The research project, involving a King's geographer, will analyse and support the development of household preparedness to natural disasters and hazards in low-income contexts.
A new project to examine levels of household preparedness to natural hazards in low-income contexts has been awarded a Lloyd's Register foundation grant of £260,000. The project involves Dr Faith Taylor, Lecturer in Physical Geography at King's, and is led by Dr Joel Gill, University of Cardiff.
Titled, 'Improving Household Preparedness in Multi-Hazard Contexts', the project centers upon reducing the impact from natural disasters within regions that are exposed to and affected by multiple natural hazards including earthquakes and floods.
It will particularly focus on low-income contexts within low-income countries with the aim to create larger impact through knowledge exchange.
The field of research on natural hazard interactions is quite young, and this is an exciting opportunity to learn what works to ensure households are prepared for hazards that might occur in quick succession or have compound impacts, such as a volcanic eruption followed by a cyclone.
Dr Faith Taylor, Lecturer in Physical Geography
The project will undertake an interdisciplinary approach, with literature reviews and workshops, to understand what contributes to existing high levels of household preparedness to multiple disaster hazards. The researchers will study the role of governments and non-government organisations in disaster preparedness, at national and local levels.
The research findings will then be used to develop and test household-level multi-hazard preparedness plans and tools that are useful in a variety of contexts.
Household preparedness plans are vital for reducing disaster losses, yet very few households have these, and even fewer plans consider multiple and cascading hazards such as earthquakes triggering landslides.
We will be focusing our work on low-income settings in the Global South which are often highly exposed and vulnerable to natural hazards.
Dr Faith Taylor, Lecturer in Physical Geography
The project also responds to the UN's global framework for reducing disaster losses by focusing on multi-hazard, multi-risk management.
The project will be delivered in partnership with Cardiff University and will interact with Geology for Global Development, UN Habitat, UNESCO Earth, and 510 (an initiative of the Netherlands Red Cross).
The project is one of eight to receive funding from the Lloyd's Register Foundation. The Lloyd's Register Foundation is an independent global charity that supports research, technology, education and public outreach, to reduce risk and to make the world a safer place.
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Lecturer in Physical Geography
