Risk, Hazards, Disasters and Cultures: Exploring an Integrated Humanities, Natural Sciences and Disaster Studies Approach

“自然”灾害将成为未来几十年政府和社区面临的主要挑战之一，因为气候变化，生活在灾害易发地区（特别是沿海地区）的人数以及城市结构的绝对密度增加了自然灾害造成损失的可能性。然而，过去的社会也受到灾害的严峻考验，往往达到其承受能力的极限。有些文化表现出更强的适应力，克服了这些磨难;另一些文化表现出更少的灵活性，失败了。是什么使任何社会在当前变得脆弱或具有复原力，这在一定程度上是一个历史问题，了解不同文化在不同时期如何能够为此类事件做好准备、减轻影响、进行管理并从中恢复，为今天的灾害风险管理人员提供了有益的经验教训。该网络的一个主要目标是探索如何将独特的文化和时间的见解，历史和人文更广泛地可以有助于减少灾害风险。目前，通过开发历史数据库，如ACRE和全球历史地震目录，正在逐步采取合作办法进行综合灾害研究，但尚未进行全面对话，以加强历史学家、自然科学家和灾害专家之间的沟通，确定共同关注的领域，并制定研究问题和方法来解决这些问题。生殖健康和发展中心的结构就是为了建立这样一种对话。它鼓励跨学科对话，以确定a）历史和人文学科可以为DRR提供哪些特殊的投入; B）我们的学科可以合作的最佳方式;以及c）这种跨学科（但以人文学科为主导）的方法可以为当今的灾害风险管理做出实际贡献。为此，我们计划举办一系列主题研讨会，每次研讨会都将侧重于减灾研究中的一个紧迫问题，使与会者能够分享观点，创建共同的合作框架，并就如何更好地将这种综合方法纳入灾害风险管理提供指导。讲习班的部分稿件将在《灾害》或《全球环境变化》等跨学科同行评审期刊的特刊上发表。我们将通过AXA和CAFOD等组织参与我们的研讨会来吸引非学术受众，通过制作针对研究界和非营利组织以外的利益相关者的工作文件，我们将在网络网站上发布开放访问，并通过维护博客来保持网络参与者和更广泛的公众了解RHDC事件，并提供对过去和当代自然灾害的评论。我们还将举办面向公众的活动，包括由布里斯托大学卡伯特研究所主办的公开讲座和由牛津大学主办的历史学家和科学家"对话“之夜。该网络将使广泛的学术和非学术利益相关者受益。它汇集了具有不同兴趣和经验的参与者，他们通过整合方法，共享数据和确定关键的共同问题来寻求灾害研究的共同点。作为建立强大的跨学科联系的结果，预计该网络将导致一个或多个重大合作研究资金的申请。

'Natural' disasters are set to become one of the key challenges confronting governments and communities in the decades ahead as climate change, the number of people living in hazard-prone (especially coastal) locations, and the sheer density of the urban fabric increase the potential for loss from natural hazards. Societies in the past were also severely tested by disasters, however, often to the limits of their endurance. Some cultures proved more resilient and overcame these tribulations; others showed less flexibility and failed. What makes any society vulnerable or resilient in the present is in part an historical question, and understanding how different cultures at different times were able to prepare for, mitigate, manage and recover from such events provides useful lessons for disaster risk managers today. A key aim of this network is to explore how to incorporate the distinctive cultural and temporal insights that history and the humanities more broadly can contribute to DRR. Steps towards collaborative approaches to integrated hazard research are currently emerging through the development of historical databases such as ACRE and the Global Historical Earthquake Catalogue, but there has not yet been a comprehensive conversation to enhance communication between historians, natural scientists and disaster specialists, identify common areas of concern, and frame research questions and methodologies to address them. RHDC is structured to build towards such a conversation. It encourages an interdisciplinary dialogue to identify a) what special input history and the humanities can make to DRR; b) the optimal ways in which our disciplines can collaborate; and c) the practical contribution such an interdisciplinary (but humanities-led) approach can make to disaster risk management today. To this end, we plan to hold a series of themed workshops, each of which will focus on a pressing issue in DRR studies that will enable participants to share perspectives, create a common framework for cooperation, and provide guidance on how such an integrated approach might be better incorporated into disaster risk management. Selected contributions from the workshops will be published in a special edition of an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal such as Disasters or Global Environmental Change. We will engage non-academic audiences via the participation of organisations such as AXA and CAFOD in our workshops, by producing working papers intended for the research community and stakeholders outside academe which we will publish open-access on the network website, and by maintaining a blog to keep network participants and the wider public informed about RHDC events, and provide commentary on past and contemporary natural disasters. We will also hold public-facing events including a public lecture hosted by the University of Bristol's Cabot Institute and a historians and scientists 'in conversation' evening hosted by the University of Oxford.The network will benefit a wide range of academic and non-academic stakeholders. It brings together participants with diverse interests and experience who seek common ground in disaster research through integrating methodologies, sharing data, and identifying critical shared questions. As an outcome of establishing strong interdisciplinary connections, it is anticipated that the network will lead to one or more applications for major collaborative research funding.