Countries ask for science to help fight disasters

15 May, 2015

UKCDS research into what countries want to help them prepare for and respond to disasters has been featured online in the scientific publication PLOS Currents.

Drones were used to help search and rescue teams after the Nepal earthquake (Image: DFID)
Drones were used to help search and rescue teams after the Nepal earthquake (Image: DFID)

UKCDS research into what countries want to help them prepare for and respond to disasters has been featured online in the scientific publication PLOS Currents.

The study was led by the UKCDS Disaster Risk Reduction Fellow, Julie Calkins, and asked nations what they needed from science, evidence and technology to achieve disaster risk reduction (DRR).

The research article, Moving Forward after Sendai: How Countries Want to Use Science, Evidence and Technology for Disaster Risk Reductionexplains how there is a demand for greater science in DRR decision-making and solutions.

The main themes were: promoting research and practitioner engagement; increase technology transfer mechanisms; open data; communication of usable evidence and user’s needs; education and training; and lastly, international cooperation all contributing to national capacity building. Countries feel the main difficulties with existing delivery are gaps in knowledge, lack of coordination and a gap in capacity to use scientific evidence for policy-making.

Statements were included from countries in light grey; survey results were contributed by countries in dark grey. The views of striped countries are included in both statement analysis and survey results

UKCDS conducted the study in order to inform the new Sendai Framework on DRR (the global agreement on how nations will approach DRR) which was recently agreed at the World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in Japan.

It was only one month after the new agreement was signed that the devastating earthquakes hit Nepal – a stark reminder of the need for effective disaster risk reduction.

For the full paper see the PLOS Currents website. Or see Julie’s blog for her personal thoughts on the study and UN agreement on DRR.

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