Thesis title: Building resilience to disasters and climate change: pathways for adaptive and integrated disaster resilience in Indonesia

Thesis title: Building resilience to disasters and climate change: pathways for adaptive and integrated disaster resilience in Indonesia

Article Type: Doctoral abstracts From: International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, Volume 5, Issue 3

Degree: PhD

Candidate name: Riyanti Djalante

Department: Environment and Geography

College/university: Macquarie University

Country: Australia

Language of the thesis: English

Thesis supervisor(s): Dr Frank Thomalla, Dr Cameron Holley, Dr Michelle Carnegie and Dr Kate Lloyd

Postal address: Jalan Wayong Nomor 8, Kendari, Sulawesi Tenggara, Indonesia, 93111

Contact email: mailto:Riyanti.djalante@gmail.com

Thesis abstract

Disasters caused by natural hazards and climate change are occurring more frequently, and are becoming more costly than ever. The acceleration of climate change is expected to increase the frequency, magnitude and severity of hydro-meteorological disasters. The increasing complexities of global environmental and socio-economic change and the interconnectivities between processes at global, regional and local scales require greater nation and community resilience to disasters. While there has been a proliferation of research on socio-economic resilience, a better utilisation of the concept of governance within disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA) as part of an integrated analysis is urgently required. The research aims to identify and examine governance strategies that can better support the integration of DRR, CCA and adaptive governance (AG), in policy and practice, to build the resilience of nations and communities.

The research is framed by a multi-disciplinary analysis that includes areas of research of disaster studies and humanitarian practice, social-ecological and environmental management and governance studies developed within the discipline of human geography. The research combines theoretical analyses with a case study of Indonesia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 53 individuals from 27 key stakeholder organisations (government organisations, non-governments [NGOs], community-based organisations [CBOs] and international organisations) engaged in DRR and CCA in Indonesia.

This study finds that progress in building resilience in Indonesia is determined by the development of enhanced institutional and policy frameworks for DRR and CCA, the provision of support from international organisations, and the increasing roles of NGOs and CBOs at the sub-national and community levels. Challenges to the integration of DRR and CCA and community development are mainly caused by institutional segregation of sectoral agencies at the national level and the low capacity of local governments in planning and implementation.

The outcome of the work presented in this thesis is the proposed adaptive and integrated disaster resilience (AIDR) framework. AIDR is defined as the ability of communities or nations to build disaster resilience in an integrated, systematic and adaptive manner. Seven institutional strategies or pathways for implementing AIDR in Indonesia:

• integrating the agendas of DRR, CCA and development;

• strengthening polycentric DRR governance by increasing the capacity of local governments and other stakeholders, and increasing community participation;

• increasing multi-stakeholder collaboration through incentives, showcasing benefits and developing umbrella organisations;

• improving knowledge and information exchange through comprehensive research plans and data platforms, and the incorporation of knowledge from different sources;

• enabling institutional learning through public awareness and education, training and by prioritising disaster preparedness;

• fostering self-organisation and networking amongst community groups through providing resources and connecting them with other local, regional, international and Hyogo Framework for action (HFA) thematic networks; and

• comprehensively implementing disaster-risk insurance and finance across regional, sub-national and local levels, and accessing access to DRR funding from multiple sources.

An imperative for all of these pathways is to place more attention and resources at the local level – to actively involve local governments, NGOs and CBOs, and to place communities-at-risk at the centre of integrated resilience-building activities.

This thesis contributes to theory by examining the linkages of resilience, DRR, CCA and AG, and developing a new conceptual framework for AIDR. A contribution to practice is made by critically analysing knowledge, policy and practice in DRR and CCA, and by identifying progress and remaining challenges in building disaster resilience in Indonesia. Through the proposed AIDR framework, this thesis provides a comprehensive and systematic assessment of the processes that enable more targeted and efficient strategies for the integration of DRR, CCA and development in policy and practice.