NH52A:
Disaster Diplomacy: Transcending Academic and National Boundaries to Reduce Disaster Risks


Submit an Abstract to this Session


Session ID#: 62905

Session Description:
Disasters are complex physical and social phenomena that transcend scientific and political borders. International, interdisciplinary, and multi-stakeholder collaborations are vital in advancing our understanding of the underlying drivers and impacts of disasters. Disaster diplomacy provides opportunities to advance the scientific knowledge of disasters while simultaneously building bridges between states where relationships could otherwise be strained. Disaster diplomacy can originate within any disaster-related activity, such as prevention/mitigation, preparation, risk reduction, planning, response, recovery, and reconstruction, or their intersection. Disaster diplomacy is a multitrack diplomacy, which simultaneously might encompass official conflict resolution efforts led by governments with peer-to-peer exchanges between scientists and non-academic disaster experts, such as practitioners and local knowledge holders. Therefore, disaster diplomacy efforts could simultaneously comprise interdisciplinary research, scientific assessments, and governmental policy agendas. This session will feature presentations that illustrate disaster diplomacy in action and highlight its effectiveness and current challenges on international, intra-national, and sub-national levels.
Primary Convener:  Yekaterina Y Kontar, Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Medford, MA, United States
Conveners:  Alik Ismail-Zadeh, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, AGW, Karlsruhe, Germany and John L LaBrecque, IUGG Commission on Geophysical Risk and Sustainability (GeoRisk Commission), West Palm Beach, FL, United States
Primary Liaison:  Yekaterina Y Kontar, Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Medford, MA, United States
Chairs:  Alik Ismail-Zadeh, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, AGW, Karlsruhe, Germany and John L LaBrecque, IUGG Commission on Geophysical Risk and Sustainability (GeoRisk Commission), West Palm Beach, FL, United States
OSPA Liaison:  Yekaterina Y Kontar, National Science Foundation, Office of Polar Programs, Alexandria, VA, United States

Proposed Co-Organized Session with:
  • SI - Societal Impacts and Policy Sciences
Index Terms:

4327 Resilience [NATURAL HAZARDS]
4335 Disaster management [NATURAL HAZARDS]
4353 Sociology of disasters [NATURAL HAZARDS]
6620 Science policy [PUBLIC ISSUES]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Science Diplomacy Before, During, and After Disaster Strikes (Invited) (434929)
Ester Sztein, National Academy of Sciences, Board on International Scientific Organizations, Washington, United States
Edit Abstract Title Building Bridges for Global Resilience: Linking Research and Practice Across Nations (Invited) (469076)
Louise Kloos Comfort, University of Pittsburgh, Graduate School of Public & International Affairs, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Science Diplomacy: Lessons learned from seismic safety legislation (Invited) (361699)
Lucile Jones, California Institute of Technology, Seismological Laboratory, Pasadena, United States
Fire on Ice: Boundary Spanning and Disaster Diplomacy in Wildfire Science and Management in Alaska (426096)
Sarah Trainor, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness, Fairbanks, United States, Alison S York, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska Fire Science Consortium, Fairbanks, United States, Randi Jandt, Fire Ecologist, Alaska Fire Science Consortium, Fairbanks, AK, United States, Robert Ziel, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, United States and Melanie Colavito, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, United States
Disaster Diplomacy Can Effectively Reduce International Natural Disaster Risk: A US Government Partnership Success Story (Invited) (375042)
Gari C Mayberry1,2, Peter Morris3, Victor F Labson4, Jacob B. Lowenstern5, Michael L Blanpied6, Jonathan Godt7 and Verne R Schneider4, (1)USGS Volcano Science Center, Washington, DC, United States, (2)US Geological Survey, Reston, United States, (3)US Agency For International Development, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, Washington, United States, (4)USGS, Reston, VA, United States, (5)USGS, Menlo Park, CA, United States, (6)USGS Headquarters, Reston, United States, (7)USGS, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Golden, United States
Roles of Scientific Associations and Programs to Motivate Action for Disaster Risk Reduction (Invited) (374873)
Gordon A Mcbean, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada
National Science Laboratories and Disaster Diplomacy (Invited) (373887)
John N Ludden, British Geological Survey, UK, Nottingham, United Kingdom

See more of: Natural Hazards