Search results

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the evidence-based research strategy (EBRS) used to evaluate eight projects that applied the neighborhood approach for disaster risk reduction (NA-DRR) in informal urban settlements in Colombia, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica and Peru, between 2012 and 2017.

The study covers the first five of the seven EBRS stages: first, identify relevant interventions; second, prepare evaluation questions; third, select evidence sources and implement a search strategy; fourth, appraise evidences and identify gaps; fifth, create an evaluation design to include an extensive literature review, followed by a mixed research method with surveys, focus groups and interviews; disaster risk modeling; georeferencing analysis; and engineering inspections. The last two stages: sixth, apply the evidence, and seventh, evaluate the evidence application, will be addressed in a near future.

Even though the reference to “evidence” is frequent in the DRR field, it is largely based on descriptive processes, anecdotal references, best practices, lessons learned and case studies, and particularly deficient on the subject of informal and precariousness settlements. The evaluation allowed a deep and broad analysis of NA-DRR in urban informal settlements, comparing it with other DRR strategies implemented by different stakeholders in fragile urban settings, assessing the effectiveness and sustainability of the various DRR interventions.

The abundant data, information and knowledge generated will serve as foundation for forthcoming thematic peer-reviewed publications informing evidence-based DRR research, policy and practice, with emphasis on informal and precariousness settlements in particular.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of a post-project review (PPR) method designed to verify the accomplishments of urban disaster risk reduction-neighborhood approach (DRR-NA) projects after at least one year of project closeout. The PPR revisited the essential processes identified during project implementation and analyzed the sustainability of project gains.

The first section focuses on a literature review of the evaluation methods after project implementation, and the second describes the urban risk PPR design, its implementation, and findings.

The proposed framework for the PPR was clear and uniform and at the same time offered the necessary flexibility to adapt to the different DRR-NA projects and contexts. The PPR methodology sought to determine the conditions of the physical works, social and environmental gains, and progress in institutional arrangements associated with the NA projects. Factors that contribute and impede success in DRR-NA projects were identified.

Allowing at least one year between the completion of the NA projects and the PPR is both convenient and challenging. On the positive side, this approach allows for the verification of project outcomes after an extended period of time. However, there are also challenges, such as the need to seek additional financial resources to carry out the review; generate new contractual mechanisms; and assign human resources to review a project already closed.

The changes introduced into the PPR methodology to obtain a participative and self-conducted process resulted in a truly collective learning experience, becoming an act of accountability and social commitment.

This paper introduces the state of informal settlements in Latin America and the Caribbean, and it explores potential relationships between informal settlements and national policies on urban development and disaster risk reduction, especially on how risk governance and disaster resilience are conceived and practiced by governments.

17 Habitat III National Reports issued during the preparatory process toward the New Urban Agenda in 2016 are analyzed using statistics and qualitative methods. Some quantitative variables, such as access to drinking water and sewerage in the region, are combined with qualitative data from references to the Sendai Framework and national urban policies in the mentioned reports. Countries in the study include Argentina, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

Results show that the situation of informal settlements in the region is complex and presents two different realities that coexist: one group of countries in which provision of basic urban services poses great challenges for a significant proportion of the urban population, while the other group in which urban informality and precariousness persists despite better statistics. Risk governance and disaster resilience principles are scarcely articulated in existing urban development discourses in the region.

The preparatory process toward the New Urban Agenda allowed to conduct an original updated cross-country analysis and to identify cross-cutting issues on informality, risk reduction, and urban development in the region.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the current and projected impacts of the three post-2015 development agendas on the underlying disaster risk drivers (UDRD): the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris COP21 Agreement.

The methodology is based on an ontological process, understood as an exhaustive analysis of the properties and relationships of an entity or subject of study.

The process characterized and linked the objectives proposed in the three agendas through the impact of the expected results on the underlying risk drivers. First, elements related to disaster risk within each agenda were identified. Then, in following the theory of change, a series of tools were used to identify domains of change, pathways, breakthroughs, and incremental outcomes that counteract the construction of disaster risk by acting on the underlying causes. It is essential that there be coherence, complementarity, and interdependence between the three agendas analyzed in order to transcend beyond the desired economic growth, and thus underpin true sustainable development by focusing on the UDRD.

Applying the theory of change constitutes a novel approach to identify the pathways or domains of change needed to integrate the three 2015 development agendas.

The purpose of this paper is to map out and characterize existing health-promotion initiatives at Florida International University (FIU) in the USA in order to inform decision makers involved in the development of a comprehensive and a long-term healthy university strategy.

