Sharing knowledge, forging frameworks
These and other examples show the benefits of an interdisciplinary approach. But Mercer is concerned that efforts still only take place on an ad hoc basis, without interconnection.
She says that although countries such as Papua New Guinea increasingly recognize and state the importance of integrating indigenous knowledge into disaster management, they don’t get down to actually applying it: “The ‘how’ is not there.”
Given that many regions face common risks — drought, flooding, and hurricanes for example — she proposes that countries develop shared policies or frameworks for how to combine the two knowledge bases in practice.
Cronin believes that international organizations working on disaster management have already begun to internalize this new way of working. This, he suggests, is reflected in the general shift, over the last decade, from relief-oriented work towards the “prevention, risk reduction, and risk-mitigation side of things, where people are focusing on community needs.” Roles that used to be filled by ex-military or ex-emergency services staff are now becoming the preserve of geographers, human scientists, and physical scientists.
Shaw says he has noticed an increased interest in indigenous knowledge at UNESCO (the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). He is advising the organisation during a three-year project, funded by the Japanese government, in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Timor Leste, that aims, among other things, to integrate indigenous and scientific knowledge into disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation practice.
But he adds, “I wouldn’t say that we are doing very well in the area of indigenous knowledge. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done.”
Environmental anthropologist Lisa Hiwasaki agrees. A program specialist for Small Islands and Indigenous knowledge in UNESCO’s Jakarta office, Hiwasaki says that many people agree on the importance of incorporating local and indigenous knowledge in disaster education, but that in practice little has been done.
“The number of international organizations incorporating [such knowledge] in their work is very, very, limited,” she adds.
Hiwasaki attributes this to a shortage of three key issues: good examples, methodologies, and time.
“Disaster preparedness is a lengthy process that requires long-term commitment, so it’s often overshadowed by ‘more urgent’ issues,” she says.
But when disaster strikes, nothing is more urgent.
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Source: Science and Development Network; Photo: Siddhi/Flickr/CC.
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