An approach to concept and definition in risk management terminology and practice

Material Information

Title:
An approach to concept and definition in risk management terminology and practice
Creator:
Lavell, Allan
Disaster Risk Reduction Program, Florida International University (DRR/FIU) ( summary contributor )
Publisher:
Red de Estudios Sociales en Prevención de Desastres en América Latina (LA RED)
Publication Date:
Copyright Date:
2000
Language:
English
Physical Description:
Final draft

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Risk management ( lcshac )
Emergency management ( lcshac )
Genre:
non-fiction ( marcgt )

Notes

Summary:
In this document, Allan Lavell outlines key disaster risk management (DRM) concepts, definitions, terminologies, and practices in order to establish a guideline for “Inter-Agency Collaboration in Programming for Disaster Reduction.” While risk and disaster reduction have acquired greater salience in the last few years, Lavell suggests that the concept of “risk” is becoming more relevant than the concept of “disaster.” Part of this shift is the result of a growing understanding within the disaster community of the relationship between development, risk, and disaster. Although, Lavell recognizes, UN system-agencies have appropriated the issue of risk reduction, he notes that there continues to be a gap in the development of common frameworks for intervening agencies. These guidelines for inter-agency collaboration for reducing the impact of disasters is divided into three sections: (1) basic concepts and typologies in disaster risk; (2) comprehensive risk management; and (3) the relationship between development planning and risk reduction in UN system-agencies. The document hopes to address a lack of consensus on concepts and terminology, a lack of consistency in usage within the same agencies, and failures to update theoretical advances on the field. Often, failures to understand definitions and concepts impact the ability to coordinate DRM activities. There is a fundamental mismatch between the way concepts, terminologies, and definitions are used and the way risk and disaster are being dealt with in day-to-day practices. Here, the challenge is to overcome a usual trend, whereby outdated theoretical frameworks are used to address new problematic. Lavell believes that the current mismatch within the field is a product of the growing utilization of “risk” as the dominant concept, while continuing to treat “disaster” as the point of reference. ( English )
Subject:
General Risk Management ( English )
Citation/Reference:
Lavell, A. (2000). An approach to concept and definition in risk management terminology and practice. Red de Estudios Sociales en Prevención de Desastres en América Latina (LA RED), Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLASCO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Record Information

Source Institution:
Florida International University
Rights Management:
Refer to main document/publisher for use rights.
Resource Identifier:
FI13042587

dpSobek Membership

Aggregations:
Disaster Risk Reduction