Yesterday we (Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience) ran the first of a new series called Resilience Matters, which focuses on foundational concepts of Disaster Risk Reduction. In my current role i had the honour of moderating and introducing two fabulous speakers, David Sanderson and Kirsten Jenkins. I also had the privilege of setting the scene with a short contextual piece. I reflected that I was trying to squeeze about an hour and a half of content into 6 minutes, which for a windbag like me, is somewhat difficult. But I managed to convey something. Whether it was relevant I am not sure. Much of this context piece is based on a foundational paper on disaster resilience created for Red Cross, when I was working with them.

Context is important. Disasters don’t happen in vacuum. They happen in among people’s lives and community processes. My view from dealing with disasters for nearly 30 years is that most stories about disasters start with the hazard or the disaster and its a fairly technocratic linear approach of understanding hazard/lives/property.

Understanding the complex and long term impacts of disaster is critical to thinking about what we need to protect, because this provides a richer, more complicated picture of what is at risk. The impacts of disasters on a person’s mental and physical health, their relationships, their ability to earn an income or maintain an income, the emotional and financial costs of loss of loved ones, housing and property, what the loss of animals and nature means to them, experiencing poorer educational outcomes and what long term impact this might have, and changes in community dynamic process. What do all these impacts mean for the lives that people lead? Their hopes and aspirations, and their participation in and contribution to society. We all understand someone who has experienced some of the above impacts, and what that has meant to their lives. Imagine all of these happening at once. Experiencing the recovery process is not something we want people to have to do. This is what we are seeking to protect.

Increasingly I’m using the Agenda for Sustainable Development with its focus on people, planet and prosperity as a way of framing what is at risk. This speaks to people living good lives, that they reach their potential, with dignity, enjoy fulfilling and prosperous lives, and that we aren’t living off the future generations. The Sustainable Development Agenda for 2030, and its goals, are a global articulation of the quality of the lives that people seek to lead. Disasters and their impacts should be considered against this agenda. This agenda suggests that people seek to lead prosperous lives, where they fulfil their potential, in inclusive places that are protected from environmental degradation and conflict. In recognition of the impact disasters can have on these aspirations, one of the Sustainable Development Goals, No. 11, is to reduce disaster risk.  

Quality of life (QoL) as an evidence-based approach can also help us frame what is at risk for people from disasters. The World Health Organisation defines quality of life as: 

“ an individual’s perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns.”  

They are the conditions in which people are born, grow, work, live, and age, and the wider set of forces and systems shaping their daily lives. It is a broad ranging concept incorporating in a complex way the persons’ physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social relationships, personal beliefs, and their relationships to the environment. The state of a person’s heath and wellbeing is guided by the social determinants of health. These are the non-medical factors that influence a person’s health and wellbeing.  

We also need to recognise human decision making is not linear or straightforward. It is influenced by complex psychological processes, as well as connections, to Country, people, place, homes, and objects, and economic circumstances and capacity. Each of these influence people’s decisions in a way that is often not obvious.

While it is not for me to talk about Country in detail, it is important to flag its importance of the way First Nations peoples talk about the lands, waterways, and seas to which they are connected. The idea of Country contains complex ideas about law, place, custom, language, spiritual belief, cultural practice, material sustenance, family, and identity. Connection to country is critical for Australia’s First Nations people’s health and wellbeing and it can hold a healing or a traumatic memory or energy. Bhiamie Williamson, as always, writes eloquently on this topic.

The geographer in me loves to think and talk about the importance of place attachment. Places shape our lives, our abilities to earn income, be educated, live healthy lives, and be connected to each other.^. They are also a source of hazard risk, whether it is of climatic or geological or human origin. Place attachment gives places meaning. It is the cognitive bond people develop to where they live. Bonds with places can start young, however they can also develop quite quickly, if the place becomes meaningful to a person. Topophilia, a term coined by the great geographer, Yi Fu Tuan, demonstrates our love for places.

Homes are generally described as places of safety and comfort. (although for many, not always) For a house to become a home it must have a range of feelings, emotions, and meanings. Domestic spaces are important in our lives, and their loss in disasters, can be traumatising.  They help provide for a person’s identity and place in the world. This is known as ontological security, which is the ‘confidence that most human beings have in the continuity of their self-identity and in the constancy of their social and material environments. It is having confidence in the routine and reliability of persons, places and things around them. These routines create a cognitive order and sense of safety and trust in the world; they function as a coping mechanism against existential anxiety, enhance psychological wellbeing, and provide a ‘protective cocoon and a ‘firewall against chaos’ The way homes are designed and decorated, the objects within them, and gardens around personalises them, and contributes to this ontological security. Some possessions, as a result of the experiences with them, can help construct our identity and contribute to ontological security. We become attached to these objects. Their loss causes grief and impacts on health and wellbeing.

There are intangible processes at work within communities which influence disaster resilience. Psychological Sense of community is described as a feeling that people have of belonging, a feeling that members of the community matter to one another and to a group, and a shared faith that their needs will be met by belonging to the group. There are four elements of sense of community; membership,  influence,  integration and fulfilment of needs, and  shared emotional connection.  

Social capital is the social networks, norms, and trust, that can improve how society works. It can be described as the networks and support that people rely upon in their daily lives, the trust that they develop, with each other and institutions, and the degree to which people are prepared to help each other without obligation (called reciprocity). The work of Daniel Aldrich tells us that the presence of strong social bonds within communities and access to social networks are social capital features that might improve people’s preparedness.  

The work of Julia Becker, and the late, great Douglas Paton and David Johnston tells us that people who feel a greater sense of connectedness, belonging, and sense of social responsibility in what they see as their community, have higher levels of preparedness for hazard events. A stronger sense of community may increase a sense of responsibility for others and thus “spills over” into preparedness activities and the cohesiveness of communities can increase effective communication and coordination during a disaster as well as increase preparedness initiatives. 

Finally, everything we do, the lives we live, are supported by invisible, complex, and interrelated systems, that we don’t, like the Joni Mitchell song, know what you’ve got til its gone. Disaster risk cascades through these systems, often with unforeseen or unintended consequences.

These concepts make decisions about rebuilding or relocating, staying or going all the more complicated and not a simple decision. This helps us understand what is at risk is complex and why disaster risk reduction is important.

Weather Storm, from the Massive Attack Album, Protection is amply appropriate