doi: 10.3850/S179392402012001044

The Importance of Explicit Discussions of What is Valuable in Efforts to Reduce Disaster Risk: A Case Study from Fiji

Per Becker Lund University Centre for Risk Assessment and Management (LUCRAM), Lund University,
Box 118, Lund, 22100, Sweden. per.becker@lucram.lu.se

ABSTRACT

This article argues for the importance of explicit discussions of what is valuable as a foundation for any disaster risk reduction initiative to be effective. It does so by stating that it is impossible to talk about risk at all without some notion of uncertain potential impacts on something that human beings value. What is assumed as valuable and important to protect is then determining what hazards that are relevant in this context etc. However, this is rarely explicitly debated in contemporary disaster risk reduction, indicating a common assumption that all stakeholders implicitly agree in this matter. Such assumption may hold with only a few involved individuals, but is shown in an empirical study in Fiji as unlikely to be valid in more participatory approaches to disaster risk reduction. In order to facilitate effective disaster risk reduction in such contexts, it is important to start by involving the stakeholders in an explicit discussion of what is valuable in their specific context. Without such discussion there is a risk that stakeholders unintentionally impede each other's efforts by pursuing different goals.

Keywords: Risk, Disaster, Disaster risk reduction, Value, Valuable.

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