Cross-Border Collaboration in Disaster Management


Book Description

In recent years, disaster events spreading across national borders have increased, which requires improved collaboration between countries. By means of an agent-based simulation and an empirical study, this thesis provides valuable insights for decision-makers in order to overcome barriers in cross-border cooperation and thus, enhance borderland resilience for future events. Finally, implications for today's world in terms of globalization versus emerging nationalism are discussed.




Improving Cross-border Disaster Response by Enhancing Collaboration and Cooperation Between the United States and Mexico Through Universities


Book Description

The spread of information due to the availability of technology throughout most regions of the world has enabled global collaboration on natural disasters. As mass media has made disasters more prominent we have seen that no corner of the earth is immune to such catastrophes. For that reason we must learn to prepare for and to be resilient when a disaster strikes. An integral part of Homeland Security is preparing for and responding to disasters within our borders. To successfully do this we have created the National Response Framework, which outlines the structure of how to function before, during and after a disaster. However, in order to efficiently serve the people we must take into account that disasters do not respect borders. With that in mind, it is essential to cooperate and collaborate with our neighbor south of the border to improve disaster response. Building relationships with Mexico regarding common concerns and interests, like disaster response, is vital to the emergency response structure. To avoid conflicts during a disaster, it is key to develop a relationship between the neighboring nations; where each country has knowledge of and understands the function of the other country's response protocols and apparatus. Though Mexico and the United States have strong connections and mutual interests, politics in the forms of procedures and protocols in respect to disasters obstruct speedy and efficient response to disasters affecting both countries. For that reason, to effectively develop a more comprehensive relationship and reach domestic and trans-border efficiency, we must find a way to engage with each other without obstacles in the form of politics and protocols. The way to do this is by having the federal government and/or state department leverage universities with funding and project parameters to research and establish formal engagement strategies with counterparts in the other country.




Crossing Borders


Book Description

This multidisciplinary book examines the diverse ways in which environmental disasters with compounding impacts are being governed as they traverse sovereign territories across rapidly urbanising societies in Asia and the Pacific. Combining theoretical advances with contextually rich studies, the book examines efforts to tackle the complexities of cross-border environmental governance. In an urban age in which disasters are not easily contained within neatly delineated jurisdictions, both in terms of their interconnected causalities and their cascading effects, governance structures and mechanisms are faced with major challenges related to cooperation, collaboration and information sharing. This book helps bridge the gap between theory and practice by offering fresh insights and contrasting explanations for variations in transboundary disaster governance regimes among urbanising populations in the Asia-Pacific.







Building Community Disaster Resilience Through Private-Public Collaboration


Book Description

Natural disasters-including hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and floods-caused more than 220,000 deaths worldwide in the first half of 2010 and wreaked havoc on homes, buildings, and the environment. To withstand and recover from natural and human-caused disasters, it is essential that citizens and communities work together to anticipate threats, limit their effects, and rapidly restore functionality after a crisis. Increasing evidence indicates that collaboration between the private and public sectors could improve the ability of a community to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. Several previous National Research Council reports have identified specific examples of the private and public sectors working cooperatively to reduce the effects of a disaster by implementing building codes, retrofitting buildings, improving community education, or issuing extreme-weather warnings. State and federal governments have acknowledged the importance of collaboration between private and public organizations to develop planning for disaster preparedness and response. Despite growing ad hoc experience across the country, there is currently no comprehensive framework to guide private-public collaboration focused on disaster preparedness, response, and recovery. Building Community Disaster Resilience through Private-Public Collaboration assesses the current state of private-public sector collaboration dedicated to strengthening community resilience, identifies gaps in knowledge and practice, and recommends research that could be targeted for investment. Specifically, the book finds that local-level private-public collaboration is essential to the development of community resilience. Sustainable and effective resilience-focused private-public collaboration is dependent on several basic principles that increase communication among all sectors of the community, incorporate flexibility into collaborative networks, and encourage regular reassessment of collaborative missions, goals, and practices.







Asia-Pacific Disaster Management


Book Description

The book outlines the regulatory environment for disaster prevention and management in broad social, economic and political context. The first half of the book focuses mainly on Japan, especially the ‘3-11’ events: the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the Tohoku area on 11 March 2011 and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant radiation leaks. The second half focuses on the USA (the only other Asia-Pacific country to have experienced a serious nuclear emergency), Indonesia, China, New Zealand, Australia and international law. One question explored is whether socio-legal norms play different roles in preventing and managing responses to natural disasters compared to ‘man-made’ disasters. Another is how ‘disaster law’ interacts with society across very diverse societies in the disaster-prone Asia-Pacific region. The book also addresses the increasingly important roles played by international law and regional regimes for cross-border cooperation in disaster prevention and relief, including the functions played by military forces. Erudite, pragmatic, and charged with detailed, substantive knowledge of an astonishing range of contexts and research fields, this timely collection of important essays on the law and society of disaster management stands as an exemplary international academic response to the disasters of 11 March 2011. (Annelise Riles)







Effective Disaster Response in Cross Border Events


Book Description

Disasters occur cyclically, seasonally, or in geologic time, sometimes without notice, causing loss of life and environmental and property damage. Communities must be prepared to assess their risks and the consequences of disasters, and determine which vulnerable populations will need special assistance. The building blocks of effective disaster management are risk assessment, mitigation, planning, training and exercises for response, and a good plan for recovery, whether the scope is limited to one community or is a cross border - interstate or international - event. However, cross border events create additional political, social and diplomatic challenges that require additional planning.




Disaster Management: Local Roles and the Importance of Inter-Agency Cooperation


Book Description

This book is a collection of papers that provides the reader with an understanding of the momentous tasks associated with the government's responsibilities before, during, and after any disaster. A special emphasis is placed on inter-agency cooperation and coordination as well as the local responders as opposed to the national apparatus.