Project Overview

Title: Human Capacity Building in Climate Change and Health in Africa
Funding Agency: Global Affairs Canada, through the Canadian International Development Scholarships (BCDI 2030)
Goal: To develop a Ph.D. training program focused on the mathematical modeling of climate change and health-related risks in Africa, with a focus on interdisciplinary skills and community engagement.

Project Summary

This scholarship project, led by 快播视频 in partnership with AIMS Rwanda, aims to build capacity in Africa for tackling climate change and health-related challenges. The project focuses on creating innovative Ph.D. training programs that will provide students with expertise in mathematical modeling, data analytics, and visualization for climate and health applications.

The training program will include:

• Mathematical Modelling for climate change and health risks
• Data Analytics for healthcare and environmental data
• Smart City solutions for disaster management
• Health Technology development for healthcare improvement

The program's interdisciplinary approach will prepare researchers to apply their skills in various sectors, contributing to Africa鈥檚 resilience to climate change and improving public health systems.

Key Research Areas

• Climate Change Modeling: Developing models to predict climate impacts on health and the environment.
• Data Analytics: Using big data to support evidence-based decision-making for climate and health policies.
• Health Technology: Innovating in medical technologies for monitoring health impacts, especially in rural communities.
• Smart Cities: Building sustainable urban infrastructure to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Key Contributors

• Project Lead: Jude Kong (Faculty Member, Dept. of Mathematics & Statistics, 快播视频)
• Partner Institution: AIMS Rwanda (Rwanda University)
• Co-Supervisors: 快播视频 faculty members specializing in climate change, health sciences, and data analytics.

Funding and Resources

• Global Affairs Canada
• York University Contributions
• Duration: 2023鈥�2028, with annual evaluations and reviews.

Impact and Future Goals

This project will contribute to increasing the number of African Ph.D. students trained in climate change and health modeling. Graduates will be equipped with the knowledge to lead research and policy initiatives in their home countries, building Africa鈥檚 capacity to respond to climate-related health challenges. The program also focuses on fostering gender equality, with a targeted scholarship fund to support female researchers.

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Project Overview

Title: Geomagnetic Disturbance in Modern Societies and Technological Infrastructures (GMD-MSTI)
Funding Agency: NSERC CREATE
Goal: To study the impact of geomagnetic disturbances (GMD) on modern technological infrastructures, particularly focusing on their effects on communication, energy, and transportation systems in the face of growing geomagnetic activity.

Project Summary

The GMD-MSTI project aims to explore the implications of geomagnetic disturbances, which are caused by solar storms, on the global infrastructure that is critical to modern society. This research will focus on understanding how GMDs affect systems such as satellites, electrical grids, and communication networks, providing essential insights to mitigate risks and improve resilience against space weather events.

The project will bring together experts in space weather, engineering, and policy to create innovative solutions for protecting vital infrastructures from GMD effects, fostering collaborations between academia, industry, and government stakeholders.

Key Research Areas

• Geomagnetic Activity Modeling: Developing predictive models to understand geomagnetic disturbances and their impact on technological systems.
• Infrastructure Vulnerabilities: Identifying weaknesses in power grids, satellite communications, and transport networks due to GMDs.
• Risk Mitigation Strategies: Creating engineering and policy strategies to safeguard infrastructures from geomagnetic disruptions.

Key Contributors

• Project Lead: Afshin Rezaei Zare (Principal Investigator)
• Co-applicants: Ali Asgary, Hina Tabassum, Regina Lee, Maleknaz Nayebi, Georg Zoidl, and others
• Partner Institutions: 快播视频 and related partner institutes specializing in space weather, electrical engineering, and risk management.

Funding and Resources

• Total Funding: NSERC CREATE program funding, with an emphasis on infrastructure research and development.
• University Contributions: In-kind contributions from 快播视频, including faculty expertise, research facilities, and administrative support.

Impact and Future Goals

The GMD-MSTI project aims to enhance the resilience of critical infrastructures to solar and geomagnetic activities, which have the potential to cause widespread disruptions. By addressing these issues, the project will provide actionable insights and solutions that can help industries, governments, and communities better prepare for the future challenges posed by space weather.

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Project Overview

Title: Understanding and Improving Wildfire Risk Mitigation Partnerships with Local Governments
Funding Agency: Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) 鈥� Wildfire Resilient Futures Initiative
Goal: To build and mobilize foundational wildland fire knowledge and enhance partnerships between local governments for wildfire risk mitigation.

