Disasters such as war, famine, floods and cyclones, etc., can have severe impacts on the environment, including biodiversity and social structures. Recovery processes often have to be implemented quickly. Impact assessment tools are needed which can be applied to disaster management and recovery plans to ensure that environmental implications are taken into account. IAIA's Disasters and Conflicts Section enables IAIA members to share and disseminate information on disaster-issues and to participate in the development of sustainable disaster management strategies.
This IAIA Section has routinely organized sessions at the annual IAIA meetings on disaster and conflict topics. The section works to raise awareness of disaster/conflict issues among the IAIA membership and increase the use of environmental impact assessments in humanitarian operations and recovery programs.
The section began formal development at the 2002 IAIA meeting in The Hague and has been active at all the annual meetings since. Section members have also met informally between the annual meetings and have participated in a number of conferences and meetings (see below).
Disasters and Conflicts Section members have participated in the following conferences/meetings:
<p>Including the Environment in Humanitarian Assistance, C. Kelly, <em>Humanitarian Practice Review</em>, Humanitarian Policy Group, Overseas Development Institute, 2004.<br /> <br /> Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment in Mega City Disasters: Issues and New Tools, Second International Symposium on New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia, C. Kelly, <a href="http://icus-incede.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/isus03/papers/pdf/11.Session8/42.pdf" target="_blank">http://icus-incede.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/isus03/papers/pdf/11.Session8/42.pdf</a> and <a href="http://www.benfieldhrc.org/" target="_blank">http://www.benfieldhrc.org</a> under working papers, 2003.<br /> <br /> Assessing Environmental Impacts During Natural Disaster: the Development of a Rapid Environmental Assessment Methodology, C. Kelly, <em>Journal of Environmental Assessment Policy and Management,</em> Vol. 4, No. 4 (December 2002) [earlier version in <em>Proceedings Annual Meeting The Hague</em>, The International Association for Impact Assessment, June 2002.]<br /> <br /> <em>Rapid Environmental Impact Assessment: Framework for Best Practice in Emergency Response</em>, C. Kelly, <strong>Workshop Report</strong>, Sharing Experiences on Environmental Management in Refugee Situations: A Practitioner’s Workshop, Geneva, 22-25 October 2001, posted at <a href="http://www.benfieldhrc.org/" target="_blank">http://www.benfieldhrc.org</a> under Disaster Management, UNHCR Geneva.</p>
<p><a href="http://proactnetwork.org/" target="_blank">ProAct Network</a></p>
Special thanks to Charles Kelly for providing initial content for this IAIA Wiki topic.
