Disaster Risk Reduction Session 1: Introduction; Disaster Risk Reduction and the Environment

1. Disaster Risk ReductionSession 1: Introduction; Disaster Risk Reduction and the Environment

2. Getting to Know You… • Please take the paper in front of you, fold it in half and write your name on one side. • Please pair-up and ask your partner the following questions: • What is your name and organization you work with? • What do you do? • Have you ever been involved in a disaster risk reduction program? Mod 9 Ses 1

3. Green Recovery and Reconstruction Toolkit Developed by WWF and the American Red Cross Based on a 5-year partnership formed after the 2004 tsunami between WWF, AmCross and partners in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Maldives Designed for use globally after natural disasters and conflict Mod 9 Ses 1

4. 10 Program Modules Green Guide to: Opportunities for Green Recovery and Reconstruction: An Introduction Project Design, Monitoring and Evaluation Environmental Impact Assessment Tools and Techniques Strategic Site Selection and Development Materials and the Supply Chain Construction Water and Sanitation Livelihoods Disaster Risk Reduction Organizational Operations Mod 9 Ses 1

5. GRRT Principles “Words to live by.” -- Ron Savage, OFDA “Do no harm” to people and communities recovering from disaster by addressing environmental sustainability Recognize that addressing the environment has multiple benefits Take ownership Build back safer Be solution-oriented Emphasize the use of local knowledge Mod 9 Ses 1

6. Mobiles silent Be punctual Stay on topic Succinct -be brief Active listening Workshop Ground Rules Other? One conversation at a time Mod 9 Ses 1

7. The Main Point of this Workshop is to… Incorporate an environmental perspective into DRR assessments and interventions Mod 9 Ses 1

8. By the end of this workshop, you should be able to… • Describe the ways in which disaster risk and environmental conditions are linked • Identify a set of ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction activities that can enhance disaster risk reduction programs • Describe how disaster risk reduction activities can have negative impacts on the environment and how these impacts can be mitigated • Integrate environmental issues into typical DRR assessments Mod 9 Ses 1

9. Workshop Agenda Session Topic 1 Introductions, disaster risk reduction and the environment 2 Environment-based DRR activities and assessments LUNCH 3 Climate, risk and applying DRR to ecosystems 4 Ecosystem-based DRR exercise, workshop summary Mod 9 Ses 1

10. Your Experience • Do any of you have a case study that you would like to present after lunch? Mod 9 Ses 1

11. Risk = Hazard x Vulnerability What is a hazard? What is vulnerability? How does the environment relate to hazards and vulnerability? Quick Review of Definitions Mod 9 Ses 1

12. Disaster Risk Reduction • “The practice of reducing disaster risks through systematic efforts to analyze and manage the causal factors of disasters.” (ISDR) What are the main strategies to do this? The full ISDR definition includes these elements: • Reduced exposure to hazards • Lessened vulnerability of people and property • Wise management of land and the environment • Improved preparedness for adverse events Mod 9 Ses 1

13. Definition of Ecosystem Dynamic complexes of plants, animals and other living communities and the non-living environment interacting as functional units. Humans are an integral part of ecosystems. Source: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Ecosystems and Human Well-Being: Synthesis. Mod 9 Ses 1

14. How is vulnerability linked to the environment? http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/19611601.jpg Here is one example (Brazil). Identify some other examples Where people live – it may be a location threatened by one or more hazards. Mod 9 Ses 1

15. How is vulnerability linked to the environment? 2. Access to natural resources: • For economic use • To meet basic needs, for instance, water, fuel and shelter • What are examples? Mod 9 Ses 1

16. "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." From: Our Common Future, World Commission on Environment and Development,Oxford University Press, 1987 What is the relationship between disaster risk reduction and environmental sustainability? What is environmental sustainability? Mod 9 Ses 1

17. To be sustainable… DRR actions Should be able to continue in the future, that is, they are not short term, and Will not compromise capacity to meet needs in the future, that is, we should not try to solve problems only to have them re-occur in the future Mod 9 Ses 1

18. Exercise: Hazards and the Environment We will now explore in more detail the link between hazards and the environment Each group will receive a picture of a hazard. Discuss the picture and list, on a flip chart, all the environmental issues you can identify from the picture or the context of the picture. Designate one person to present the results. You have 10 minutes for this exercise . Mod 9 Ses 1

19. Photo credit: Charles Kelly Mod 9 Ses 1

20. Mod 9 Ses 1 http://www.areavoices.com/attic/images/atticblowdown2_500px.jpg

21. Photo credit: Charles Kelly Mod 9 Ses 1

22. Mod 9 Ses 1 http://www.omaharapidresponse.org/images/PakistanDestruction-4P10.jpg

23. Mod 9 Ses 1 Photograph by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

24. Mod 9 Ses 1 Photo credit: David GazashviliCARE International

25. Next Ecosystem-basedDRR activities Links between disaster risk & environment Mitigate neg. impactson the environment Integrate environmentinto DRR assessm’ts Then Summary so far Mod 9 Ses 1

26. Time to take a 15 minute break Suggested Activities….. Get to know the other participants Visit unusual places Get some exercise Mod 9 Ses 1