Project Summary

This project focuses on improving wildfire risk mitigation efforts by fostering collaboration between local governments and key stakeholders. It is part of the Wildfire Resilient Futures Initiative, aiming to create more resilient communities in the face of increasing wildfire risks due to climate change. Through this initiative, 快播视频 researchers are working alongside local governments to understand wildfire risks better and develop comprehensive strategies for risk reduction.

The project will leverage knowledge and research to improve policies and actions at the local government level. By bringing together experts from various fields, it seeks to enhance preparedness and response mechanisms for wildfire risks, contributing to the overall safety and sustainability of affected communities.

Key Research Areas

• Wildfire Risk Assessment: Developing tools and methodologies for identifying high-risk areas and assessing vulnerabilities.
• Policy Development: Creating strategies for integrating wildfire mitigation into local governance frameworks.
• Community Engagement: Strengthening partnerships between local governments, communities, and experts to ensure more effective mitigation actions.

Key Contributors

• Project Lead: Eric Kennedy (Principal Investigator)
• Co-applicants: Erin Belval, Catrin Edgeley, Toddi Steeleman, Eric Toman
• Collaborators: Local government agencies and stakeholders from wildfire-prone regions

Funding and Resources

• Overhead Costs: The project allows for overhead expenditures up to 15% of NRCan鈥檚 contribution.
• Project Duration: The project spans several years, with major milestones and deliverables planned for each phase.

Impact and Future Goals

This project aims to directly impact local government strategies for wildfire risk mitigation, ensuring more coordinated, efficient, and effective responses to wildfire threats. The goal is not only to improve safety but also to build long-term resilience in communities at risk from wildfires.

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快播视频 Assistant Professor has been recognized for significant research contributions by the Canadian Sociological Association (CSA) with its .

Wu is one of two recipients of this award for 2023, which recognizes early career research 鈥渄emonstrating high quality, theoretical rigour or methodological innovation, and future potential.鈥�

Wu is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, with a research focus on political sociology ofhealthrace and ethnicity, and more. His research has appeared in highly regarded general as well as discipline-specific journals, such as Daedalus: Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Social Science Research, Ethnic and Racial Studies, and the Canadian Review of Sociology.

Wu also demonstrates a strong commitment to engaging in public sociology. He has published many opinion articles in The Washington Post, Toronto Star, Macleans, The Conversation, among others, and often shared his research with the public via national and international TV, radio and newspaper forums including NPR, CBC National News, and The Economist.

鈥淗e is an outstanding scholar who has made significant contributions to the sociology of trust, racism, health, and migration. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, he demonstrates how geographic and cultural contexts alter the effects of social capital on important social outcomes,鈥� reads the CSA鈥檚 announcement. 鈥淗e has published 30 peer-reviewed articles and a highly impressive record of external research grant success. Dr. Cary Wu has co-authored with students, earned teaching and research awards, engaged with diverse audiences and achieved international recognition.鈥�

The Canadian Sociological Association (CSA) annually presents several awards of recognition for scholarly work and contributions to the field of Canadian Sociology.  It aims to highlight achievements with awards to honour students, scholars in the early and advanced stages of their career, authors, as well as practitioners in the community.

Wu was the lead researcher on a recent study that found high inflation rates are leading to increased stress among certain sociodemographic groups and exacerbating inequalities in health across the United States. The study, 鈥�,鈥� was published in the American Medical Association鈥檚 open access journal JAMA Network Open in May.

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There are plenty of reasons why this is the worst wildfire season in decades; 'Anyone who tells you it鈥檚 one single story is selling something,' says emergency management expert Village Media Jun 19, 2023 2:00 AM

As of this morning, there are at least 422 active wildfires burning across the country, including 51 in Ontario. All told, more than 5.8-million hectares of land in Canada 鈥� the approximate size of Nova Scotia 鈥� has already caught fire in 2023.

"This year is very much a year of big fires, and that is reflected in our total area burned as well as the smoke events that we鈥檝e been seeing across the country and drifting into the U.S.,鈥� said Eric Kennedy, a professor of disaster and emergency management at 快播视频.

Why has this particular wildfire season been so destructive?

鈥淭his is a bunch of different forces multiplying together," Kennedy said,  on Village Media's Inside the Village podcast. "Anyone who tells you it鈥檚 one single story is selling something. It鈥檚 a bunch of factors that are all combining and are greater than the sum of their parts when they multiply.鈥�

You can watch Kennedy's full interview .

