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The purpose of this paper is to highlight the importance of a comprehensive global database on volcanic unrest (WOVOdat) as a resource to improve eruption forecasts, hazard evaluation and mitigation actions.

WOVOdat is a centralized database that hosts multi-parameter monitoring data sets from unrest and eruption episodes of volcanoes worldwide. Its online interface (https://wovodat.org/) allows interactive data analysis and comparison between volcanoes and eruption styles, which is needed during volcanic crises, as well as to perform basic research on pre-eruption processes, teaching and outreach.

WOVOdat aims to standardize and organize the myriad of monitoring data types at the global scale. Users can compare changes during a crisis to past unrest episodes, and estimate probabilities of outcomes using evidence-based statistics. WOVOdat will be to volcanology as an epidemiological database is to medicine.

The success of eruption forecast relies on data completeness, and thus requires the willingness of observatories, governments and researchers to share data across the volcano community.

WOVOdat is a unique resource that can be studied to understand the causes of volcanic unrest and to improve eruption forecasting.

WOVOdat is the only compilation of standardized and multi-parameter volcano unrest data from around the world, and it is freely and easily accessible through an online interface.

The paper aims to further understand the contribution of indigenous knowledge to disaster risk reduction through reviewing the experiences of Baliau village situated on Manam Island in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea.

Indigenous strategies for disaster risk reduction were identified through participatory group discussions with community members, including a strengths‐weaknesses‐opportunities‐threats analysis.

The paper outlines how indigenous knowledge was used for disaster risk reduction and to cope with enforced evacuation. It demonstrates the need for community consultation alongside the benefits of applying the sustainable livelihoods approach to better understand volcano‐related opportunities, rather than just focusing on the volcano's threats.

Indigenous knowledge has both relevance and applicability when applied to disaster risk reduction. Communities should be consulted at all stages of disaster risk reduction and disaster response in order to ensure the relevance and applicability of any strategy.

Through a new case study, this paper explores the contributions of indigenous knowledge to disaster risk reduction and outlines the disruption of evacuation upon indigenous communities. Lessons learnt for future evacuation and rehabilitation scenarios are outlined through application of the sustainable livelihoods approach.

This paper summarizes research involving a multidisciplinary team of volcanologists and social scientists. It describes collaboration in relation to social and physical risk and vulnerability following the Mount Ruapehu eruptions of 1995‐1996. This work stresses a key role for such multidisciplinary teams in reducing the social impact of volcanic hazards through assisting communities, organizations, and individuals following an eruption and, importantly, during quiescent periods. We present an overview of a multidisciplinary approach and related research. In stressing the role of the physical science community in managing societal hazards and risk, the paper addresses how this role can be enhanced through collaboration with social scientists and others. The emphasis here is the facilitation of volcanological knowledge and expertise in threat communication, mitigation, community development, emergency planning, and response management. Our research has examined mechanisms for integration, multi‐disciplinary training, and preparing volcanologists for the social demands encountered in playing an active crisis management role. One area of overlap that can tie together disciplines and assist the public is the idea that volcanic activity and the related uncertainties are, at their essence, simply problems that with increasingly integrated efforts likewise have increasingly attainable solutions.

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region and to discuss imperative engines for potential regional recovery.

This study conceptually discusses the effects of COVID-19 on the LAC region and highlights potential areas for recovery.

The LAC region have a history of facing structural development challenges – due to digital inequality, environmental degradation, erosion of democracy and financial debt – which have led to a profound discontent among people in the LAC region and this dissatisfaction has been intensified by the crises stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. LAC region can increase its resilience and recover its path to sustainable development by consolidating impact-based regional value chains, attracting sustainability-themed foreign direct investment and nurturing structural development to facilitate LAC companies to expand into international markets (“multilatinas”).

There are some preliminary studies on the economic and social impact of COVID-19 on the LAC region, however, the strategies that emerging and developing economies might pursue to promptly recover are still a matter of discussion. The uncertainty and heterogeneity of the developing and emerging economies and the multidimensional needed actions require local adaptations and adjustments.

The LAC COVID-19 crisis recovery requires shared responsibility, global solidarity, urgent and immediate cooperation and structural transformations to enable deeper regional integration. This integration should focus on impact-based value chains to be resiliently adaptable to changing global realities and arduous local contexts. This paper provides integrative avenues for potential regional recovery within the region.

el propósito de este manuscrito es examinar el impacto de COVID-19 en la región de Latinoamérica y el Caribe (LAC) y discutir los motores imperativos para una posible recuperación regional.

