CRSCAD Newsletter May 2013
|
|
|
|
Registration is now open for CRSCAD's summer courses
Graduate Certificate Program
This course brings disaster social science to the next generation through the lens of vulnerable populations to help build a science-based and human rights approach to risk reduction. While many approaches to social vulnerability exist, we will take a sociological approach that sees social vulnerabilities as social productions which may be reflected, reinforced and contested in disasters, and can be reduced through disaster management. Readings and discussion, primarily but not exclusively focused on the United States and similar societies, introduce students to the growing body of literature on factors shaping social vulnerability to hazards and disasters, and hence to disaster resilience.
This course will give you an overview of challenges faced by displaced migrant and refugee populations. We will engage the problem of displacement, primarily, from the vantage point of refugees. But we will also explore the ambiguities of the migrant/refugee distinction, and examine forms of displacement that are experienced by both populations. Some of the topics we will cover include: the experience of Haitian asylum seekers, Guatemalan migrants fleeing gang violence, Iraqi and Afghan refugees, and gender violence.
Instructor: Phil Kretsedemas. For more info about this course, email
Professional Development Program
This course brings disaster social science to the next generation through the lens of vulnerable populations to help build a science-based and human rights approach to risk reduction. While many approaches to social vulnerability exist, we will take a sociological approach that sees social vulnerabilities as social productions which may be reflected, reinforced and contested in disasters, and can be reduced through disaster management. Readings and discussion, primarily but not exclusively focused on the United States and similar societies, introduce students to the growing body of literature on factors shaping social vulnerability to hazards and disasters, and hence to disaster
Instructor: Stephanie Hartwell. For more info about this course, email [email protected] 
|
|
|
|
CRSCAD's Book on Post-Disaster Reconstruction
Chosen as Critics' Choice Book of the Month
Cambridge Scholars Publishing, an academic publisher in England, has selected the edited collection by Adenrele Awotona, Rebuilding Sustainable Communities with Vulnerable Populations after the Cameras Have Gone, as their Critics' Choice title for their January Book of the Month newsletter.
According to Stephanie Cavanagh, an editor at the publishing house, Awotona's book was chosen "due to its strong sales and excellent reviews.
"Praised as "a very much needed contribution to the analysis and procurement of resources needed when catastrophes occur," retired Professor of Architecture William Frank Hill who lives in Surrey, England is one of many international experts who endorses the 513-page scholarly volume for its expert advice and innovative research. Professor Gulsun Saglamer from Istanbul Technical University agrees adding that she "strongly recommend(s) this book to researchers, professionals, managers and everyone who are potential victims of disasters and who have to create awareness, understanding and actions in emergency planning and response."
Read More
|
|
 CRSCAD's Director Speaks at the National Conference on Science, Policy, and the Environment
At the invitation of the National Council for Science and the Environment, Professor Adenrele Awotona, the founding director of the Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters at the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies was a panelist at the "13th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Disasters and Environment: Science, Preparedness, and Resilience". The conference took place from January 15-17, 2013 in Washington, DC.
Participating in the session "Cities and Disasters," Awotona and other experts explored the unique challenges of densely populated cities and how they respond to disasters.
Adenrele Awotona's presentation on "Cities, Disasters and the Urban Risk Divide" examined the discrepancy between "well-planned and well-built wealthy cities" and urban slums regarding disaster mitigation, preparedness, and risk reduction.
In a recent interview discussing his presentation, Awotona shared some sobering statistics. According to a recent United Nations publication, approximately one billion urban dwellers now live in crowded slums in the developing world - a figure which the Red Cross says will rise to 1.4 billion by the end of the decade. A 2010 report by the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN-HABITAT) noted that 28 per cent of Brazil's urban population lived in slums in 2007. The corresponding figures for India in 2010 were 32.1 per cent; for Jamaica, also in 2010, 60 per cent; for Kenya, 54.8 per cent; and, for Nigeria, 64.2 per cent.
Awotona explains that these individuals are oppressed - economically deprived, socially excluded, and politically powerless. They continue to be ignored, disregarded, and forgotten in the disaster planning process. As a result, slum inhabitants are extremely vulnerable to the impact of disasters and have few choices and resources for reducing their vulnerability.
"This population is the most vulnerable - and often the worst-affected �- to disasters because their living conditions are characterized by intolerable and overcrowded housing, absence of land use planning and building codes, lack of basic services and critical infrastructure like sanitation, potable water, and electricity. Their homes are often located on unhealthy and perilous land."
With the goal of improved environmental decision-making, Awotona looked at some of the major barriers to reducing disaster risks in slums and offered specific recommendations on how to make them resilient. At the end of the session, Awotona and other urban planning experts developed strategies for enhancing the resilience of cities and for supporting them in the immediate aftermath of a disaster and during a longer-term recovery.
|
CRSCAD's Director Briefs Russian Delegation on Emergency Management
At the invitation of the United States Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Professor Adenrele Awotona recently briefed a visiting high-level delegation from Russia's national emergency management agency, EMERCOM, on the work being done by the Center for Rebuilding Sustainable Communities after Disasters (CRSCAD).
|
|
|
|
|
2014 Conference: Disaster Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and Sustainable Reconstruction
May 8 - 10, 2014
The conference will explore and examine how disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and sustainable reconstruction after disasters will be addressed in context of architectural, planning and engineering education. Through this international conference, discussions will be held on curricular opportunities such as online short courses, continuing education options, curricular suggestions for schools in countries most vulnerable to catastrophic disasters, and joint degree programs for schools with appropriate expertise in the topic.
Representatives of regulatory agencies, professional associations, foundations supporting educational initiatives, and academic societies--as well as academic institutions--are encouraged to attend.
|
|
|
|
| |
Recent Global Disasters
Earthquake in China, April 20
Earthquakes in Iran, April 9 and April 16
Severe storms and flooding in Argentina, April 2
|
|
|
|
|
Editorial Committee
Contributions, suggestions, and feedback about the newsletter are welcome and should be sent to any of the following members of the Editorial Committee:
- Adenrele Awotona (Editor and Chair)
- Brandon P. Milby (Design and Distribution)
- Jennifer Clifford
- Victor Dzidzienyo
- Katharine Galaitsis
- Yasamin Izadkhah
- Amal Mohammed Hassan Jamal
- Olga Lauterbach
- Oluwatoyin Ilesanmi
Telephone: 617.287.7116
|
|
|
|
|
Stay connected with CRSCAD
|
|
|
|
|
About CRSCAD:
Our mission is to work in close collaboration with practitioners, academics, researchers, policy makers, and grassroots organizations on all the continents of the world in their search for the most appropriate and sustainable ways to rebuild their communities after disasters.
University of Massachusetts
McCormack Hall, 3rd floor, Room 612
Boston, Massachusetts 02125
Telephone: 617.287.7116
|
|
|