This study encompasses a narrative literature review on health promotion in higher education institutions and the identification and characterization of the various health-promotion initiatives associated with the subject of healthy universities at FIU. The characterization of health-promoting initiatives relied on the stakeholder analysis approach. Using the information obtained from this study, a map for promoting health initiatives with their location, capacities, leadership, and resources was established.

Most publications on health-promoting universities are limited to partial experiences’ reproduction. Self-financing health-promoting initiatives foster competition and work in silos. Gains of health-promotion interventions require governance, participation, and academic considerations. This study highlights the need for standards and minimum requirements for the mapping and characterization of health-promoting initiatives within institutions of higher education. The health-promotion strategy should fall within the university’s social responsibility policy.

This study helps identify organizational strengths and weaknesses and can inform decision makers seeking to establish policies and strategies as well as defining priorities and courses of action for healthy universities.

This study aims to assess knowledge retention of the graduates of the online graduate certificate on local development planning, land use management and disaster risk management (PDLOTGR, the abbreviation of the certificate's Spanish title). The certificate was offered to practitioners and faculty members of Latin American countries since 2016.

The authors reviewed the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) method to develop a specific approach, which included the preparation of a KAP survey, a composite KAP index and three sub-indices. The survey targeted two groups: (1) experimental group, composed of the certificate's 76 graduates, and (2) control group, comprised of 25 certificate's candidates, who had not yet undergone the training/intervention. The statistical analysis included a one-way multivariate analysis of variance to compare the mean scores on the KAP index and sub-indices for individuals in the experimental and control groups.

The study results showed significant differences in the knowledge sub-index between those who had completed the PDLOTGR training and those who had not, while the attitudes and practices sub-indices did not show significant differences. When using the KAP index, a statistically significant difference was also observed between the two groups.

Perceived knowledge assessment offers an acceptable and non-intimidating option for evaluating continuing education and professional development programs associated to disaster risk. It is particularly helpful in determining whether an intervention or program has a lasting impact. It is not, however, a substitute for direct knowledge assessment, and the use of other methods to evaluate the performance of a capacity building program's graduates.

This paper examines disaster capitalism in Chile, that is, the relationships between disasters and neoliberalism. It looks at two post-disaster dimensions: disasters as windows of opportunity to introduce political reforms and disasters as occasions for the corporate class to capitalize on such disasters.

Two indices, disaster capitalism (DC) and post-disaster private involvement (PDPI), are proposed for cross-case analysis. They are based on legal records, institutional reports and economic data. The DC assesses the introduction of reforms following disasters, while PDPI evaluates the share of public-private funding used for recovery. Both indices are applied here to two disasters in Chile: the 2010 Maule earthquake, and the 2008 Chaitén volcanic eruption.

Results show that the highly neoliberal Chilean context leaves limited space for new neoliberal reforms. Although recovery is implemented predominantly through the private sector, the state still assumes greater responsibility for recovery costs. Results also detect poor levels of participation from the private sector in accounting their efforts and making them publicly available. Likewise, the research suggests that neoliberal reforms become more likely after disasters. However, the preexisting politico-economic context matters. Finally, there is clearly a need for data systematization in post-disaster recovery.

In the Chilean context, the indices proved beneficial as a strategy for data collection and a method for scrutinizing the implications of neoliberal policy implemented in the wake of disasters, as well as in evaluating the role of the corporate class during recovery.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of sistematización’s use as a research tool in the operationalization of a “neighborhood approach” to the implementation of disaster risk reduction (DRR) in informal urban settlements.

The first section highlights sistematización’s historical origins in Latin America in the fields of popular adult education, social work, and rural development. The second explains why sistematización was made a required component of project implementation. The third section addresses the approach to sistematización used. The final discusses how this experience both contributes to sistematización’s theoretical development and practical application as a methodology.

The introduction of “sistematización” as a research tool facilitated real-time assessment of project implementation, providing timely information that positively influenced decision-making processes. This on-going feedback, collective learning, and open-exchange of know-how between NGOs and partner institutions allowed for the evaluation of existing practices and development of new ways of collaborating to address disaster risk in complex and dynamic urban environments.

Sistematización transcends the narrow focus of traditional monitoring and evaluation on final results, emphasizing a comprehensive understanding of processes and contexts.

Its use in the implementation of DRR initiatives in informal urban environments is particularly novel, highlighting the capacity of the methodology to be tailored to a variety of needs, in this case, bridging the gap between NGOs, local governments, and vulnerable communities, as well as between urban, development, and disaster risk management planning.