Sustainability Strategist, Third Partners LLC, PO Box 10188 #83929, Newark, NJ, 07101, USA.
School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, Univ. of Washington, Box 352100, Seattle, WA, 98195-2100, USA.
Environ Manage. 2022 Jul;70(1):54-63. doi: 10.1007/s00267-022-01661-4. Epub 2022 May 13.
Hazard mitigation plans can support communities' resilience in the context of natural hazards and climate change. The quality of these plans can be evaluated using established indicators; however, research is also needed regarding the perceptions of participants in planning processes, to understand aspects of the planning processes that may not be evident in the plan documents. This study builds on previously reported plan quality scores and survey data, to investigate whether selected collaboration dynamics (principled engagement and capacity for joint action) occurred during counties' hazard planning processes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 hazard planning professionals who were involved in preparing county-level hazard mitigation plans in Washington State, USA. Findings (for cases with both high- and low-scoring plans) include evidence of collaboration dynamics, although important participants (e.g., members of the local community) were reportedly missing from some planning processes, raising concerns about the extent to which the plans reflect local needs. These results are consistent with previous literature, which has demonstrated that members of the public often view hazard mitigation as inaccessible and disconnected from their daily lives. The paper concludes with recommendations for how practitioners might go about bolstering participation from important participants, potentially leading to higher-quality plans and helping to protect communities from hazards.
灾害缓解计划可以在自然灾害和气候变化的背景下支持社区的恢复力。可以使用既定指标来评估这些计划的质量；但是，还需要针对规划过程参与者的看法进行研究，以了解规划过程中可能在计划文件中不明显的方面。本研究基于先前报告的计划质量评分和调查数据，调查在县灾害规划过程中是否发生了选定的协作动态（有原则的参与和共同行动的能力）。对 20 名参与准备美国华盛顿州县级灾害缓解计划的灾害规划专业人员进行了半结构化访谈。研究结果（针对高得分和低得分案例）包括协作动态的证据，尽管据报道一些规划过程中缺少重要参与者（例如当地社区成员），这令人担忧计划在多大程度上反映了当地需求。这些结果与先前的文献一致，该文献表明，公众经常认为灾害缓解遥不可及，与日常生活脱节。本文最后提出了如何加强重要参与者参与的建议，这可能会导致更高质量的计划，并有助于保护社区免受灾害的影响。