Hosted by Scott Sexsmith and Michael Friscolanti, the Editor-in-Chief of Village Media,  is a news and current affairs podcast that provides a weekly window into some of the best local journalism from across our chain of Ontario newsrooms. Produced by Derek Turner, the program also explores bigger-picture issues that impact people across the province.

Every episode is available . If you prefer the audio version, it is available wherever you find your favourite podcasts.

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Ali Asgary, Professor, Disaster & Emergency Management, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies & Director, CIFAL York, 快播视频, CanadaWed, June 21, 2023 at 6:51 p.m. EDT路4 min read

The U.S. Coast Guard announced Thursday was identified as belonging to the Titan, . Teams from different countries 鈥� including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany 鈥� were conducting search missions under a very tight timeline.

The discovery, close to the site of the Titanic, indicates the end of search-and-rescue operations for the five people onboard, who were killed in a 鈥�,鈥� according to the Coast Guard.

As one of the largest international marine search-and-rescue operations, the incident raised questions about risk management, search-and-rescue operations, costs and ethical aspects of responses.

Ocean incidents

A significant number of economic activities 鈥� including shipping, fishing and offshore oil and gas drilling 鈥� are conducted in marine environments. These activities can lead to occurrences of accidents and casualties of different types.

Annually, a large number of incidents happen in the Canadian marine environment. Between 2011 and 2020, that had an annual average of 15.6 fatalities during the same period.

These numbers suggest that relative to the huge number of marine activities and the number of incidents, conventional marine-based operations are relatively safe and the emergency responses to them are effective.

An unusual situation

The search-and-rescue operations have been proven to be unusual, as measured by the complexity, costs, time sensitivity and scale. Unlike search-and-rescue operations on the ground that can be undertaken by volunteers and with little or no equipment, marine search and rescue is a .

It requires high-tech equipment, tools, training, co-ordination and capacity. In the current case, 鈥� rather, it was in cubic measurements (3D), because the vessel could have been anywhere around the surface, in shallow or deep waters, .

While there are capable teams with the needed equipment and training for most marine disasters, they are not sufficient to cover a large area with limited information or uncertainty about the situation.

Operational outcomes

This search operation was among the costliest in recent history. We need to wait to see how much of this cost will be covered by insurance, OceanGate or the public.

This event will generate significant discussions around the public burden of private risks and risk-taking behaviours, and how risks in certain areas are regulated. And it could count for about one-third of Canada鈥檚 annual average marine fatalities if it鈥檚 considered a Canadian incident.

Particularly, it will bring to the forefront questions about , including search-and-rescue.

Risk assessments

When embarking on risky operations, such as deep-sea touristic exploration, two elements need to be added to risk assessments: 1) Do we have adequate and timely internal and external capacity to handle a potential incident?; and 2) What are the total response costs of an incident?

While certain risky activities or operations may be acceptable based on a private assessment of risk, they may not be acceptable if we ponder these two aspects.

Unfortunately, many conventional risk assessments, particularly in the private sector organizations, do not pay sufficient attention to available emergency response capacities.

When considering , it became clear this small emergency surpassed the capacity of the resources that were operating in the area.

Teams from other places and countries joined the effort, but it took several days for a unified command centre for search-and-rescue to take shape.

Conducting a survey of available emergency response capacities to risk assessments can make a significant difference in risk management and regulation.

Similarly, many current risk assessments do not fully include emergency response costs in their calculations. While it is not a major consideration for many regular daily activities and operations because the emergency response is within regular possibilities, certain operations 鈥� particularly on remote marine environments 鈥� ought to add these costs into their risk assessment.

In doing so, risks may become more or less acceptable in terms of mitigation policies and regulations. Incorporating these aspects into risk assessments and regulations could help ensure that private operators provide additional safety and risk mitigation measures and assume responsibility for incurred costs.

This article is republished from , an independent nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. Like this article? .

It was written by: , .

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Ali Asgary does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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June 19, 2023
By

(edb3_1/Adobe Stock)

By Ali Asgary, 快播视频, Canada

Disasters often bring politicians, policymakers, researchers and the public to the discussion table. Due to their catastrophic impacts, disasters and emergencies prompt a large array of stakeholders to focus intently on the issues at hand, providing windows of opportunity for change.

This focus often exposes the operational, co-ordination and governance deficiencies and weaknesses of emergency management systems. raise questions about whether the current system and approaches are best suited to protect people, property and the environment from hazards 鈥� and can bring about change and investment in corrective measures.

Many of the world鈥檚 leading emergency management governance approaches and national agencies have gone through extensive changes and enhancement following major disaster events, .

