A Workshop on a New Cross-Directorate Program on Disaster Resilience, Vulnerability, and Risk Reduction

Texas A&M Research Foundation, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

Despite significant advancement in our understanding of natural hazards and disasters within specific scientific disciplines, the United States continues to experience increasing losses. There is much evidence to suggest that our communities are becoming more vulnerable and less disaster resilient. The scientific consensus is that disasters result from the interaction between physical, built, and social systems and yet the science is generally funded and conducted within disciplinary areas. To explicitly promote and advance our knowledge of the fundamental physical, social and engineering processes associated with natural and technological hazards, the proposed project will conduct an interdisciplinary workshop of leading natural hazard and disaster researchers to identify the scientific advances from new cross-directorate activities focused on disaster resilience, vulnerability, and risk reduction. The proposed workshop will draw together leading hazard and disaster researchers from engineering, geosciences, and social, behavioral and economic sciences to provide input to the National Science Foundation about the nature, goals, and structures of new activities. The workshop will take steps toward the development of a framework for such a cross-disciplinary program. The framework will identify the core research themes and research questions related to resiliency, vulnerability, and risk reduction. Some key issues to be addressed include: 1) the identification of interdisciplinary research agendas involving engineering, geoscience, and social, behavioral and economic sciences and 2) the potential need for new research and data collection approaches to enhance longitudinal research capable of modeling and monitoring processes associated with changes in resiliency, vulnerability, and risk perceptions. The workshop will be held at the National Science Foundation in early June of 2011.