Search results

1 – 10 of over 17000
Article
Publication date: 5 April 2013

Rochelle Owen, Erica Fisher and Kyle McKenzie

The purpose of this paper is to outline a unique six‐step process for the inclusion of climate change adaption goals and strategies in a University Climate Change Plan.

1345

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to outline a unique six‐step process for the inclusion of climate change adaption goals and strategies in a University Climate Change Plan.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed‐method approach was used to gather data on campus climate change vulnerabilities and adaption strategies. A literature review highlighted common themes in adaption research. Meetings, surveys, and a specialized workshop with climate scenarios were created to elicit campus and community input.

Findings

The majority of the peer‐reviewed and grey literature surrounding climate change adaptation planning is aimed at larger levels of organization than a University campus (e.g. nations, populations, regions, and cities). An original planning process was created to identify vulnerabilities, risks and strategies. Key vulnerabilities fell into three main areas of concern: energy, transportation, and built environment. Adaptation goals, objectives and strategies were outlined for the Dalhousie University Climate Change Plan, based on risk levels associated with vulnerabilities.

Research limitations/implications

The adaption survey and workshop was created for this research. Small improvements were suggested for future use. The six weather scenarios presented at the workshop emphasized extreme events. Some participants felt that scenarios should be developed that feature smaller climate changes over a longer period of time. The prioritization activity used to establish risk needed to clarify the definition of risk being used. Future scenarios could include more consideration of socio‐economic factors.

Originality/value

Specific planning frameworks to create campus‐level climate adaptation strategies are sparse. A unique planning framework and workshop was developed to identify key climate change adaption strategies for universities.

Details

International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-6370

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 April 2022

Shivani Chouhan, Aishwarya Narang and Mahua Mukherjee

In the event of a disaster, educational institutions like schools serve as lifeline buildings. Hence, it is crucial to safeguard these buildings for the communities that may…

Abstract

Purpose

In the event of a disaster, educational institutions like schools serve as lifeline buildings. Hence, it is crucial to safeguard these buildings for the communities that may depend on the school as a disaster shelter and aid center. Thus, this paper aims to conduct a multihazard risk assessment survey at 50 schools (with 246 building blocks) in Dehradun.

Design methodology approach

The past few decades have witnessed the impact of multihazard frequency in Uttarakhand, India, due to the geographical features of the Himalayas and its neo-tectonic mountain-building process. Dehradun is the capital of Uttarakhand state and comes under seismic zone IV, which is highly prone to earthquakes.

Findings

The hazard assessment is divided into two types of surveys: first, building-level surveys that include rapid visual screening, nonstructural risk assessment and fire safety audit, and second, campus-level surveys that include vulnerability analysis for earthquake, flood, industrial hazard, landslide and wind.

Social implications

This paper will list several gaps and unrecognized practices in the region that increase the schools’ multihazard risk. The study’s outcome will help prioritize the planning of disaster awareness, retrofitting execution, future construction practices and decision-making to minimize the risk and prepare the school for the upcoming disasters.

Originality value

Physical data were collected by the author to determine the multihazard risk analysis in 50 schools in the Dehradun District of Uttarakhand, India. The building- and campus-level surveys have been used to generate a database for the retrofit and renovation process for each individual school to use their budget fruitfully and in a planned way. The survey conducted is more effort and a more detailed risk evaluation which necessitates effectively mitigating and ensuring the potential safety of the region’s schools.

Details

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, vol. 15 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-5908

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 8 November 2021

Thomas Toma Tora, Degefa Tolossa Degaga and Abera Uncha Utallo

The conceptual root of vulnerability dates back to the 1970s in the social science spheres. Vulnerability is a multi-dimensional and determinant precondition for disaster…

1053

Abstract

Purpose

The conceptual root of vulnerability dates back to the 1970s in the social science spheres. Vulnerability is a multi-dimensional and determinant precondition for disaster occurrence. The Gamo lowlands are exposed to a wide range of vulnerabilities. Therefore, this study aims to schematize community perceptions and understanding of vulnerability in drought-affected rural Gamo lowlands.

Design/methodology/approach

A community-based cross-sectional survey design and the mixed-methods research approach were executed. A four-staged multistage sampling was used to identify the respondent households. Into the four study sites, sample households were allocated proportionally by the lottery method. The survey data were gathered from 285 lowland households. The structured survey questionnaire, key informant interview, focus group discussion, and field observations, and transect walks were the tools used to collect the primary data. Data were analyzed deploying both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The Likert scale is used to analyze households’ vulnerability perceptions in which the item analysis approach was used for detailed analysis of the Likert-type items.

