ARISE

This is an intriguing mural. I’d love to know the story behind it.

Rome conquered much of the Levant, including what is now Jordan, in 63 BCE, inaugurating a period of rule that lasted four centuries until the split between the Western and Eastern Roman Empires.

Art by

🇺🇦

We Are One: Africa's disaster risk reduction anthem "We Are One", with lead vocals by Zambian recording artist Lucy Nkhoma, was produced by Health Songs International for the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduct...

HAIYAN MEMORY SPURS PRIVATE SECTOR COMMITMENT

Exactly three years after the country was lashed by the deadly Typhoon Haiyan, UNISDR’s Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies (ARISE) network in the Philippines yesterday committed to strengthen partnerships with national and local authorities, academia and civil society as part of its ambition to reduce disaster risk in the hazard-prone country.

The six-point commitment statement included pledges to: prioritise risk-sensitive investment and action through the adoption of new standards for infrastructure, buildings and industrial and business practices; mobilize more trans-disciplinary research and collaboration on disaster risk reduction to harness the power of applied science; and mainstream science into local risk governance.

Three years on from Typhoon Haiyan, a disaster known locally as Yolanda that claimed more than 6,000 lives, more than 400 government officials, business executives, and various representatives convened for ARISE’s 5th Top Leaders Forum. The theme was ‘Investing in Resilience: Leveraging Science for Sustainable Development’.

Mr. Hans Sy, the Executive Committee Chairman of Asian mall giant SM Prime, who is also an international ARISE board member, opened the forum by saying an evolution in national and international level cooperation had resulted in many changes “and the creation of ARISE Philippines is one of them”.

“Through this initiative, we have fostered deeper connections with other private sector companies and assisted in strengthening the relationship between the public and private sector for DRR,” Mr. Sy told participants at the SMX Convention Centre, in Manila.

Read more: http://www.unisdr.org/archive/50941

Next in our series of case studies of ARISE members partnering for DRR, check out how AECOM worked with the Australian Department of Defence to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Since 2010, AECOM (provider of services for infrastructure projects) has assisted the Australian Department of Defence with understanding risks to its assets due to climate change‐induced disasters across Australia. The process involved a risk assessment and prioritisation of sites, followed by detailed site assessments.

Three key lessons are identified in this publication:

- The value of a staged approach to ensure resources are targeted to priority sites of greater risk.
- The benefit of generating, with project stakeholders, a Site Assessment Methodology and Framework, tailored to specific project needs.
- The importance of tailoring information to user needs. For instance, to support ongoing internal communication, a suite of products/reports were developed.

http://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/49459

Australia: Adaptation and planning strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change induced sea level rise, flooding and erosion | PreventionWeb.net Since 2010, AECOM (provider of services for infrastructure projects) has assisted the Australian Department of Defence with understanding risks to its assets due to climate change‐induced disasters across Australia. The process involved a risk assessment and prioritisation of sites, followed by deta...

USA's WORST DISASTER SINCE SANDY?

In the midst of the Louisiana flooding, ARISE's partners at the American Red Cross are working flat out to help stricken communities. They also have a powerful track record in reducing disaster risk, working with businesses in the United States on a host of projects to enhance resilience. Click here for more: http://www.unisdr.org/archive/49915

BUSINESS DISASTER PLANNING & RECOVERY IN TASMANIA

AECOM was engaged by the Tasmanian Department of Premier and Cabinet Climate Change Office (TCCO) to develop a suite
of online and printable resources to help Tasmanian businesses
across a range of sectors develop practical and implementable
strategies to prepare their business for disasters. The resources, when combined, can form a comprehensive emergency
management plan for the business, and can be used as individual
resources, depending on the business’ needs.

More here:http://www.preventionweb.net/files/49463_aecom.tasmania.pdf

100 RESILIENT CITIES

Next in our case studies, a look at the 100 Resilient Cities project, pioneered by our friends at the Rockefeller Foundation, known for short at 100RC.

It's dedicated to helping cities around the world become more resilient to the physical, social and economic challenges that are a growing part of the 21st Century. The 100RC definition of resilience includes not just the shocks ‐ such as
earthquakes, floods, disease outbreaks, and so on - but also the stresses that weaken the fabric of a city on a day-to-day or cyclical
basis.

AECOM is working as a strategy partner to 100RC on a number of those cities (paired with each city by 100RC), in North America, Central and South America, Australasia and Europe, supporting the Chief Resilience Officer in the development of a resilience‐building strategy over a 6‐9 month process.

More here:http://www.preventionweb.net/files/49458_aecom.americas.pdf

WATER CONSERVATION FROM THE GROUND UP

Next up in our case studies: how to tackle the challenges of water management in a new town.

AECOM and several partners ran a mass water balance study for a new 100,000 square-metre office park and 3,000 home development in North West Cambridge in England. The partners designed an innovative system to capture rainwater and operate a "grey water" system that reduced anticipated consumption of treated, potable water from 125 litres per day to 80. Sustainability and risk reduction in action!

Read more here: http://www.preventionweb.net/go/49464.

SCORING CITY RESILIENCE IN THE USA, CHILE AND ANGOLA

Here's our next case study, which looks at how to measure urban resilience.

Stamford, in the USA, Puerto Montt, in Chile, and the Angolan capital Luanda held workshops with multiple stakeholders to complete the UN City Disaster Resilience Scorecard. The workshops were held over one or two days and were facilitated by IBM and, in the case of Stamford, by the engineering
company AECOM.

The workshops were notable in identifying both technical requirements, and also gaps in understanding and communications between different agencies that could easily
have, if left unaddressed, led to a compromised disaster
response, or to development and other activity that would have
weakened resilience in the longer term.

Read more here:http://www.preventionweb.net/files/49447_ibm.scorecard.pdf

DEALING WITH SEA-LEVEL RISE IN SAN FRANCISO BAY

Here's the next in our great series of case-studies showing how ARISE members are helping communities to build resilience in the face of mounting challenges looks at San Francisco Bay.

This study, from AECOM, looks at Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area. It's home to valuable transportation and community assets for the region, including major connecting bridges, freeways, a port and airport, homes and businesses. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Bay Area Rapid Transit, Bay Conservation and Development Commission and the California Department of Transportation partnered on a project to assess adaptation options for a subset of key transportation assets vulnerable to sea level rise.

As part of the project inundation maps showing six different sea level rise scenarios were developed, as well as a detailed asset inventory, 125 potential adaptation strategies to reduce the vulnerabilities of these assets to flooding, and five more detailed concept designs including living levees, a breakwater, and governance strategy.

The case study highlights the following lessons learned:

1) It can be hard to find detailed asset information that can be useful to inform a vulnerability assessment (such as condition, previous failure, usage) and time can be wasted trying to locate it.
2) There is a balance between collecting sufficient data at an early stage to help decide which assets are most vulnerable and at risk, and then once those assets are identified, collecting further data to help develop appropriate adaptation strategies.

This case study is one of a series produced by members of ARISE, the UNISDR Private Sector Alliance for Disaster Resilient Societies.

Click here for the full case study:http://www.preventionweb.net/files/49460_aecom.mtc.pdf