Community Engagement in Post-Disaster Recovery (Routledge Studies in Hazards, Disaster Risk and Climate Change)

Community Engagement in Post-Disaster Recovery reflects a wide array of practical experiences in working with disaster-affected communities internationally. It demonstrates that widely held assumptions about the benefits of community consultation and engagement in disaster recovery work need to be examined more critically because poorly conceived and hastily implemented community engagement strategies have sometimes exacerbated divisions within affected communities and/or resulted in ineffective use of aid funding. It is equally demonstrated that well-crafted, creative and thoughtful programming is possible. The wide collection of case studies of practical experience from around the world is presented to help establish ways of working with communities experiencing great challenges. The book offers practical suggestions on how to give more substance to the rhetoric of community consultation and engagement in these areas of work. It suggests the need to work with a dynamic understanding of community formation that is particularly relevant when people experience unforeseen challenges and traumatic experiences. This title interrogates the concept of community through an extensive review of the literature and explores the ways of working with communities in transition and particularly in their recovery phases through an array of case studies in a range of socioeconomic and political contexts. Focused on the concept of community in post-disaster recovery solutions--an aspect which has received little critical interrogation in the literature--this book will be a valuable resource to students and scholars in disaster management as well as humanitarian agencies Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of figures -- List of tables -- Notes on contributors -- Foreword -- Preface -- 1 Rethinking the meaning of 'community' in community-based disaster management -- 2 Rebuilding lessons from bushfire-affected communities in Victoria, Australia -- 3 A partnership-based community engagement approach to recovery of flood-affected communities in Bangladesh -- 4 Public engagements in forward-looking recovery efforts following the 2013 floods in High River and Calgary, Canada -- 5 How the Chinese government responded to the Wenchuan earthquake -- 6 Participation for disaster resilience: A life cycle approach to reconstruction projects in India -- 7 A duty of care: Disaster recovery, community and social responsibility in Indonesia -- 8 The role of community engagement in post-disaster reconstruction: The cases of L'Aquila and Emilia Romagna, Italy -- 9 Facts on the ground: Affirming community identity through placemaking projects in West Bank villages -- 10 Women and their roles in peace building in conflict-vulnerable areas of Mindanao, Philippines -- 11 Community and conflict: The case of Rwanda -- 12 Beneficiary Driven Recovery (BDR): An example from the Solomon Islands -- 13 From short-term relief to the revival of community in post-tsunami Sri Lanka and India -- 14 Community recovery and the role of emergent organisations in post-disaster home buyouts: A case study of Oakwood Beach, New York, United States of America -- 15 Conclusions: Emerging lessons on community engagement in post-disaster recovery -- Index The literature on disaster and/or risk management makes frequent references to community consultation, engagement and recovery, but the terms are used rather loosely and there is little to suggest that the rhetoric is supported by an analysis of practical experience in a diversity of contexts. To make matters worse, there tend to be high turnover rates for people doing disaster management and response work and new people may have little opportunity to learn from past experiences. This book includes an early chapter on the meaning of community in the contemporary world based on an extensive review of sociological literature on the topic. It suggests a need to work with a dynamic understanding of community formation that is particularly relevant when people experience unforeseen challenges and traumatic experiences Edited By Graham Marsh, [and Four Others]. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.