Dear Ilan,
I also wrote to Ana after her initial message, but perhaps not at quite
such thoughtful length as yours.
I was particularly interested in what you say about flooding. My additional
concern is that UK planning authorities appear to be ruling out innovative
attempts to design for flooding - ie: to arrange or to re-arrange living
accommodation so as to reduce flooding damage, where this requires planning
permission. A European initiative would be welcome on this issue.
In this context, may I introduce my recently launched website -
www.livingwithflooding.co.uk
A second point is that I understood Ana to have unsubscribed from the list
shortly after her message. If I am incorrect in this deduction, I apologise
to her and to you. The e-mail address she wrote from is:
[log in to unmask]
With Best Wishes: James
At 16:48 03/09/01 +0100, you wrote:
>Dear Ana and List,
>
>Some random thoughts on European-wide disaster management based on the
>recent discussion through this list. Any further thoughts, critiques, or
>suggestions are, of course, welcome.
>
>Ana mentioned that a single European directive on such issues would not be
>possible due to differences in institutions and institutional
>responsibilities amongst the European countries. Would this statement
>perhaps be a call to propose more standardisation? While I recognise that
>the politics would be challenging to overcome, a recommendation to DG
>Environment might be to consider the feasibility of creating similar
>structures for the agencies which deal with disaster management--not just
>civil protection and disaster response, but over the entire disaster
>management cycle.
>
>The anglophone Caribbean has an interesting organisational model. One
>agency (CDERA, www.cdera.org) coordinates regional activities but each
>territory has its own National Disaster Organisation. Perhaps the EU and
>the rest of Europe could consider such an approach. Critiques of the
>Caribbean model and its implementation undoubtedly exist, but Europe could
>develop its own version, altered to avoid any pitfalls encountered in the
>Caribbean and adapted for the differences between the two regions.
>
>With respect to aspects where a European-wide approach would be beneficial,
>rather than focussing on tourism, we could perhaps consider a more
>encompassing term such as "transients", "travellers", or "temporary
>residents". Whether travelling for business, pleasure, or to escape
>persecution, similar vulnerabilities emerge. Business and pleasure
>travellers may have less vulnerability than other categories as they often
>have money, insurance, embassies, and relatives at home which assist in
>extracting oneself from a difficult situation. Newly arrived refugees and
>immigrants (legal or illegal) rarely have such safety nets and would need
>greater assistance during a disaster.
>
>Ana commented "in my opinion, it is essential to promote legislation that
>will help protect the lives of any citizen of the world, wherever they may
>be." The Radix Network (www.anglia.ac.uk/geography/radix/index.html) has
>plenty information on this topic which could be applied to the European
>context.
>
>Similarly, the principles behind most disaster management activities are
>relevant to any country and would lend themselves to a European-wide
>approach. A clear declaration from the appropriate EU body articulating
>such principles and how they would be applied to the EU would be helpful,
>but would serve as only a starting point. A clear scope exists for moving
>beyond more paper and speeches, to support specific strategies which would
>work in any EU country, even when the implementation must be local.
>
>One example is relying too much on structural flood defences to deal with
>slow-rise floods. The EU should be promoting to all member states the vast
>literature on "soft" floodproofing measures and integrating flood management
>strategies with sustainable environmental management. A specific principle
>would be that permitting flood water to enter residences is not necessarily
>detrimental provided that the residence is constructed appropriately and
>that the population is aware of how to avoid substantial losses in such a
>situation. For implementation, construction techniques and education
>strategies must obviously be tailored to the exact locality and culture.
>
>Other examples arise from the previous discussion. Ana mentioned
>multilingual 112 operators, but the principle could be more detailed, first
>by defining the target audience. Would "multilingual" be focussed on the EU
>or internationally? For the EU, an operator speaking English, French,
>German, and the local language would be adequate for a substantial portion
>of the population. Replacing French with Spanish (and/or Mandarin and/or
>Hindi?) and removing German would be more appropriate if considering
>international travellers. Less regionally, should all operators in Ireland
>speak Gaelic and English or would it be better to have operators who speak
>French, German, and English?
>
>The emergency number is an interesting issue too. The U.K. promotes 999,
>but 112 works and I am told that 911 also works. Should Europe promote 112
>but ensure that 999 and 911 also work? If so, should the 999 countries
>shift to 112? How should travellers from other countries, such as New
>Zealand (emergency number 111) and Barbados (emergency number 119 plus
>specific numbers for specific services) be considered? Would a small
>information card handed out at customs at all European entry points be
>appropriate? Some American cities have been experimenting with 911 for
>emergency calls and 311 for non-emergency calls. This system has received
>plenty criticism, so the EU could have a policy stating that all member
>countries should have only one emergency number and the operator's primary
>goal is to determine the nature of the emergency and the service required.
>
>One final example of European-wide disaster initiatives relates to
>development activities, international and regional. ECHO
>(http://europa.eu.int/comm/echo/en/index_en.html) is an EU organisation
>focussing on humanitarian aid. It is certainly time to consider an EU
>Disaster Reduction Organisation (and strategy) for both the EU and for
>EU-supported work in developing countries. Some issues which need to be
>addressed at the European regional level are:
>-the impact of disaster on regional development, particularly in border
>regions.
>-using pre-disaster activities for regional development, particularly in
>border regions.
>-accessing a remote disaster site in border regions.
>-fatality identification, survivor support, and repatriation.
>-complex transportation incidents across borders (e.g. tunnel fires).
>-volcanic ash drifting across borders.
>See also the Disaster Diplomacy case studies at www.disasterdiplomacy.org
>which could form the basis for hypothesising cross-border European disasters
>in the future.
>
>I believe that scope for European directives and for much more harmonisation
>of all disaster management activities exists. See, for example, the
>brochure at http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/leaflets/disasters/en/ which
>is also available in ten other languages. Providing information at an EU
>scale to all residents is happening, but I believe that other, substantial
>actions would be feasible.
>
>Some countries, most notably the U.K., would not respond well to yet more
>Europeanisation of what they consider to be national responsibilities. The
>rather unfortunate management of recent disasters in the U.K. indicates how
>much help they need, especially with respect to pre-disaster activities.
>Such help could come from other European countries. The potential benefits
>of closer European collaboration for disasters is immense. Realising these
>benefits, without becoming mired in the bureaucracy which Ana mentions, is
>the immense challenge we face.
>
>Due to my substantial ignorance, however, I have plenty to learn on this
>topic, so contrary viewpoints are welcome (and please point out any errors
>in the above comments), but I hope that I have provided some material for
>further discussion.
>
>Thank you for your time,
>Ilan
>
>_________________________________________________________________
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>
>
*************************************************
James Lewis
Architect RIBA
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