IPCC_Managing Risks of Extreme Events.pdf - Climate Access

Chapter 5Managing the Risks from Climate Extremes at the Local Leveltypes of dependency, such as kinship, financial exchange, or prestige(Wellman and Berkowitz, 1988). Social networks provide a diversity offunctions, such as facilitating sharing of expertise and resources acrossstakeholders (Crabbé and Robin, 2006). Networks can function to promotemessages within communities through preventive advocacy, or theengagement of advocates in promoting preventive behavior (Weibel,1988). Information about health risks has often been effectively distributedthrough a social network structure using opinion leaders as a guide(Valente and Davis, 1999; Valente et al., 2003), and has promisingapplication for changing behavior regarding climate adaptation(Maibach et al., 2008). Such opinion leaders may span a range of types,from formally elected officials, celebrities, and well-known leaders, tolocal community members who are well-embedded in local socialnetworks. It is important to note that more potential has been shown ininfluencing behavior through community-level interventions thanthrough individual-level directives at the population level (Kawachi andBerkman, 2000). Local and international networks can support thedevelopment of policies and practices that result in greater preparedness(Tompkins, 2005). Local resilience in the face of climate change can befostered by strong social networks that support effective responses(Ford et al., 2006). For example, networks facilitate the transmission ofinformation about risks (Berkes and Jolly, 2001). Therefore, communitieswith stronger social networks appear to be better prepared for extremeclimate impacts because of access to information and social support(Buckland and Rahman, 1999).At the same time, it is important to note that social networks may notalways be sufficient to foster effective adaptation to extreme events.Some social networks actually discourage people from moving awayfrom high risk zones, such as has been the case in storms and floodswhen residents have not wanted to leave (Eisenman et al., 2007). Theimpacts of climate change itself may also change the structure and utilityof social networks. As people migrate away from climate and other risksor are pulled toward alternative locations for social or ecologicalresources, those left behind can experience fragmented or weakenedsocial networks. The utilization of social networks can also be preventedby the status of particular social groups, such as illegal and legal settlersor immigrants (Wisner et al., 2004). Other social and environmentalcontextual factors must be considered when conceptualizing the role ofsocial networks in managing extreme events. For example, strong socialnetworks have facilitated adaptability in Inuit communities, but are beingundermined by the dissolution of traditional ways of life (Ford et al., 2006).5.4.4. Integrating Local KnowledgeLocal and traditional knowledge is increasingly valued as importantinformation to include when preparing for disasters (McAdoo et al.,2009; R. Shaw et al., 2009). It is embedded in local culture and socialinteractions and transmitted orally over generations (Berkes, 2008). Placebasedmemory of vulnerable areas, know-how for responding to recurrentextreme events, and detection of abnormal environmental conditionsmanifest the power of local knowledge. Because local knowledge isoften tacit and invisible to outsiders, community participation in disastermanagement is essential to tap this information as it can offer alternativeperspectives and approaches to problem-solving (Battista and Baas,2004; Turner and Clifton, 2009).Within a climate change context, indigenous people as well as long-termresidents often conserved their resources in situ, providing importantinformation about changing environmental conditions as well as activelyadapting to the changes (Salick and Byg, 2007; Macchi et al., 2008;Salick and Ross, 2009; Turner and Clifton, 2009). Research is emergingthat helps to document changes that local people are experiencing(Ensor and Berger, 2009; Salick and Ross, 2009). Although this evidencemight be similar to scientific observations from external researchers, thefact that local communities are observing it is initiating discussionsabout existing and potential adaptation to climate changes from withinthe community.The following example is illustrative. In six villages in eastern Tibet, nearMt. Khawa Karpo, local documentation of warmer temperatures, lesssnow, and glacial retreat across areas were consistent, whereas otherobservations were more varied, including those for river levels andlandslide incidences (Byg and Salick, 2009). In Gitga’at (Coast Tsimshian)Nation of Hartley Bay, British Columbia, indigenous people observe thedecline of some species but also new appearances of others, anomaliesin weather patterns, and declining health of forests and grasslands thathave affected their ability to harvest food (Turner and Clifton, 2009). TheAlaska Native Tribal Health Consortium generated climate change andhealth impact assessment reports from observations, data, and traditionalecological knowledge (ANTHC, 2011). Other than knowledge fromindigenous groups, local knowledge associated with contemporarysocieties and cities exists though more research is needed in this area(Hordijk and Baud, 2011).Integration of local knowledge with external scientific, global, andtechnical knowledge is an important dimension of climate changeadaptation and disaster management. Experiences in environmentalmanagement and integrated assessment suggest mechanisms for suchknowledge transfers from the bottom up and from the top down (Burtonet al., 2007; Prabhakar et al., 2009). For example, communities set uptrusted intermediaries to transfer and communicate external knowledgesuch as technology-based early warning systems and innovative andsustainable farming techniques that incorporate the local knowledgesystem (Bamdad, 2005; Kristjanson et al., 2009). Another example is there-engineering of local practices to adapt to climate change as shownin the conversion of traditional dry-climate adobe construction to morestabilized earth construction built to withstand regular rainfall. Theutilization of participatory methods to draw in the perspectives of localstakeholders for subsequent input into hazards vulnerability assessmentsor climate change modeling or scenario development is well documented.Stakeholder interactions and related workshops using participatory ormediated modeling elicit discussions of model assumptions, local impacts,consistencies of observed and modeled patterns, and adaptationstrategies (Cabrera et al., 2008; Langsdale et al., 2009).311