. In Proceedings of the 50th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 4–7 January 2017, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, USA, ed. T. Bui, and R. Sprague, 284–293.

Sutley, E.J., M. Dillard, and J.W. van de Lindt. (eds.). 2021. The Lumberton, North Carolina Flood of 2016, Wave 2: A community recovery-focused technical investigation. NIST Special Publication (in Press).

Sutley, E.J., S. Hamideh, M.K. Dillard, D. Gu, K. Seong, and J.W. van de Lindt. 2019. Integrative modeling of housing recovery as a physical, economic, and social process. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Applications of Statistics and Probability in Civil Engineering, ICASP13, 26–30 May 2019, Seoul, South Korea.

Tierney, K. 2005. Effective strategies for hazard assessment and loss reduction: The importance of multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. Boulder, CO: Natural Hazards Center.

Tierney, K. 2014. The social roots of risk: Producing disasters, promoting resilience. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

United Nations. 2009. Global assessment report on disaster risk reduction. Risk and poverty in a changing climate. Geneva: United Nations.

United Nations. 2015. Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction 2015–2030. Geneva: United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

University of Wollongong. 2018. Minority groups can provide major help in the face of disasters. Media release. https://www.uow.edu.au/media/2018/minority-groups-can-provide-major-help-in-the-face-of-disasters.php. Accessed 27 Jul 2020.

Van de Lindt, J.W., W.G. Peacock, J. Mitrani-Reiser, N. Rosenheim, D. Deniz, M. Dillard, V. Tomiczek, M. Koliou, et al. 2020. Community resilience-focused technical investigation of the 2016 Lumberton, North Carolina Flood: An interdisciplinary approach. Natural Hazards Review 21(3): Article 04020029.

Watson, M., Y. Xiao, J. Helgeson, and M. Dillard. 2020. Importance of households in business disaster recovery. Natural Hazards Review 21(4): Article 04020014.

Wilson, J. 2019. CEI hub Google Earth flyover. Cascadia Living. Blog, 21 October 2019. https://srpntn.com/2019/10/21/cei-hub-google-earth-flyover/. Accessed 22 Sep 2020.

Relative Articles

Supplements(0)

Cited By

Proportional views