Actionable knowledge for disaster risk reduction: understanding social vulnerability to enhance community resilience to natural hazards

Effective disaster risk reduction depends on improving coordination between state agencies and multiple civil society actors, and enhancing community resilience to risk management of humanitarian emergencies (including droughts, floods and landslides) by addressing specific local knowledge gaps. However, little systematic data exists on these issues. Such coordination challenges and knowledge gaps are particularly acute in low and middle income countries in east Africa (eg. Mozambique) and south east Asia (eg. Nepal, India), which face manifest governance challenges across geographic and political-administrative scales. Mitigation of disaster risk here requires (1) improved coordination between government, NGOs and affected (often remote rural) communities; and (2) developing a greater understanding of the under-explored social vulnerabilities to hazards in affected communities. Both challenges offer invaluable opportunities to generate actionable knowledge to enhance community resilience to disaster risks: that is, knowledge that directly improves community resilience capabilities and helps shape the development of grassroots strategies for practical preparedness and response.

To address the second of these issues, applications are invited for a doctoral studentship examining community scale factors influencing social vulnerability to disaster risk reduction as this relates to any of the following SHEAR studentship consortium project themes (drought; flooding; landslides) in any of the project focal countries (India, Mozambique, Nepal). To date, little research has been conducted on the hazard priorities or the social vulnerabilities of different community groups, or on how these different groups engage with natural hazard management on a day-to-day basis. This studentship will engage in participatory research with people in affected communities to explore how more effective forms of early warning and hazard management can be developed based on a more nuanced understanding of community informal institutions and their mobilization of indigenous and scientific knowledges.
Key research questions are (1) to identify and examine the natural hazard priorities of communities (eg. over drought, floods, landslides, in relation to property, land use patterns, and/or provision of ecosystem services etc.) and community engagement with state and civil society actors in addressing these issues; (2) to assess how hazard vulnerability is governed at community scale, what community institutions and coping strategies have been developed in affected communities, and how access to these institutions and strategies are shaped by issues of gender, caste, class and ethnicity; and (3) to assess how disaster risk reduction be enhanced in future to take account of social vulnerabilities, including through developing citizen science approaches. A fourth cross-cutting question will be to explore the possibilities for sharing of best practice on social vulnerabilities for disaster risk management between the focal countries across the SHEAR project consortium. This studentship thus offers exciting possibilities to be directly involved in shaping new forms of actionable knowledge that can help boost community resilience to disasters in some of the world’s poorest countries.

Skills and experience:

The successful candidate will directly contribute to the creation of actionable knowledge by undertaking the range of activities set out above to deliver the research project. Essential requirements are: ability to collect primary research data through a variety of research methods; to analyse and interpret quantitative and qualitative data sets; to apply knowledge in a way which develops new intellectual understanding; and to disseminate research findings through publication and research seminars. The successful candidate will have a first degree in area of specialism and normally a higher degree relevant to research area or equivalent indicators of high-level analytical capability. They will be able to communicate complex information clearly; work on own initiative and co-ordinate their work with others to avoid conflict or duplication of effort; and decide in consultation with the supervisory team the most appropriate way of undertaking research activities and how to convey findings. The postholder will be required to liaise with a wide range of stakeholders in the relevant Shear focal country and with external collaborators on existing projects held by the supervisory team. They will have excellent communication skills and preferably experience of overseas fieldwork in LMI countries.

Eligibility:

The programme is open to UK and overseas students with an undergraduate degree (at least an upper second) or masters (with a merit/distinction) in a relevant discipline including geography, anthropology, sociology, political science, public administration, management studies, or to those with substantive experience of working in disaster relief in LMICs.

For informal discussion about this studentship please contact Dr Julian Clark, University of Birmingham [Email Address Removed]

To be considered for the studentship, please submit a CV, a cover letter highlighting your relevant background and experience, and two referees, to Dr Julian Clark, University of Birmingham [Email Address Removed]