Breaking the Silos: Synergizing Disaster Risk Management and Climate Adaptation
Synergizing Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation In today’s complex global landscape, we need to cultivate an integrated approach that effectively addresses the interconnected challenges of disaster risk management (DRM), climate change adaptation (CCA), and sustainable development. The session’s objective was to share good practices, tools, and approaches that can create synergy between these fields. The session had three parts: (1) setting the scene; (2) marketplace; and (3) enhancing uptake. Setting the scene Three keynote speakers provided insights from different perspectives. Firstly, Prof. Rajib Shaw (Keio University) discussed The Importance of Linking Global Agendas on DRM and CCA. He outlined 10 important context points that helped shape the discussions: (1) highly dynamic global risk landscape; (2) local implementation of global agendas; (3) creating on the ground synergy between CCA and DRM; (4) Public Health in DRR; (5) digital inclusivity; (6) research-policy action gaps; (7) urban complexity and urban rural linkages; (8) making innovation affordable; (9) science-entrepreneurship; and (10) compassion-based thinking. Prof. Sakiko Kanbara (Kobe City College of Nursing) discussed Health Aspects and Disaster Nursing for Bridging CCA-DRM from Japanese Experience. She introduced the concept of disaster risk nursing, which encompasses the creation of initiatives aimed at reducing the harm to life and health resulting from disasters. Disaster risk nursing gets to the core of DRM, in that it requires interdisciplinary work and cooperation, and goes from the family/individual level to community, regional and global scale. The discussions highlighted that whilst the day-to-day work of nurses is often in hospitals, there is a move towards more work for prevention in the community. Here is an opportunity to bring in the importance of resilience to disasters and climate change. Marijke Panis (Red Cross 510) discussed Ensuring Local and Community Perspectives are Heard. She emphasized the importance of proper community engagement. In humanitarian response, there is a need to prioritize actions, as response must be rapidly provided following a disaster. Hence there is a need to engage locally but to scale globally. She discussed the importance of multi-hazard analysis in conflict settings, emphasizing the importance of looking into interactions between disaster impacts, climate change, other societal drivers, and displaced communities. She gave concrete examples of useful platforms in Lebanon and Myanmar, which combine and visualize information on climate change, hazard, exposure, enhanced vulnerability and capacity assessment (EVCA), and impacts. In a panel discussion between the keynote speakers and other participants, several aspects were discussed. Firstly, the importance of transdisciplinary action: this is essential for creating synergies between policy domains. It was acknowledged that transdisciplinary action can take a long time, and we need to understand the importance of building sustainable relationships. Secondly, also accepting that failure will sometimes occur and being open to learning from this failure. Third, a comment that resonated with attendees was the need to move towards a compassion-based approach to DRM/CCA. Fourth, the importance of the cultural context. Fifth, the importance of sharing lessons learnt and understanding the positive impact of past prevention measures. Finally, the importance of taking these discussions outside of conferences and promoting real collaboration. Marketplace We held a lively and engaging “marketplace”. In the marketplace, 15 tools and approaches were demonstrated at so-called “marketstalls”, with other participants free to wander between marketstalls and engage with the tools. This allowed participants to engage in a hands-on way with tools that they could try to use in their daily work. The tools and approaches presented were: MachiCare, CLIMADA, Impact-based Forecasting Portal, Hotel Resilient, EPIC Rapid Assessment Methodology, Deltares Flood and Health tool, RA2CE, MYRIAD-EU approaches, Hazard Information Profiles (HIPs), National Open Geodata, Micro Geodata for DRR, Decision for the Decade, Flood Resilient Landscapes, FloodAdapt, and RISE. Enhancing uptake In the final part of the day, we conducted an Open Space session, in which participants discussed three self-defined topics. One group discussed the need to empower individuals to work across silos in their daily roles, facilitated by staff secondments within different institutions, and emphasized the importance of working with compassion and respect for diverse skills and knowledge. A second group highlighted the future role of institutions, noting NGOs’ ability to rapidly test solutions and the importance of intergovernmental organizations promoting clustered financing for projects, as well as the need for combined DRM and CCA expertise within government departments. They also stressed the importance of demonstrating the business case for DRM and CCA. A third group suggested refocusing dialogue from “breaking the silos” to “bridging the silos,” acknowledging the necessity of silos for specific advancements while ensuring their paths can merge for collaborative progress.
“Let’s move from the community-based approach to a compassion-based approach”
• There is an urgent need to better synergize DRM, CCA, and sustainable development • Many tools and approaches are available for helping to create this synergy: a selection of 15 were presented in our lively marketplace • Perhaps we should refocus the dialogue from “breaking the silos” to “bridging the silos”. How can we ensure that their paths can merge, or they “can hold hands for part of their journey”? One way to do this is to encourage sharing of staff, secondments, and so forth • Transdisciplinary action is key to this, but also takes time and requires a true effort to build sustainable relationships • In this sense, a lot can be gained by moving to a compassion-based approach • A compassion-based approach benefits from being open, respectful, and appreciative of the skills and knowledge of others • We need to better share lessons learnt, understand the positive impact of past prevention measures, and learn from failures
Organized by: Deltares, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Risklayer, Red Cross 510, Gifu University, The University of Tokyo, Kobe City College of Nursing