The Canadian government is reportedly contemplating creating a national . If so, what would it entail?

Canada and U.S. emergency management

Modern emergency management systems in both Canada and the U.S. have a long history. Both emerged during the Second World War and Cold War era, focused on civil defence.

and has remained under the same name since then. Historically, the Canadian federal unit responsible for emergency management .

Public Safety Canada (PSC) has been responsible for emergency management at federal level since 2003. However, only a small portion of , resources and structure is directly related to emergency management. Therefore, it鈥檚 important to compare FEMA with the branches of PSC that deal with emergency management, falling under the Ministry of Emergency Preparedness.

Despite many geographical, cultural, political and natural hazard similarities, Canada and the U.S. have many differences that influence how each country manages its emergencies.

However, both follow a relatively common and established principle that emergencies are managed by regional authorities and higher levels of governments are involved only if they鈥檙e overwhelmed.

Federal governments intervene upon requests from provincial, state or territorial governments that . This is a response-focused approach.

FEMA compared to Canada鈥檚 system

Modern emergency management systems, however, are increasingly based on a concept that includes mitigation and prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.

FEMA has reshaped itself over time to align with the comprehensive model of emergency management. But the PSC, despite some recent efforts such as developing the and the , has mainly focused on the preparedness/response element of emergency management.

Although PSC is a large organization, its emergency management portfolio, budget, human resources and capabilities are very slim relative to FEMA.

FEMA plays major operational roles in emergency mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery with its various departments, programs, teams and resources. that don鈥檛 exist at the federal level in Canada.

PSC鈥檚 role in emergencies is more about co-ordinating and mobilizing federal resources, such as the Armed Forces. While FEMA has become stronger in managing and responding to catastrophic events across the U.S., PSC has rarely been involved in similar large-scale events.

A close emergency management organizational charts shows some of the key differences in how they both operate.

In Canada, provinces and territories have created their own emergency systems and work with local communities and the federal government around common frameworks and . Provinces and territories with more resources and more disaster experiences , but they鈥檙e still under stress during major emergencies such as the current wildfire events.

Emergency Management Agency of Canada?

Considering the increasing frequency, intensity and complexity of emergencies across Canada, it鈥檚 evident that the status quo at the federal level is no longer a viable option. There have been enough warning signs, alarm bells and wake-up calls already.

Canada should leverage these events as an opportunity to make the changes needed by giving high priority to the establishment of a new system or agency in the chain of decision-making processes.

Canada should leverage these events as an opportunity and make the changes needed by establishing a new system or agency that can proactively respond to and prepare for emergencies.

Fortunately, Canada鈥檚 legal and governance structures in emergency management are mature and developed. Some efforts have been made in recent years towards making a better system.

Creating a federal agency 鈥� let鈥檚 call it the Emergency Management Agency of Canada, or EMAC 鈥� would support comprehensive emergency management with adequate, reliable, trained and equipped teams and infrastructure. It would provide timely technical support and training and operational assistance without compromising or limiting the existing local and provincial roles in emergency management.

EMAC could be created under the Public Safety Canada umbrella or as a separate agency 鈥� whichever is most feasible under the existing laws and regulations, or by amending them. Canada already made a similar move after the 2003 SARS crisis in 2004.

EMAC is the obvious next step forward as Canada faces an ever-increasing number of natural disasters and emergencies.

, Professor, Disaster & Emergency Management, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies & Director, CIFAL York,

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February 16, 2023, Toronto- 鈥淐limate change is causing major shifts in historic weather patterns with more frequent and severe weather extremes including higher temperatures it's resulting in a new risk profile for critical infrastructures that called for the need for forward-looking climate resilience planet,鈥� Professor David Baumken said during his lecture entitled Forward Looking Climate Change Vulnerability and Resiliency Planning in the Electricity Sector via Zoom Webinar today.

Baumken recalled some of the incidents including the past Hurricane Fiona that devastated many parts of the Maritimes including Nova Scotia; a severe windstorm in Brampton that toppled 18 poles and trapped cars; the deadliest and most destructive fire in California's history occurred the transmission lines owned and operated by the Pacific Gas and Electric that pretty much devastated the town and killed 84 people in 2018 plus the 2010 gas explosion they have set off 31 wildfires killing a total of 113 people that included the 84 in the campfire burning 1.5 million acres and destroying 24,000 structures.

He clarified the estimation that a one-degree temperature variable increase per decade starting in 2030 does not mean we worry about climate change in 2030 because it is changing now.

