External Interventions for Disaster Risk Reduction (eBook)

This book presents a case study-based analysis of the consequences of external interventions, critically evaluating them from community perspectives. Communities - from rural to urban, and around the world - that are experiencing disasters and changes in climatic variables can perceive the associated risks and evaluate the impacts of interventions. Accordingly, community perspectives, including their perceptions, concerns, awareness, realizations, reactions and expectations, represent a valuable resource. The case-based analysis of impacts on communities can provide a 'means of learning' from the experiences of others, thus expanding professionals' knowledge base, especially regarding disaster mitigation and climate change adaptation practices in varied settings. 

This book offers valuable insights and lessons learned, in an effort to promote and guide innovative changes in the current planning, management and governance of human settlements, helping them face the future challenges of a changing environment.  

Dr. Chowdhooree has been employed as an Assistant Professor in the Post Graduate Programs in Disaster Management and in the Department of Architecture of BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. As an academic with interests in disaster risk reduction and architecture, he teaches courses on disaster preparedness, emergency response and recovery, humanitarian assistance, building for disaster and building technologies. In 2018 he has received the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Queensland University of Technology, Australia for the thesis entitled 'Impacts of Structural Mitigation Measures on Perceptions of Community Flood Resilience: Experiences from Haor Communities of Bangladesh'. He acquired the degree of Master of Urban and Regional Planning, as well as, his professional degree in Architecture from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. He also received the Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2010. From the same university he finished the graduate certificate program in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance. He was recognized as a Young Scientist involved in disaster management research by Irrigated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) in 2017. He has worked as an intern at the head-office of UNISDR in New York and as a visiting faculty in the Department of Architecture of University of Evora, Portugal. He has also served as a sessional academic staff in the Science and Engineering Faculty of Queensland University of Technology, Australia. His research work is focused on community resilience and its association with built environment, development policies and sustainable lifestyle. He is active in community-based research, sustainable design and planning and serves as a reviewer in multiple international journals and conferences. He also provides advices for disaster mitigation and urban development projects in the national level as means of transferring knowledge from the academia to practice. He is the author of many conference and journal articles and has been a member for urban planning projects in Palau and Vietnam.

Mr. Ghani is employed as a lecturer at the Department of Architecture, BRAC University and at present is working as the director of its Postgraduate Programs in Disaster Management. He completed his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Bangladesh University of Engineering Technology specializing on urban mixed-use developments. He has served as architectural consultant for numerous building and interior design projects all over Bangladesh. He was also part of post-cyclone reconstruction projects for rural communities. Before joining BRAC University, he served as a faculty at Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Dhaka. His Masters research, done at BRAC University, was on Post-disaster reconstruction. His research interests include culturally appropriate interventions, risk reduction and development, sustainable urbanism and housing, housing and context, heritage and cultural landscapes at risk, etc.?