What's New in Knowledge | December 2024
The Scanlan Foundation Research Institute released their landmark Mapping Social Cohesion report for 2024. They found that in a world struggling with conflict, division and polarisation, social cohesion in Australia remains under pressure, but has not cracked. Australians' sense of belonging, happiness, and participation in community and civic life have held steady, while the strength of our communities may be protecting our wellbeing and harmony. This is important to us to understand, as much of what we are trying to achieve is reliant on strong social cohesion.
The OECD Annual Migration Outlook has been published. For the Australian context, Australia registered record levels of immigration, our humanitarian migration program increased by a third, we are in the top 3 for temporary/seasonal labour migration, and we remain in the top 5 for international students.
Australia has a refreshed National Urban Policy, with goals of urban places being liveable and equitable, productive and innovative, and sustainable and resilient.
AIDR launched the first Planning for Animals handbook, with its scope being across disaster risk reduction, preparedness for response and recovery, as well as the breadth of the animal groups we consider, and the nature of their custodians.
In understanding consequences and recovery, this article looks at the challenges of building back better for householders. While the language of this article is very academic, stick with it for the important findings on recovery milestones and resilience, and the counterintuitive lower income, lower impact, slower recovery vs higher income, higher impact, faster recovery rates findings. This paper examines community wellbeing as an indicator of recovery, using Hurricane Harvey as a case study.
The progress of recovery, 6 years on from the Camp Fire in California is the subject of this report. This paper also looks at post disaster housing estimate, using the Camp Fire as a guide. This paper examines seen and unseen vulnerabilities in evaluating the earthquake recovery from Nepal. The latest newsletter from the How we survive folk has arrived, which features Professor Daniel Aldrich delivering the UTZON lecture on social capital and social infrastructure, among other things. This paper looks into the issue of food and nutritional insecurity of pregnant women living in shelters post-earthquake in Turkiye.
In thinking about systemic risk, this paper looks at how street network design can improve disaster resilience. This paper contributes to the notion that systemic risk assessments need to replace linear hazard based approaches. The European Union has developed an approach to using foresights when looking at risks on the horizon.
In disaster risk reduction, UNDRR have published their annual assessment of multi-hazard early warning systems. This is a really good framing: ordinary policies achieve extraordinary outcomes, this time in flood risk reduction in New Jersey. This handbook from Red Cross helps practitioners undertaking disaster risk reduction in fragile, conflict or violent situations. This paper strategically examines the quality of hazard mitigation plans in the state of Louisiana in the US. The Person Centred-Preparedness Program gets a focus in this ABC report from Tasmania.
The importance of social and green infrastructure in building climate resilience is the focus of this paper. This paper discusses natural and environmental risk communication and presents the findings of a scoping review that set out to identify campaign experiences, concrete applications, and tools. Conserving small amounts of watersheds can significantly protect cities from flooding according to this University of British Columbia research.
This paper examines the role of direct experience in preparedness and evacuation behaviours in low income communities in New York City. This paper from Red Cross’ Anticipation Hub looks at employing anticipatory action ahead of disease outbreaks and epidemics. This is a role playing game aimed at younger adults that focuses on risk perceptions.
Focussing on First Nations knowledge, this piece outlines the benefits to cultural health and wellbeing of caring for Country. Sumas First Nation’s Emergency Management Department has released the Sumas First Nation: Resilience in Action – Managing Risk and Recovery Report, a transformative tool rooted in a Semá:th perspective, guiding their path toward recovery and resilience. This report goes beyond traditional resilience planning, emphasising recovery as an ongoing, community-led, and community-driven journey, ensuring that the voices, values, and wisdom of the Semá:th people are woven into every step.
For children and young people, the State of the World’s Children Report has been released by UNICEF. This report examines three transformative global megatrends that will profoundly impact children's lives by 2050: demographic shifts, climate and environmental crises, and frontier technologies. UNICEF have also released a young people’s guide to climate change and mental health. This Conversation article outlines the climate change impacts on young people’s mental health. The latest Emerging Minds newsletter details new resources for working with children and young people.