Findings

Locally, people perceive and understand vulnerability as exposure to drought hazard, rainfall inconsistency, the prevalence of human and animal diseases, livelihood insecurity, food shortfalls, poor income, lack of access to market, landholding and livestock ownership which are schematized by vulnerability perception pathways that delineate its extent. The findings also showed that the Gamo lowland inhabitants are unequally vulnerable as 96.5% of the studied households stated the differential idiosyncrasy of vulnerability. Old-aged, small-sized and female-headed households with no supportive force were found to be more vulnerable.

Practical implications

For better resilience, enhancing communities’ perceptions and understanding of vulnerability via continuous awareness creation by all the concerned stakeholders is recommended as the majority was lowly educated. It also yields input for policy debates and decision-making in the drought-prone lowland setup for building a resilient community.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is an original work pursued by using a household survey with empirical data sourced from drought-prone rural lowland communities.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 13 no. 4/5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2006

Mark Pelling

The Millennium Declaration and the Hyogo Framework for Action point towards the need for methods to identify urban vulnerability to disaster risk as a pre-cursor for the…

205

Abstract

The Millennium Declaration and the Hyogo Framework for Action point towards the need for methods to identify urban vulnerability to disaster risk as a pre-cursor for the development of benchmarks with which to track policy progress for urban sustainability and risk reduction. This paper responds to this call by assessing the state of the art in urban vulnerability and risk assessment tools. It presents a review of the conceptual frameworks, methodologies and comparative advantages of ten tools. These are categorised into deductive and inductive approaches, with inductive approaches in turn separated into those that use social-survey and participatory methods. The tools examined vary in the focus of their interests between those concerned with the vulnerability of places (cities or buildings) and people (either as predefined vulnerable social groups or identified through household livelihood sustainability).

The paper calls for a deeper conversation between the emerging community of practitioners working on urban disaster risk management and the existing urban development community. For example, disasters are typically defined as exceptionally large, single events, which adds to analytical clarity, but misses the cumulative impact of multiple small, local events on household sustainability and urban infrastructure, ultimately distorting planning guidance. There is also a need for natural hazard specific vulnerability assessment tools to be interpreted alongside, or to incorporate social, economic and political sources of danger to livelihoods and human health. For forward looking policy relevance, tools are also needed that can assess adaptive or coping capacity. This is essential for the building of a holistic approach to urban risk management. An approach that coherently tackles the multiple hazards and vulnerabilities faced by urban dwellers, and seeks to avoid the shifting of risk burdens between populations and the movement of people from one kind of threat to another.

Details

Open House International, vol. 31 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 29 May 2023

Divya Nair and Neeta Mhavan

A zero-day vulnerability is a complimentary ticket to the attackers for gaining entry into the network. Thus, there is necessity to device appropriate threat detection systems and…

Abstract

A zero-day vulnerability is a complimentary ticket to the attackers for gaining entry into the network. Thus, there is necessity to device appropriate threat detection systems and establish an innovative and safe solution that prevents unauthorised intrusions for defending various components of cybersecurity. We present a survey of recent Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) in detecting zero-day vulnerabilities based on the following dimensions: types of cyber-attacks, datasets used and kinds of network detection systems.

Purpose: The study focuses on presenting an exhaustive review on the effectiveness of the recent IDS with respect to zero-day vulnerabilities.

Methodology: Systematic exploration was done at the IEEE, Elsevier, Springer, RAID, ESCORICS, Google Scholar, and other relevant platforms of studies published in English between 2015 and 2021 using keywords and combinations of relevant terms.

Findings: It is possible to train IDS for zero-day attacks. The existing IDS have strengths that make them capable of effective detection against zero-day attacks. However, they display certain limitations that reduce their credibility. Novel strategies like deep learning, machine learning, fuzzing technique, runtime verification technique, and Hidden Markov Models can be used to design IDS to detect malicious traffic.

Implication: This paper explored and highlighted the advantages and limitations of existing IDS enabling the selection of best possible IDS to protect the system. Moreover, the comparison between signature-based and anomaly-based IDS exemplifies that one viable approach to accurately detect the zero-day vulnerabilities would be the integration of hybrid mechanism.

Details

Smart Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Sustainable Performance Management in a Global Digitalised Economy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-555-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2020

Md. Shaharier Alam and Shamim Mahabubul Haque

Seismic vulnerability evaluation of various public structures, especially school buildings, is very crucial for designing hazard mitigation initiatives in seismic prone areas. The…

Abstract

Purpose

Seismic vulnerability evaluation of various public structures, especially school buildings, is very crucial for designing hazard mitigation initiatives in seismic prone areas. The city of Mymensingh is at great risk of earthquake because of its geographical location, geological structure and proximity to active faults. The city is famous for its ancient and renowned educational institutes that need to be evaluated for understanding the seismic performance of the building during an earthquake. This study aims to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of educational buildings of Mymensingh city using rapid visual screening (RVS) and index based approach.

