David Edgington | DRRN Research Seminar

Watch the recording

Title:

"When can we all go home?" Analyzing the recovery stage of disaster management

Speaker:

Network member David Edgington
Professor Emeritus, Department of Geography, UBC

Abstract:

In the last year or so, we have seen the best and the worst of what Canadian policy does in terms of dealing with disasters. We often hear the statement that Canadians are among the best in the world at responding to disasters – as when an event like Hurricane Fiona strikes. This is because first responders and power utility crews train and prepare. But as a country we do not do so well in long-term recovery process – not just cleaning up after fires and floods, but rebuilding the community so that it is safe from future events. As is being discovered in the town of Lytton, the recovery process is not easy and doing it right is hard.

My presentation focuses on 'what is a successful disaster recovery'. I examine recent social science literature that addresses 'when does recovery finish' and 'how do we know if it has been achieved', together with those studies dealing with 'what are the important factors affecting the speed and quality of recovery'. I offer a geographic analysis of patterns of recovery from the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power plant accident in northeast Japan.

When?

3:30 - 5:00 PM | Wednesday, October 26

Where?

Room 121
Liu Institute for Global Issues
6476 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver

The idea for this year's seminar series is to encourage DRRN members to share their work and how it relates to the network. In this spirit, members will consider how to share their work accessibly to a transdisciplinary audience with a shared interest in disaster research. This will be a great chance to learn what other members are up to, while communicating our very different forms of knowledge to a diverse academic audience.

The seminars will be 1-1.5 hours, with talks lasting 30-40 minutes, leaving plenty of time for Q & A and discussion. While we encourage in-person attendance as conditions allow, we will be holding the seminars in a hybrid format, in order to provide for virtual participation, as well.