ActivitiesSustainable development |
Overview
DiMP is a 'university-based capacity-building initiative' based in the Department of Environmental and Geographical Sciences (EGS) in the Faculty of Science. DiMP was initially established in 1996 with the Southern African Development Education and Policy Research unit (SADEP) at the University of the Western Cape. In July 1998 it relocated to the Department of EGS at UCT, with a staff of three. Today the unit employs around 10 staff and is involved in strategic research, policy development and legislative reform, capacity development (publications, non-formal training courses, and formal academic programmes) and multi-partner project management.
The motivation for the establishment of a university-based capacity-development initiative in disaster risk reduction can be traced to the repeated droughts in Southern Africa in the 1990s (DiMP 2006). It was then that it became clear that continuing development within the region would not be possible if expected risks were not reduced or factored into development planning. In addition, it was clear that there were large human resource shortfalls among skilled professionals, people who could:
" ...integrate issues on disaster risks into their day-to-day practice - and that teaching and learning institutions in Southern Africa were somehow 'delinked' from efforts to reduce and respond to recurrent threats - including sudden onset events such as severe storms and fires, as well as slower-onset processes such as droughts" (DiMP 2006).
Documents from the unit reflect that DiMP's establishment is partly a result of rapidly accelerating patterns of disaster risk and loss across Southern Africa during the past 10 to 15 years. This calls for skilled human resources; people that can address disaster risk in an interdisciplinary way. Since its inception nearly 10 years ago, DiMP has made it their main task to promote efforts that reduce disaster risk as an integral aspect of sustainable development. It has consistently applied this mission to its applied research agenda, training and education efforts, as well as commitment to disaster risk policy development (2006).
Since 1998, DiMP has strategically aimed at building the disaster risk field, generating a body of risk-specific knowledge, developing capacity to understand and reduce disaster risks and advocating for progressive legislation and policy change in risk reduction (documents 2006).
Disaster risk reduction should therefore be viewed as an interdisciplinary, applied field of practice that must be informed by science as well as by experience and application (Holloway and Jeggle 2006). Disaster risk science, the field of study that shapes and is shaped by the work of a unit like DiMP, can be defined as:
The systematic study of disaster risks, their determinants and consequences, in order to inform disaster risk management and promote sustainable development (Holloway 2006).
DiMP's focus is 'to strengthen risk-reduction practice with robust risk science'. It is this 'systematic study', this 'practice with robust risk science' that is important, distinguishing their work from that of, for example, NGOs in the field, as we have noted above. The rationale for the unit's development and the need for this kind of work is thus based on three main arguments:
To achieve these outcomes and in support of these arguments, DiMP works in three related areas:
All of this work builds on and draws from a range of departmental and university strengths.
Disaster risk research through systematic study builds capacity by generating detailed knowledge on local and provincial risks, useful for improving local risk management. It generates skilled young people with analytic capabilities who can apply these skills to relevant development problems. It generates information that informs laws, policy and resource/funding allocation by all spheres of government, and, in turn, this knowledge shapes regional and international agendas on risk reduction.
University-based education and training programmes build capacity by building and consolidating a body of relevant knowledge on disaster risks; providing a platform for professional short courses and workshops. For example, consultations and workshops are an integral part of the way DiMP structures their projects and are tailored for very specific audiences. Education and training programmes provide opportunity for developing accessible training materials, providing access to the field to a wide range of constituencies with varied educational backgrounds. University-based programmes support policy development and implementation by researching, identifying and recommending workable disaster risk management policy options; providing technical support in the implementation of new policies; and by advocating for changes in international support. This creates greater national/local responsibility for disaster risk management.
Having a specialist disaster risk science component within the geographical and environmental sciences postgraduate training programme provides an important extension of traditional skills in the study of human-environment interactions. In this regard, DiMP activities build on, enrich and complement the strengths of UCT's EGS Department, which has active interests in development, climate change, landscape studies and environmental management.