Design/methodology/approach

RVS procedure includes field survey and secondary source assessment for evaluating structural vulnerability attributes. Analytical hierarchy process is applied to develop an index focusing on systematic attributes of vulnerability based on expert opinions. Then, a composite vulnerability map is developed combining both structural and systematic vulnerability score providing an equal weight.

Findings

This study evaluates the seismic vulnerability of 458 educational buildings of Mymensingh city and the result shows that 23.14% educational building has high, 46.29% has moderate and 26.86% has moderately low and only 3.71% buildings has the low seismic vulnerability. This study expected to be helpful in resource targeting and prioritizing seismic hazard mitigation activities for education buildings of Mymensingh city.

Originality/value

This study endeavors to present a comprehensive vulnerability assessment method by integrating RVS and index based approach that incorporates both structural and systematic dimensions of vulnerability. The result is expected to be helpful in the formulation of disaster prevention policy for vulnerable educational buildings and development of the earthquake-resistant building codes for the new building construction in Mymensingh city.

Details

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, vol. 11 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-5908

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 March 2017

An Van Quach, Frank Murray and Angus Morrison-Saunders

This paper aims to investigate shrimp income losses of farmers in the four farming systems in the research areas of Ca Mau, Vietnam, and determine the vulnerability of shrimp…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate shrimp income losses of farmers in the four farming systems in the research areas of Ca Mau, Vietnam, and determine the vulnerability of shrimp farming income to climate change events.

Design/methodology/approach

Field research interviews were conducted with 100 randomly selected households across the four farming systems to access shrimp income status and vulnerability levels to climate change events. Four focus groups, each aligned to a particular farming system, were surveyed to categorise likelihood and consequences of climate change effects based on a risk matrix worksheet to derive levels of risk, adaptive capacity and vulnerability levels.

Findings

Shrimp farmers in the study areas have been facing shrimp income reduction recently and shrimp farming income is vulnerable to climate change events. There are some differences between farmers’ perspectives on vulnerability levels, but some linkages are evident among shrimp farmer characteristics, ramifications for each farming system, shrimp income losses and shrimp farmers’ perspectives on vulnerability levels of shrimp incomes. From an income perspective, farmers operating in intensive shrimp farming systems appear to be less vulnerable to existing and expected climate change effects relative to those in mixed production or lower density systems.

Originality/value

Having identified the vulnerability level of shrimp farming income to climate change events in different farming systems based on shrimp farmers’ perspectives, the paper adds new knowledge to existing research on vulnerability of the aquaculture sector to climate change. The research findings have implications for policymakers who may choose to encourage intensive shrimp farming to enhance shrimp farmer resilience to the effects of climate change as well as improving cultivation techniques for shrimp farmers. The findings could thus guide local government decision-making on climate change responses and residents of Ca Mau as well as within the wider Mekong Delta in developing suitable practical adaption measures.

Details

International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-8692

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 November 2017

Sui Pheng Low, Shang Gao and Gina Qi Er Wong

Singapore’s health-care infrastructure is suffering from increasing pressure due to population growth and a rapidly ageing population. This paper aims to assess the resilience of…

Abstract

Purpose

Singapore’s health-care infrastructure is suffering from increasing pressure due to population growth and a rapidly ageing population. This paper aims to assess the resilience of hospital facilities in Singapore’s health-care industry. The main attribute of resilience is adaptive capacity, which is also associated with vulnerability. Vulnerability is defined as the system’s susceptibility to threats that cause damage and affect its normal performance, while resilience is defined as the ability to anticipate and the capacity to change before a setback becomes obvious.

Design/methodology/approach

A questionnaire survey was adopted for the study, with respondents drawn randomly from both the health-care professionals as well as the public. The questionnaire survey results from 83 respondents, consisting of 31 health-care professionals and 52 members of the public, are analysed in this pilot study.

Findings

Ninety-one per cent of the respondents perceived bed shortage as an indication of vulnerability. The survey results showed that bed shortages, high bed-occupancy and long waiting hours were perceived as indications of vulnerability. The top three vulnerabilities identified were Singapore’s ageing population, the fast-growing population and the increasing trend of chronic diseases in its population. From the results, respondents appeared doubtful about the resilience of Singapore’s public hospitals. On a positive note, Singapore residents are still, relatively speaking, confident of the quality of Singapore’s health-care delivery system, which can be translated as one with relatively strong community resilience.

