Charlie on business and avalanches

On the role of Business in Disaster Reduction:
One of the overarching themes within the presentations and the discussions that ensued at this session, was that of speaking the same language. In some sense the humanitarian community needs to come to grips with the lingo of the private sector. I would also say that the reverse should also be true. However, in some cases we are getting better at this - and I have to say that I challenge Terry Jeggle's comment that he has never heard an NGO speak the word "METRICS." - GASP!!! Clearly he has not yet heard of ECB!
I liked the fact that a professor acutely challenged the panelists - pointing out a lack of representatives (specifically any CEOs) from the business sector. I would add that there were no humanitarian agencies on the panel either!

On Artificial Avalanche Release:
One of the beautiful elements of being located in Davos for a risk reduction conference is that Davos has plenty of examples of DRR. The Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research gracefully hosted a technical excursion today - taking us to 3 avalanche zones in the area. The Swiss are extremely organized when it comes to avalanche DRR - everything from defense structures to acute warning systems (including personal sms's to individuals) to artificial avalanche release. The latter I found fascinating because one could wonder what criteria you would use to release an avalanche to prevent a larger one later? Michael Brundl (our host) provided us with a schema or flow chart that considered different elements like type of snow, airspeed, wind direction, etc. These elements were plugged into a decision flow chart that led to a yes or no decision regarding an artificial release.

Such a schema got me thinking about some of our own decision making processes- do any NGOs currently utilize such schema to help us make decisions? If so - what kind? I realize much of what we do tends to lie in gray areas, but I would pose the question as to whether or not a tool like this could have a purpose for us. What do you think?

Charlie Ehle

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Warner's Davos Diary Day 2

Notes to self:1) Consciously look for ways to limit cheese intake2) Ensure you have no cheese at least an hour before having a turn on the amazing earthquake simulator

Another day, another theme: today (Tuesday) was ‘Regions Day’. First up was a session titled “Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRiM) and Paradigm for Integrated Disaster Risk Reduction (PIDR)”, which I subtitled “TSFTPA – The Search For The Perfect Acronym”.

All but one of the contributors in a small, packed room were full professors, and it was interesting to see the inherent contradictions between their approaches. For example, Terry Cannon suggested that the impact of natural disasters is minimal compared to the other risks and hazards faced by the most vulnerable, accounting for just 2.3% of deaths in the 20th century. However Ortwin Renn stated that rapid-onset disasters are greatly underestimated, with their effect and impact much more far-reaching than supposed.

Another glaring difference in viewpoint, highlighted by two of the questions from the floor, was Terry Cannon’s focus on household risks and vulnerability, and on the “most vulnerable”, against the focus of most of the other presenters on urban dynamics or governance. I certainly approve of the Cannon focus on household vulnerability analysis within a local political context, and that “household vulnerability” includes the 5 components of household livelihood, baseline status, self-protection, social protection, governance, and cultural/social elements… all as espoused in more detail in his book “At Risk”.

But perhaps the key point is that discussions about an integrated approach should focus on integration of the academic models from the diaspora of Professors present, before introducing them to politicians, and especially to community leaders. Seems like advancement in the risk reduction academic world requires you to break new ground and carve out new theoretical territory, rather than referring to and building on previous work. Surely the best approach towards integration is reducing model complexity and abundance, and increasing relevance, usability and ubiquity.

Six of us had a quick lunch to discuss the ECB3 Ethiopia plan and made a lot of headway. It so helps being able to do this face-to-face. All present were full of praise for Million’s continued almost single-handed effort to push forward in Ethiopia.

The real value of these conventions/ conferences is the implicit networking and personal relationships developed. I’ve so far missed a couple of sessions due to talking with colleagues. Great talks with Anthony Spalton (IFRC), Salvano Briceno (head of ISDR), and several others yesterday. Today, spent much time with Nick Hall (Plan Int. UK), Terry Jeggle (ISDR), Olivia Harland (DFID) and bunch of others.

More soon, and as Prof. Shi’s final slide stated – “Thanks for your kindly attention!”.

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Warner on learning from children at Davos

Davos Platz, location for the IDRC, is "the highest town in Europe", and quite possibly the most expensive - I have trouble paying $25 for a club sandwich! The amazing mountains surrounding us have unfortunately been covered in clouds and rain for the first two days of the conference, though this will not stop colleagues from using opportunities provided by breaks in sessions to get up into them to hike or even paraglide, especially if the latter involves getting strapped to some hunky guy – I mention no names!
Some 1,000 attendees have registered and collected their 3 massive (and heavy) volumes of abstracts and other printed materials. Today was full of lectures, plenaries and presentations – mainly one way, with not so much interaction with attendees so far. There were at least a couple of water shortages during the long sessions, and overruns squeezed lunch into a quick scoff of croissant and fruit – which at least made a change from the otherwise relentless Swiss diet of cheese and red meat.
It is quite amazing, that amongst the mountain of presenters during the 5 full days of the IDRC, I can find major NGO reps only from Oxfam (3) and Action Aid (1). By contrast there is a surfeit of donors here, with SDC here en masse. We have one ECHO person and one World Bank field person, but no DFID or USAID on the participant list.
If they were under-represented on stage, NGOs were active on the floor, with the first two questions coming from Provash Mondal (Oxfam GB in Vietnam) and Melisa Bodenhamer (World Vision International). Later contributions from the floor included a double attack on Coca Cola’s Europe and Middle East rep, alleging that the company’s financial response to recent disasters was a ‘façade’ in the light of their contribution to poor health around the world.
As ever, the networking is pretty full on. Time before, between and after sessions was filled with meetings, including with reps from UNISDR, UNDP, IFRC and numerous other agencies. There are lots of folks here from previous DRR meetings, but also lots of new faces. There were also surprises – like the demonstration of risk mapping and DRR education by two Japanese children which, at the end of the day, was the first concrete acknowledgement of the real side of work with the most vulnerable. Gave real meaning to the title of the UNISDR report ‘Let Our Children Teach Us’, whose release was a highlight of the day.
More news (and pictures) tomorrow – but first a thankyou to all of our ECB participants for attending and engaging with the larger external sector, to Nick for facilitating, to Ivonne for coming at the last meeting and being amazing support to Juan Manuel, to all three of our field staff for taking time from their essential work in the field, and finally to Heidi for immaculate arranging, smoothing, fixing, and attitude.

Warner

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Matt introduces the ECB Team Blog

With so much going on in the ECB world, it can be hard to keep up! To help, we've launched the ECB Team Blog, an informal diary in which team members take turns to share their views and experiences over a week or so in which they are involved in key events, trips or processes of change.

Our first Team Blogs come from Warner and other members of the ECB3 Risk Reduction team, attending the International Disaster Reduction Conference this week in Davos, Switzerland.

When the Davos conference closes, Warner and his fellow bloggers will pass the blogging baton on - perhaps to you! Much that is 'blogworthy' is happening over the coming months, including a Phase II design workshop in Indonesia and of course the IWG/ECB meeting in Geneva. If you are participating in an event or visiting the field and would like to share your experiences, just let me know. No special writing skills or technical expertise are required - just ideas and enthusiasm!

Matt Bannerman

ECB Communications and Planning Manager

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