Este estudio analiza conceptualmente los efectos del COVID-19 en la región de LAC y destaca áreas potenciales de recuperación.

la región de LAC tiene un historial de enfrentar desafíos de desarrollo estructural debido a la desigualdad digital, la degradación ambiental, la erosión de la democracia y la deuda financiera, que han llevado a un profundo descontento entre las personas de LAC, y esta insatisfacción se ha visto intensificada por las crisis derivadas de la pandemia de COVID-19. La región de LAC puede aumentar su resiliencia y recuperar su camino hacia el desarrollo sostenible mediante la consolidación de más cortas cadenas de valor regionales basadas en el impacto, la atracción de Inversión Extranjera Directa (IED) con temas de sostenibilidad y el fomento del desarrollo estructural para facilitar la expansión de las empresas de LAC en los mercados internacionales (“multilatinas”).

la recuperación de la crisis del COVID-19 en LAC requiere de responsabilidad compartida, solidaridad global, cooperación urgente e inmediata y transformaciones estructurales que permitan una integración regional más profunda. Esta integración debe centrarse en las más cortas cadenas de valor basadas en el impacto para que se adapten con resiliencia a las cambiantes realidades globales y los arduos contextos locales. Este manuscrito proporciona vías integradoras para una posible recuperación regional dentro de la región.

Existen algunos estudios preliminares sobre el impacto económico y social del COVID-19 en la región de LAC, sin embargo, las estrategias que las economías emergentes y en desarrollo podrían seguir para recuperarse rápidamente son aún un tema de discusión. La incertidumbre y heterogeneidad de las economías en desarrollo y emergentes y las acciones multidimensionales necesarias requieren adaptaciones y ajustes locales.

o objetivo deste manuscrito é examinar o impacto do COVID-19 na região da América Latina e do Caribe e discutir mecanismos imperativos para uma potencial recuperação regional.

este estudo discute conceitualmente os efeitos do COVID-19 na região da América Latina e do Caribe e destaca áreas potenciais para recuperação.

a região da América Latina e do Caribe (LAC) tem um histórico de desafios estruturais de desenvolvimento – devido à desigualdade digital, degradação ambiental, erosão da democracia e dívida financeira – que levaram a um profundo descontentamento entre as pessoas na região da LAC, e essa insatisfação foi intensificada pelas crises decorrentes da pandemia COVID-19. A região da LAC pode aumentar sua resiliência e recuperar seu caminho para o desenvolvimento sustentável consolidando cadeias de valor regionais com impacto econômico e social, atraindo Investimento Estrangeiro Direto (IED) com foco em sustentabilidade e fomentando o desenvolvimento estrutural para facilitar a expansão das empresas da LAC para mercados internacionais (“multilatinas”)

a recuperação da crise LAC COVID-19 requer responsabilidade compartilhada, solidariedade global, cooperação urgente e imediata e transformações estruturais para permitir uma integração regional mais profunda. Essa integração deve se concentrar em cadeias de valor baseadas em impacto para serem resilientemente adaptáveis às mudanças nas realidades globais e nos contextos locais árduos. Este manuscrito oferece caminhos integrativos para uma potencial recuperação regional.

existem alguns estudos preliminares sobre o impacto econômico e social do COVID-19 na região da LAC; no entanto, as estratégias que as economias emergentes e em desenvolvimento podem seguir para se recuperar prontamente ainda estão em discussão. A incerteza e a heterogeneidade das economias em desenvolvimento e emergentes, assim como as ações multidimensionais necessárias requerem adaptações e ajustes locais.

The purpose of this paper is to revise, update and extend the economic vulnerability and economic resilience indices, where economic vulnerability is associated with inherent exposure to external shocks and economic resilience with policies that enable a country to minimize or withstand the negative effects of such shocks. This study also proposes a revised vulnerability/resilience framework to assess the risk of a country being harmed by external economic shocks.

The methodology used in the study involves defining economic vulnerability in terms of inherent features of an economy and defining economic resilience in terms of policy-induced changes, and then devising measureable indices to measure such vulnerability and resilience across countries. The exercise required the examination of various global indices to assess their suitability, in terms of relevance and country coverage, for measuring the vulnerability index and the resilience index and the components of the two indices.

The main finding of the study is that a number highly vulnerable states, including economically successful small island economies, emerged with high resilience scores, suggesting that they adopt policies that enable them to withstand the harmful effects of external shocks. This possibly explains why these states register relatively high GDP per capita, in spite of their high exposure to shocks. On the other hand, a number of countries, mostly large and poor developing countries, that are not highly exposed to external shocks due to their limited dependence on external trade, emerged with a low degree of policy-induced economic resilience.

The study utilized global indicators which sometimes had missing data and these had to be filled in using approximations based on assumptions, and alternative assumption could have produced a different approximations. In addition the classification of countries in terms of the vulnerability and resilience nexus depended highly on many underpinning assumptions, including the definitions and the measurement of the components, the weighting schemes and the thresholds used. It is likely that alternative assumptions would yield alternative classifications.

