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Community-Based Preparedness Trainings to Build and Strengthen Local Capacities for Disaster Preparedness. With lessons learned from Preparedness Trainings in landslide risk communities in Sri Lanka

Erjautz, Julian LU (2017) VBRM15 20171
Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety
Abstract
Disaster response is most effective, if a high level of preparedness is in place before natural hazards strike. As many low-income countries are under-financed when it comes to Disaster Risk Reduction, it is lower-cost interventions such as Community-Based Preparedness Trainings that they often rely on to provide strategies to reduce the vulnerability of communities. These trainings are widely used and aim to address risk challenges at a local level.
The purpose of this thesis is to identify key components of Community-Based Preparedness Trainings. A structured literature review provides a significant part of the basis of this analysis. As an additional means of approaching this matter, experts and community members from two communities,... (More)
Disaster response is most effective, if a high level of preparedness is in place before natural hazards strike. As many low-income countries are under-financed when it comes to Disaster Risk Reduction, it is lower-cost interventions such as Community-Based Preparedness Trainings that they often rely on to provide strategies to reduce the vulnerability of communities. These trainings are widely used and aim to address risk challenges at a local level.
The purpose of this thesis is to identify key components of Community-Based Preparedness Trainings. A structured literature review provides a significant part of the basis of this analysis. As an additional means of approaching this matter, experts and community members from two communities, one that has and one that has not received Community-Based Preparedness Training, have been interviewed on training related knowledge. The comparison between those communities combined with the information from the academic literature form the core of the discussion as well as the basis for the identification of discourses on and strategies in preparedness trainings. Finally, the conclusion provides a number of key-points that can be targeted in Community-Based Preparedness Trainings in low-income communities. (Less)
Popular Abstract
Reducing the risks of disasters impacts for communities in poor
regions of the world.
How can trainings for communities be used to save lives? What are essential parts
that should be included?
The research project conducted for this thesis sets out to answer the questions above. It seems
that there are some practices in such preparedness trainings that can have a great impact on
future safety of communities that are living in dangerous areas. Such would be: information
sharing about the risks in the community, the integration of warning systems (such as sirens and
tools to measure the risks), the practicing of drills (simulations) and the reduction of risk with
simple measures (such as structural improvements, or the cleaning of... (More)
Reducing the risks of disasters impacts for communities in poor
regions of the world.
How can trainings for communities be used to save lives? What are essential parts
that should be included?
The research project conducted for this thesis sets out to answer the questions above. It seems
that there are some practices in such preparedness trainings that can have a great impact on
future safety of communities that are living in dangerous areas. Such would be: information
sharing about the risks in the community, the integration of warning systems (such as sirens and
tools to measure the risks), the practicing of drills (simulations) and the reduction of risk with
simple measures (such as structural improvements, or the cleaning of drainage systems). These
practices along with some others can improve the safety in regions of the world where the
government is not always able to provide sufficient disaster safety. There are also tools such as
maps of danger areas that are created with the community to see where high risk areas are
located. Such maps also help to identify safe routes for evacuations in case of an emergency.
Overall these trainings try to encourage communities to take certain responsibilities into their
own hands and reduce their own risks with simple measures.
While many of the results from this study can be used for different kinds of natural hazards, this
particular research project focused on landslide disasters in particular. One can often read in the
news that a landslide destroyed a settlement in rainy seasons, somewhere, as such disasters kill
thousands of people in mountain areas around the globe every year. Poor regions are often
more effected, as expensive equipment to effectively predict such events are not affordable in
many places. Sri Lanka, in south Asia is an example of such a country. In the research process,
experts as well as community members living in landslide risk zones in Sri Lanka were
interviewed. For this purpose, a community that received such a training and one that did not
receive such a training were compared. The findings of these interviews were then related to
past findings detailed in the scientific literature on this topic.
This process led to a number of recommendations and guidelines that can be followed when a
governmental institution or a Non-Profit Organization conducts such trainings in other

communities. There is, however, no fixed recipe for such trainings, as situations and problems
can be very different in different locations. Nevertheless, it was possible to compile a list of
general ingredients of such trainings that have led to successful outcomes in the past and might
be worthy of consideration in the planning process for future community-based preparedness
trainings.

Author: Julian Erjautz

Supervisor: Marcus Abrahamsson (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Erjautz, Julian LU
supervisor
organization
course
VBRM15 20171
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Community-Based Preparedness Trainings, Landslide trainings, Landslide Disaster Risk Reduction, Preparedness, Community based societal services, community development
language
English
id
8924658
date added to LUP
2017-09-12 08:54:19
date last changed
2017-09-12 08:54:19
@misc{8924658,
  abstract     = {{Disaster response is most effective, if a high level of preparedness is in place before natural hazards strike. As many low-income countries are under-financed when it comes to Disaster Risk Reduction, it is lower-cost interventions such as Community-Based Preparedness Trainings that they often rely on to provide strategies to reduce the vulnerability of communities. These trainings are widely used and aim to address risk challenges at a local level. 
The purpose of this thesis is to identify key components of Community-Based Preparedness Trainings. A structured literature review provides a significant part of the basis of this analysis. As an additional means of approaching this matter, experts and community members from two communities, one that has and one that has not received Community-Based Preparedness Training, have been interviewed on training related knowledge. The comparison between those communities combined with the information from the academic literature form the core of the discussion as well as the basis for the identification of discourses on and strategies in preparedness trainings. Finally, the conclusion provides a number of key-points that can be targeted in Community-Based Preparedness Trainings in low-income communities.}},
  author       = {{Erjautz, Julian}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Community-Based Preparedness Trainings to Build and Strengthen Local Capacities for Disaster Preparedness. With lessons learned from Preparedness Trainings in landslide risk communities in Sri Lanka}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}