Recognising inequity, this article focuses on the need to plan for people who are incarcerated during disasters. This report highlights that a small percentage of funding of global climate funds are going towards projects serving informal settlements and the urban poor. The 2024 Yearbook of Global Climate Action from the UN Framework on Climate Change looks at the necessity of inclusive action for climate change. The Prevention Web editors have pulled together this excellent collection on post-disaster violence towards women.
Looking at weather matters and climate change, this article focuses on climate justice in the African context, posing the question on why they need to borrow money to repair damage that they didn’t cause. Climate change is hitting women the hardest. In the context of COP29, this article also looks at inequity and climate injustices, and this one on leadership. This article examines how climate change reporting is not connecting with people and their real issues. This is a Q and A on the science of attribution of climate change to extreme weather.
There’s been quite a focus on different hazards, with this article examining the public health threats that will emerge from the Valencia floods. While on the floods, this news piece highlights the anger towards the response to the floods. The emergence of large, organised protests so soon after the impact is a new phenomenon to be watched. This paper and interactive tool from University of Adelaide uses environmental simulation and neural networks to help plan bushfire risk reduction. This article focusses on the regional fire history that might be held in bat poo. Hamish Clarke ponders what if Philomena Cunk did a special on fire? He then climbs inside the State of Wildfires report, and gives us a sobering view of fire.
This article describes the activities of World Tsunami Awareness Day. This paper uses deep learning to spatially determine targets for terrorism and armed conflict and finds prosperous urban areas, and poor rural areas more likely to be targeted. This article looks at the impact of extreme weather on the gig economy. The cyclist in me loves this article on how bikes were used in the aftermath of the Valencia floods to support people and deliver resources. This article reminds us of the danger posed by volcanic eruptions to air traffic. This article examines the speed increases in hurricane winds in the Atlantic as a result of climate change. This paper examines the cognitive limits of perceived flood risk in the Hawkesbury area and its impact on residential property values.
On animals in disasters, this article looks at the health of Chernobyl’s frogs, 40 years on. This report outlines innovative plans to increase funding for wildlife conversation through businesses paying for profiting from digital genetic material derived from nature.
Focussing on extreme heat, this research finds only 25% of older Queenslanders understand the threat of extreme heat. UNDRR examine the health implications of extreme heat and what can be done to reduce its impact. Unexplained heat spots are popping up across the world, according to this report from Columbia University. The lessons from India on managing urban heat should be heeded by he world, according to this World Bank Report.
In health, this article reminds us of the importance of public health surveillance and its various techniques to detect and eradicate outbreaks. This Conversation article examines how thunderstorm asthma is becoming more common and the role of climate change. This paper examines the health warning aspects of forecasting extreme heat and cold.
Looking at governance, leadership, and capacity building, this article calls for greater transparency in leadership in the emergence of strong research networks and plans in BRICS economies. This paper is an interesting look at governance, placemaking and memorials in Japan post 3/11.
Examining the frontiers in technology, this article looks at how AI generated images could threaten science. This is a great article from the excellent Holger Maier and team on Xplainable AI and its limitations. This paper looks at how internet of things sensors might be able improve flood mitigation. This paper calls for caution in geoengineering attempts to block sunlight to cool the earth.
This article reminds us that AI enhanced flood prediction models are only as good as the information that goes into them. The not often discussed issue (unless you lived in the red zone in Christchurch) of earthquake liquefaction is the focus of this data set. This AI tool generates realistic satellite images of future flooding. This paper examines the potential role of YouTube content as a source of disaster impact data.
Did you know, how to build a weather radar?
In good news, China’s thriving forests are stockpiling significant amounts of Carbon dioxide.
Sources: Prevention Web, The Conversation, UNDRR, UNEP, Nature, International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, LinkedIn, RAND Corporation, European Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network.
Compiled by Lexi Barrington and John Richardson