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Skills and knowledge for sustainable communities
Posted on: 10 July 2011
By: mackene
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The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in partnership with HCA Academy, the skills arm of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA), commissioned 11 research projects to address a variety of different aspects associated with the development of skills and knowledge for sustainable communities. The projects draw on different disciplines and expertise across the UK, with relevance to the English context. Work carried out at the University of Strathclyde has been highlighting lessons to be learned across the initiative and disseminating the findings. Summaries of the research projects are available online, together with five briefing papers and details of the case studies. Key findings are to be published in a special issue of the Town Planning Review.
Home building skills: an action plan for 2020
Posted on: 10 July 2011
By: mackene
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Housebuilding’s future skills are set out in a new report produced by a joint initiative between NHBC, Zero Carbon Hub and ConstructionSkills, supported by the Home Builders Federation, supported by the Home Builders Federation. The initiative was set up 18 months ago to investigate the likely changes affecting the new homes industry and advise on how professional, trade and technical roles should prepare in terms of training and qualifications. The report sets out a series of scenarios depicting the future of homebuilding.
Supporting academic integrity: approaches and resources for higher education
Posted on: 10 July 2011
By: mackene
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The Academic Integrity Service has published a guidance report that will help universities and colleges manage the complex issues of student plagiarism, collusion and data fabrication. The report brings together resources on academic integrity and is designed to provide the higher education sector with a range of perspectives on this vital issue. A key theme to emerge from the case studies in this report is the importance of ensuring students with diverse backgrounds and experiences are supported throughout their study so they can develop academic skills in the context of their subject. Innovative approaches to assessment and the use of software tools to prevent or detect plagiarism were also common themes.
Safer homes, stronger communities: Handbook for reconstruction after natural disasters
Posted on: 10 July 2011
By: mackene
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This handbook deals with how to reconstruct housing and communities in large-scale post-disaster situations like Haiti, where there are often conflicting demands, especially between short-term relief and long-term reconstruction and recovery. The handbook emphasises the importance of owner/occupier-led reconstruction, and makes a case that effective reconstruction occurs only after policy makers have established the framework for reconstruction in consultation with local communities and stakeholders. It has been developed on behalf of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery to assist World Bank staff, as well as the Bank’s government counterparts, engaged in large-scale post-disaster housing reconstruction programs. Others working in the housing and community reconstruction field will benefit from the information in the handbook, especially those collaborating with government and the World Bank in post-disaster reconstruction.
World Disasters Report 2010
Posted on: 10 July 2011
By: mackene
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This report, published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, does not have all the answers but it does have sound advice on how the urban risk divide between the developing world and the developed world can be reduced. It also highlights how, in a globalized world, a deficiency on one side of the world can create problems for us all. Urbanization can be a strong bulwark against the worst that climate change is throwing at us. Where there is good urban governance, you find economies of scale in terms of risk reduction and response capacities. Where there is good urban governance, you will also find citizens who are empowered and active in their communities because they have security of tenure and their housing, land and property rights are respected. The challenge for humanitarian actors is to find new and concrete ways of engaging with local authorities and vulnerable communities to ensure that risk reduction is all encompassing and not simply focused on the obvious and on the post-disaster clean-up. It is clear from many examples in this report that urban communities are capable of finding their own solutions, asserting their rights and playing a full role in post-disaster recovery and risk reduction but that many need external support which is appropriate to their circumstances.
Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management
Posted on: 10 July 2011
By: mackene
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The DFID-funded Strengthening Climate Resilience (SCR) consortium has released eight new publications setting out the vision, innovation and practical application of the Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management approach (CSDRM). The main report, Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management, introduces the CSDRM approach; looks at engaging with policy makers and practitioners; explores using the approach in complex environments; and sets out some common challenges and ‘next steps’. A six-page ‘overview’ of the approach, Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management in brief, is also available. A series of SCR Discussion Papers are also available. Papers 1 to 3 explore ‘hot topics’ such as integration, resilience and low carbon development. Papers 4 to 6 detail in-depth field research that provides context, evidence and examples of how the Climate Smart Disaster Risk Management approach addresses the current demand for integration of disaster risk management, climate change adaptation and other development approaches.
Protecting development gains: Reducing disaster vulnerability and building resilience in Asia and the Pacific
Posted on: 10 July 2011
By: mackene
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The UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UN/ISDR) and the UN Economic Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) have released the Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2010. The report notes that the region generated one quarter of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), but also accounted for 85% of deaths and 38% of global economic losses due to natural disasters over the last 30 years. The report analyzes the socioeconomic impact of disasters, and suggests ways of reducing vulnerability to disasters in order to protect development gains. The report includes sections on: disaster risk in Asia and the Pacific, including a chapter on the impact of climate change on disaster risk; the socioeconomic impacts of disasters; socioeconomic perspectives of reducing vulnerabilities, including chapters on the implications of disasters and climate change for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and scaling up climate change adaptation in Asia and the Pacific; making the recovery resilient; capitalizing on new technology; and cooperating across the region.
Climate resilient infrastructure: Preparing for a changing climate
Posted on: 10 July 2011
By: mackene
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This report identifies significant opportunities for contractors in retrofitting old infrastructure, as well as developing technologies for use on the projects of the future. The cross-government report outlines the challenges to the transport, energy, water and ICT sectors. The report also sets out what action needs to be taken by infrastructure owners and operators, regulators, insurers and Government. Actions identified in the report to prepare infrastructure for a changing climate include:
- Owners and operators of infrastructure should include measures to improve climate resilience in the maintenance schedules for their assets, and ensure climate impacts are considered in the design of new infrastructure;
- Potential infrastructure investors should demand more information from companies on the climate risks to their assets and measures taken to reduce them as part of their ‘due diligence’ processes;
- Professional bodies should consider if their members have the right skills to help prepare infrastructure for climate change; and
- Engineers should look to develop new materials, techniques and designs to improve the resilience of infrastructure projects to severe weather.
A synthesis of the independent studies that the project commissioned has also been published.
Impact study on developing local capacity to reduce vulnerability and poverty: Disaster risk reduction in central Vietnam
Posted on: 10 July 2011
By: mackene
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This report presents findings of a study commissioned by Development Workshop France (DWF) with support from the Building and Social Housing Foundation to assess the impact of the DWF project in Vietnam to promote the prevention of typhoon damage to housing and public buildings over the last ten years. Conducted in five communities in central Vietnam, the study shows that DWF principles of safer construction have achieved social and official appropriation based on their effective mitigation of the impact of typhoons and this has led to widespread adoption.
Financing the resilient city
Posted on: 10 July 2011
By: mackene
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The ICLEI white paper on Financing the Resilient City has just been launched at the Resilient Cities 2011 world congress held in Bonn, Germany on 3-5 June 2011. This report provides a conceptual framework for better understanding how to integrate climate and other risk reduction measures in urban areas and systems. Here resilience is offered as an economic and performance model with far reaching implications. The report calls for more locally responsive climate financing investment strategies and instruments. It also sets the scene for and provides a valuable contribution to the ongoing international discussions on climate financing for adaptation; how it can be mobilized, leveraged and innovated for the local level.
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