鈥淲hen we're talking about climate change mitigation, we're talking about reducing those greenhouse gasses and carbon emissions and it鈥檚 not new. What鈥檚 new is that we're going to be forward-looking so I'd mentioned sea level rise, certainly when you look at flooding, melting of ice caps, breaching of rivers and lakes; increasing temperatures there's obviously the heat effect; some of the cold temperatures can also cause significant problems for equipment; increased precipitation; wind speeds causing that kind of damage; we have tree contact and other things that knocked down the poles or the wires and it's that cascading effect,鈥� Baumken said.

He added that there are climate change effects due to human-induced factors like 鈥榦ne a few years ago in Vaughan where we've paved everything over and there's a lack of green space and deforestation鈥�. 

鈥淚n this case of putting up barriers or containment and that's what asset hardening would be to certain aspects of weather asset relocation because if you're going to have the potential for flooding or other consequences as a result of severe weather events then you need to look at relocating it. When there's cost-cutting, unfortunately, there have been times where they have cut the cycles for vegetation management then you've also got other challenges,鈥� Baumken added.

Further, forward-looking climate change planning thinking of more severe storms and their frequency, he said that to reassess the mutual aid resources utilities that do not have significant staff to handle emergencies they rely on partners, these mutual assistance agreements will need to be looked at and strengthened.

鈥淚t should go without saying too that emergency preparedness planning including drills and exercises should factor in forward-looking climate change information to be prepared and quite frankly you have to look at more complicating factors as a result of what can occur so it's not a single contingency, you could get hit with multiple waves of problems, how you would deal with multiple things occurring?鈥�

To sum it up, Professor Baumken encourages everyone to look at what everyone as a country, the missionary climate change objectives in terms of reducing carbon and greenhouse gases. 鈥淲e need to factor that into how we're bringing new generation online, so it needs a coordinated overall approach, and I certainly am seeing signs of that throughout Canada.

The said session is part of the series of lectures under the Emerging and Systemic Risks Monthly Lectures series co-organized by Y-EMERGE, DHEUSeR Research Cluster, and CIFAL York.

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March 16, 2023, Toronto- Climate change, its effects, and cross-border migration are topics that are usually on the news, however, today, Professor Yvonne Su talked about the under-discussed topic of internal migration because of climate change in the latest Emerging & Systemic Risks Monthly Lectures, 快播视频鈥檚 Climate Change Research Month special session.

In opening, Su shared pictures and videos of the recent wildfires and said that climate change fuels wildfires but the wildfires also fuel climate change, but the question is 鈥淗ow do we turn that lens and examine what climate migration and disaster-induced displacement look like in Canada?鈥�

鈥淚n 2021 wildfires caused an estimated total of 1,760 megatons of carbon emissions which is equivalent to 640 fifty megatons of CO2. Wildfires in 2021 generated 148% more than the total fossil fuel emissions in 2020.鈥�

Based on the CSIS report on climate change, they highlighted the serious threats that climate change poses to Canada. The report outlined concerns about threats to water and food security, Arctic sovereignty, coastal security, and mass migration. Sea level rise is predicted to cause irreversible damage to infrastructure and vulnerable coastal communities.

鈥淰ancouver city planners have estimated that sea levels could rise up to two meters over the next 80 years. Increasing sea levels also bring a higher risk of animal-borne diseases, loss of arable land, and shrinking freshwater resources and then increase of uninhabitable land in Canada鈥�.

Despite these facts plus the impact on people鈥檚 ability to make a living, many still seem to be really focused on people from the outside coming into Canada and immigrating to Canada due to climate change but they're not so focused on the internal migration and the internal tensions and frictions. 

Further, Su shared examples of internal migration including indigenous communities that were disproportionately impacted by the human-made flood which led to the permanent displacement of Lake St. Martin First Nation鈥檚 community; and the Lytton BC wildfires that burned down the village and the inability to restore it.

Su said that science cannot just reiterate these facts over and over and produce little results, action really needs to be taken. Su suggested the following proactive solutions:

1.     Community-based planned resolution

2.     Develop multi-year and multi-hazard prevention plans that move beyond party politics

3.     Developing multi-level governance and resources

4.     Support and prepare host communities.

鈥淏e proactive to the solutions that are available so that when there is internal migration and a large amount of it due to a disaster we can be prepared to host communities, those who are obviously impacted can be as best prepared as possible鈥�, Su explained.

Moreover, from the questions that arise from the audience, Su shared some of her experiences witnessing examples of internal migration including in the Philippines where relocation usually occurs internally. 