Originality/value

In conclusion, it appears fair to say that the public perceive hospital facilities in Singapore’s health-care industry to be reasonably resilient, but expect further improvements to ensure continuous delivery of quality health-care services.

Details

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, vol. 8 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-5908

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 August 2021

Shafiqul Alam, Ziaul Haq Adnan, Mohammed Abdul Baten and Surajit Bag

Globally, a myriad of floating workers is in grave jeopardy due to the ceasing of employment opportunities that resulted from the mobility restriction during the Covid-19. Despite…

Abstract

Purpose

Globally, a myriad of floating workers is in grave jeopardy due to the ceasing of employment opportunities that resulted from the mobility restriction during the Covid-19. Despite the global concern, developing countries have been suffering disproportionately due to the dominance of informal workers in their labour market, posing the necessity to campaign for the immediate protection of this vulnerable population. This paper analyses various dimensions of the vulnerability of urban floating workers in the context of Covid-19 in Bangladesh. In reference to International Labour Organization's (ILO) “Decent Work” concept, this paper endeavours to examine floating workers' vulnerability using the insider-outsider framework in context to Covid-19 pandemic.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, data were collected before the pandemic to assess the vulnerability of the informal floating workers. Later, we extended the study to the second phase during the Covid-19 pandemic to understand how pandemic affects the lives and livelihood of floating workers. In phase one, data were collected from a sample of 342 floating workers and analysed based on job security, wages, working environment, psychological wellbeing and education to understand the vulnerability of floating workers. In phase two, 20 in-depth qualitative interviews were conducted, followed by thematic analysis to explore how the pandemic affects the existing vulnerability of floating workers.

Findings

Various social protection schemes were analysed to evaluate their effectiveness in reducing the vulnerability of floating workers facing socio-economic crises. The study has found that the pandemic has multiplied the existing vulnerability of the floating workers on many fronts that include job losses, food crisis, shelter insecurity, education, social, physical and mental wellbeing. In response to the pandemic, the Government stimulus packages and Non-government Covid-19 initiatives lack the appropriate system, magnitude, and focus on protecting the floating workers in Bangladesh.

Practical implications

This paper outlines various short-term interventions and long-term policy prescriptions to safeguard floating workers' lives and livelihood from the ongoing Corona pandemic and unforeseen uncertainties.

Originality/value

This paper is the first of its kind that aims at understanding the vulnerability of this significant workforce in Bangladesh, taking the whole picture of Government and Non-government initiatives during Covid-19.

Details

Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 29 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-5771

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 October 2019

Piyoosh Rautela, Girish Chandra Joshi and Shailesh Ghildiyal

The purpose of this study is to estimate the cost of seismic resilience of identified vulnerable lifeline public buildings in earthquake-prone Himalayan province of Uttarakhand in…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to estimate the cost of seismic resilience of identified vulnerable lifeline public buildings in earthquake-prone Himalayan province of Uttarakhand in India.

Design/methodology/approach

Built area of the identified vulnerable lifeline buildings together with prevalent rate of construction has been considered for assessing the cost of seismic resilience while improvised rapid visual screening (RVS) technique, better suited to the built environment in the region, has been used for assessing seismic vulnerability.

Findings

Investment of US$250.08m is assessed as being required for ensuring seismic safety of 56.3, 62.1, 52.9, 64.6, 71.9 and 61.7% surveyed buildings, respectively, of fire and emergency services, police, health, education, local administration and other departments that are to become non-functional after an earthquake and result in a major socio-political turmoil. A total amount of US$467.71m is estimated as being required for making all the buildings of these departments seismically resilient.

Research limitations/implications

Actual investment estimates and reconstruction/retrofitting plans have to be prepared after detailed investigations as RVS technique only provides a preliminary estimate and helps in prioritising buildings for detailed investigations.

Practical implications

This study is intended to provide a snapshot of the state of seismic vulnerability together with the financial resources required for corrective measures. This is to help the authorities in planning phased mobilisation of financial and technical resources for making the built environment seismically resilient.

Social implications

This study is to bring forth awareness on this important issue and consequent public opinion in favour of safety of public facilities to ensure allocation of appropriate financial resources together with changes in techno-legal regime for the cause of earthquake safety. At the same time, this study is to motivate masses to voluntarily assess safety of their neighbourhood and undertake corrective measures.

Originality/value

This study is based on primary data collected by the authors.

Details

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, vol. 10 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-5908

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 17000