An important practical implication of this study is that highly economically vulnerable states can reduce the harmful effects of external economic shocks if they adopt policies that lead to resilience building. On the other hand, countries that are not highly exposed to external shocks, can render themselves economically unstable due to their weak economic, social and environmental governance.

This study considers social development and cohesion as one of the pillars of resilience building. The implication of this approach is that social governance, leading to improvements in the education and health of the population could reduce the harm arising from a country’s exposure to external shocks. This is because social governance affects the extent to which relations within a society are properly developed, enabling an effective functioning of the economic apparatus without the hindrance of civil unrest.

This study has extended previous work on the vulnerability and resilience framework, to include almost all countries of the world, using updated data, and has revised the resilience index to include environmental governance. It has also redefined market flexibility to allow for the downsides of excessive financial riskiness. The revision of vulnerability and resilience indices in the light of new data and their interaction showed more convincingly that economies that are highly economically vulnerable could still register economic success as a result of resilience-conducive policies associated with good economic, political, social and environmental governance.

Historically, Panama has always been “a place of transit.” While technically the isthmus formed part of Colombia in the nineteenth century, it was linked geopolitically to the United States soon after the California gold rush, beginning in the late 1840s. The first attempt at building a canal ended in failure in 1893 when disease and poor management forced Ferdinand de Lesseps to abandon the project. The U.S. undertaking to build the canal could only begin after Panama declared itself free and broke away from Colombia in 1903, with the support of the United States.

The paper will first discuss certain sociocultural trends such as population growth, increased life expectancy, the labour force and education, and look at how these are affecting society as a whole. Such trends are linked with the global economy and the industrial sector as well as the environment. The consequences of such trends are a number of problems which face the world in the future, particularly in developing countries. These problems include overpopulation, levelling off of food supplies, diseases, natural resources depletion, and conflicts and clashes in areas where immigration and cultural differences exist. Such problems are discussed together with their implications. Some ideas are then given on how these future difficulties might be overcome; and it is clear that information will have an enormous role to play in this respect. Topics covered comprise global awareness (for example of the environment, birth control, women's rights, healthcare) through education and information; frontierless transactions; global information access, dissemination, communication and transfer of knowledge; knowledge build‐up and transfer through CDROM archiving of latent skills and know‐how; and the like.

As money has come to play a central role in modern society the risk of losing money, financial risk, is a major concern for individuals and societies. Yet the understanding and analysis of financial risk in modern finance theory is very weak and incomplete. Its definitions are muddled with risk management issues, implying that only manageable risks are relevant for scientific analysis. There is also an explicit bias towards measurable risks, implying that unmeasurable risks are somehow irrelevant. Risk analysis in finance is devoid of an ethical stance, a prerequisite for any reasonable discussion of risk. Beck's ‘Risk Society’ is a powerful critique of modern science and its inability to deal with the significant increase in social and ecological risks created by modern industrial society. This paper uses concepts generated by Beck to unravel the various dimensions of financial risk, many of which have hitherto been ignored in the mainstream finance literature. It reveals the extent to which the analysis and understanding of risk in modern finance theory is partial and incomplete. Suggestions are then made for how the analysis of financial risk could be modified to include a wide range of individual, ethical and societal dimensions.

The maritime port in Guadeloupe, a French island in the Lesser Antilles, is set to be transformed into a major logistics hub catering to the Greater Caribbean and the Lesser Antilles. The increase in shipping generated by expansion of the Panama Canal and the development of the cruise industry are the two main factors which contributed to the shift in the Island's policy that aims to capitalise on the increase in the expected shipping traffic in the region. This article examines various areas and policies which have been implemented so far by the Port of Guadeloupe and considers the innovative ways used to achieve its objectives and raises the question as to whether the Guadeloupian development in the logistics area is likely to be a force to be reckoned with in the Caribbean region.

The approach employed involves the analysis of material extracted from published articles and information from periodic progress reports obtained from the Port of Guadeloupe.

The study showed that the Port of Guadeloupe had implemented various changes to achieve its objectives of becoming a major logistics hub in the region and “the smart port” of the Caribbean, which is likely to represent a challenge to Jamaica's aspiration to be the major port in the Caribbean.

Much of the published information accessed on the Guadeloupian Port and elsewhere is written in French, which could limit access to English speakers in conducting related research.

Rapid logistic port development is taking place in the shipping arena in the French-speaking Caribbean and the Guadeloupian logistic hub's aim to be the number one “smart port” in the region could be realised sooner than expected.

If the Port of Guadeloupe achieves its objectives, it could impact on jobs in the shipping industry in the English-speaking Caribbean and affect people's standard of living.

The question as to whether the Port of Guadeloupe is a threat to other Caribbean ports has not yet been explored and the findings of this investigation would be useful to other port authorities.