Prospects of e-culture from a standpoint of human science: A case of disaster prevention

1. Prospects of e-culture from a standpoint of human science:A case of disaster prevention Motohiko Nagata (Mie Univ. Japan) APAN2005 in Taipei

2. Outline • Natural disaster as a social phenomenon • Directions of processing disaster information APAN2005 in Taipei

3. 1.Disaster as a social phenomenon • Social/individual capacity for disaster prevention • Disaster subculture (Moore, 1964) • Shared norms of action in disaster • People vulnerable to disasters • The handicapped, foreigners, the aged, etc APAN2005 in Taipei

4. (2) Disaster prevention as a series of decision makings with dilemmas • No universal answer, no absolute choice • ‘Trade-off’ problems • Improvised decision making of various actors (e.g., city employee who is in charge of disaster prevention, volunteers, victims, etc.) • Not rules and manuals, but flexible decision makings and action repertories APAN2005 in Taipei

5. (3) Active participation of people in disaster prevention • Progress of science and technology expand the range of human responsibility • From fate to social/individual choice • Active participation of people in disaster activity has been increasingly required APAN2005 in Taipei

6. 3 points of disaster prevention • To storage and convey lessons and experiences of past disasters which reflect voices of the persons concerned • i.e. victims, people vulnerable to disaster, city employees who are in charge of relief activity, volunteers, etc. • To encourage active participation of people in disaster prevention • To train people for flexible decision making in various situations of disaster APAN2005 in Taipei

7. 2.Directions of processing disaster information (based on Yamori, 2003) • Storing and conveying narratives • Disaster ethnography • Description of a disaster from a viewpoint of the persons concerned • Documents and pictures • Systematizing the ethnographies • Qualitative and quantitative method • Simulations APAN2005 in Taipei

8. (2) Customizing information • Required information varies according to • situations • Individual/communal capacity for disaster prevention • Customized information is important for suitable decision making under the existing conditions APAN2005 in Taipei

9. (3) Gaming approach • Showing the essence of a problem explicitly • Pressing people (players) for active and intentional decision making • Feeding the results of the judgment immediately back to the players themselves APAN2005 in Taipei

10. Crossroad: an example • Developed by a research team of Disaster Prevention Research Institute Kyoto Univ. • A card game played by a small group • 10 questions with trade-off problem, requiring y/n answer • Players predict majority opinion of each question • Becoming aware of a diversity of opinions and values APAN2005 in Taipei

11. Conclusions • E-culture collaboration? • Ethnography or narratives • Academic knowledge, official documents, mass media reporting as well • Systematizing and abstraction • Customizing both contents and forms APAN2005 in Taipei

12. Thank you very much for paying attention!! APAN2005 in Taipei