EngD - Multi-hazard assessments for building communities in the Philippines
Thank you for your interest. This vacancy is now closed.
Proposed EngD project: Multi-hazard assessments for building sustainable and resilient communities in the Philippines
Project supervisors: Dr Stephen Edwards, Dr Tiziana Rossetto and Dr John Twigg at University College London (UCL); Dr Jessica Mercer and Dr Michael Edwards at the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD).
Summary
Considerable ambiguity surrounds the likely impacts of climate change; this presents major challenges, especially in multi-hazard environments where humanitarian and development practitioners have to decide how and where to allocate resources in order to reduce disaster risk and promote long-term sustainable development. In recent years, climate change has become the focus of attention for many in the humanitarian and development sectors – it is seen to be the ‘most serious and urgent problem the world faces’ (DFID, 2006). Whilst globally this view may be valid, at a local scale other environmental hazards and human-induced environmental degradation are often far more damaging and, currently, have much greater impact on communities and livelihoods than climate change alone. This is particularly the case in many developing countries.
The research will not attempt to play down the important threat that climate change poses to human security. Rather, it aims to develop methodologies that will enable multi-hazard assessments to be undertaken in order to put climate change and other environmental hazards into context, such that a priority agenda can be implemented for more effective disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation. The approach will subsequently lead to the development of tools to enable the effective application of indigenous and scientific knowledge to build community resilience. These methods and tools will allow humanitarian and development practitioners, and the communities they work with, the opportunity to holistically analyse threats to human security and increase their capacity to deal with them.
It is intended that the research will have both global and local applicability, and the study area will be in the Philippines. This country was chosen for three key reasons: it is undergoing rapid development and change; it offers a truly multi-hazard (including climate change) environment, which is experiencing significant environmental degradation from both mining and deforestation; CAFOD and its partners work extensively in the Philippines and already have a DRR project running there.
DFID (2006). Eliminating world poverty: making governance work for the poor. Department for International Development, White Paper 3.
Research outputs
· A review and assessment of existing climate change adaptation and DRR tools and methodologies.
· Methods that can be used to undertake multi-hazard (including climate change and environmental degradation) assessments at the community level.
· Tools to enable the effective application of indigenous and scientific knowledge to build community resilience.
· An effective platform for communicating risk scenarios and empowering communities to develop strategies to address their risk through application of indigenous and scientific knowledge.
· Case-study validation and calibration of the methods and tools.
Collaboration
The stakeholder partner for the EngD is CAFOD, the official overseas development and relief agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. Dr Jessica Mercer is the DRR Advisor and Dr Michael Edwards is the Climate Change Advisor at CAFOD, and they will act as the stakeholder supervisors. The UCL supervisors, Dr Stephen Edwards, Dr Tiziana Rossetto and Dr John Twigg, will advise on natural hazards, physical and social vulnerability, and DRR. It is proposed that the student will split their time equally between CAFOD and UCL. At UCL, the student will participate in several relevant Masters-level modules, such as Geological and Geotechnical Hazards, Meteorological Hazards and Disaster Risk Management.
CAFOD has agreed to provide £10,000 per year in financial support, and will also provide access to relevant reports and data, and support and guidance in the field. At UCL the student will work alongside two other EngD colleagues who are measuring disaster resilience and developing prediction and monitoring tools for disaster-affected populations.
Applications are invited from permanent UK residents with a degree (MSc in a related subject), and possibly some industrial experience.
Applicants must meet the EPSRC eligibility requirements which can be found at www.epsrc.ac.uk/PostgraduateTraining/StudentEligibility.htm
Please email Dr Tiziana Rossetto t.rossetto@ucl.ac.uk with your CV by 13th February 2009. Interviews will be held on 20th February 2009.
Applicants must have at least a 2.1 degree in either social science, engineering, physical or natural science, or a hazard- or development-related subject. In addition they must have relevant and applicable work experience or a relevant and applicable practical-based MSc or MA. The applicant must be able to work across disciplines and be able to integrate relevant aspects of social science, science and engineering into their work. The ideal candidate should have the ability to understand and analyse complex environmental and human systems in order to develop tools and methodologies to undertake multi-hazard assessments to build community resilience. The candidate must be able to work professionally, both independently and within a team, and be willing to travel and to undertake participatory fieldwork in challenging environments. Practical experience of working with NGOs, an understanding of crosscutting development issues and experience of working in partnership with local organisations are desirable.
Contact: Tiziana Rossetto
Phone: 0207 679 4488
