Risk and Governance addresses the issue of risk governance as discussed in the 2009 ProVention Forum in Istanbul, Turkey. It is effectively a continuation of the dialogue begun in the previous ProVention Forum, ‘From Grassroots to Global’. From Grassroots to Global looked at the development of disaster risk reduction (DRR) policy at the regional level, and their relationship, or lack thereof, with actions and policies carried out at national and local levels. Risk and Governance goes a step further by examining the governance gap between macro level policy-making and implementation at the community level, and how best to narrow this gap. Additionally, the document goes beyond the turf war between scholars in DRR and those associated with Climate Change Adaption (CCA) to emphasize the links between the two and environmental management and its role in both reducing risk and building resilience. Various panels discussed: (1) how national governments could best create an environment conducive to CCA and DRR; and (2) how the community could become more involved in local and meso-level governance through (3) an ‘inclusive process’ that links these levels of governance. The author also addresses a much neglected issue in DRR – Risk Financing/Transfer. For each of the issues mentioned above, details on the extent of the problems, potential solutions, and ProVention’s role in achieving set goals are provided. The document then addresses these issues in the context of the progress made after Hurricane Mitch’s destructive impact on Nicaragua in 1998 and the 1999 Turkey earthquakes. Forum participants found that often top-down policy prescriptions are not being tailored to local conditions and dynamics, and that conflict and competition over limited resources is hampering the process of implementation. One of their solutions to these problems is to place emphasis on the meso-level of governance during DRR policy-making and implementation. However, the definition of the ‘meso-level’ of governance needs to be better developed as there is confusion as to what constitutes that area in between local and national levels.
General Disaster Risk Management
Governance