鈥淚n the Philippines, they do things differently they consult, had conversations with the community and they asked the community to identify to them who were the most vulnerable and that was fascinating because the people that they said were usually people that are out of sight that the NGOs themselves would not see, they focused on ways to build back that doesn't necessarily have to involve lifting people from their homes and moving them far away,鈥� said Su.

To close, the lecture鈥檚 moderator Professor Idil Boran put together more questions from the audience and asked 鈥渉ow do we see the relationship between different types of migration, may it be environmental disasters or disasters that are due to human activities?鈥�

Prof. Su answered this and left the audience something to think about as she ended her lecture, "If a disaster were to strike Toronto and we have to be temporarily relocated where would we go? That's a good place to start, to think and look at other people in Canada and have empathy for the experiences that they might be going through being dislocated, displaced.鈥�

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Dr. Jason von Meding, Associate Professor from the Rinker School of Construction Management, Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience in the University of Florida opened his lecture entitled 鈥淩ethinking Vulnerability鈥� under the Emerging & Systemic Risks Monthly Lectures of Y-EMERGE, DHEUSeR Research Cluster & CIFAL York last January 19, 2023, with these questions. 

Meding stressed the importance of reflecting on the meaning of vulnerability to each person. He said that the concept of vulnerability usually talks about other people, who are often oppressed, marginalized, or feel the impacts of different injustices and inequalities, and that it is something that we need to avoid. However, through that process of talking to people affected by disasters, he learned that disasters were more than the interaction of people and hazards but actually were political, and social and the risk was socially constructed.

The architect turned disaster and scientific researcher in thinking about vulnerability, he realized that efforts to reduce vulnerability by focusing people on the root causes have not really led to system change and have usually inspired more humanitarian responses than responses rooted in solidarity and community action.

鈥�The critique of the usage of vulnerability usually has a colonial heritage, it promotes unequal power relationships. Those of us in hazards in disasters and hazards usually think about people who are out of sight, out of reach, out of the loop, out of money, out of scope, or marginalized based on different identities and all of these may be useful in practical terms when we鈥檙e organizing programs or research projects. We really have to be aware of different meanings, experiences, choices, needs, and preferences in terms of how people want to be acknowledged and some of the damaging ways of that labels are used.鈥�

Meding quoted that Perry Cannon also argues that vulnerability is one of the most used and abused concepts in disaster scholarship and the vulnerability paradigm itself has really tried to urge us away from hazard-centric approaches that focus on technical solutions. 

He added that the 鈥渙verarching problem is vulnerability being portrayed as a weakness, it implies that it鈥檚 something bad and something that we need to reduce in the context of disaster, vulnerability鈥檚 often used in contrast to resilience.鈥�

鈥淎aron Gilson, I quote, from one of her papers which really spoke to me and changed the way I looked at things thinking about the way we often look at vulnerability and say we need to react to this harm that鈥檚 being done by being invulnerable and achieving mastery over vulnerability which is sought at the price of disavowing vulnerability.鈥�

One of the first things that he did to address this was work with former Mayor Heidi Harmon of San Luis Obispo in California where they wrote an essay on open democracy during COVID-19. The essay was inspired by a lot of authoritarian-style leaders around the world who were saying that they were kind of invulnerable and they weren鈥檛 scared of it. They talked about how vulnerability by choice is the only way that we can be in a relationship with other human beings.

That led to another essay entitled 鈥溾�� which discusses how vulnerability can be seen as an opportunity to care for each other and to protect each other from wounding.

Meding鈥檚 recent projects also include works with other disaster researchers about how they tell stories of vulnerability; looking at the securitization of vulnerability; and looking at a theory for disaster studies of vulnerability reframed.

鈥淚 think it's all about how we frame stories and that's why it's so important because language is fluid and so we, by creating these kinds of normative understandings may help us to save time, to take quicker action. When we're speaking of vulnerability, I encourage everybody to be careful and think about how you're using language to work with others toward collective action and be a reflective practitioner when we're dealing with issues that are so important, and that requires system change.

Meding ended his lecture by encouraging everyone to be intentional when using the term vulnerability in their papers and projects.

Meanwhile, Prof. Jianhong Wu, Y-EMERGE Director expressed gratitude to all attendees and reiterated that the said Emerging & Systemic Risks Monthly Lectures aim to really provide a platform for the exchange of the current thinking about the emergency mitigation engagement response and governance and that Dr. Meding鈥檚 session really served its purpose.

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