Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - PRUV (Preparedness and Resilience to address Urban Vulnerability)

Teaser

The challenge posed by urban vulnerability is immense and is being compounded by rapid unplanned urbanisation, climate change and resource pressures. While the realisation that there is a fundamental shift in the landscape of crises to cities is no longer contested, aid...

Summary

The challenge posed by urban vulnerability is immense and is being compounded by rapid unplanned urbanisation, climate change and resource pressures. While the realisation that there is a fundamental shift in the landscape of crises to cities is no longer contested, aid actors are nonetheless grappling with the complexities of adapting their approaches to the urban context. The Preparedness and Resilience to address Urban Vulnerability (PRUV) Consortium aims to inform the pressing need to reshape how humanitarian action and development aid is undertaken in urban areas to address the challenge posed by urban vulnerability. Assembled within the PRUV Consortium is an exciting mix of actors with considerable experience and expertise in urban contexts that will transcend disciplines and sectors to frame a new resilience and preparedness paradigm to respond to urban challenges. It seeks to combine existing best practice with innovative thinking and technology to challenge current state of the art thinking in order to arrive at a novel approach with affected urban populations at the centre. By combining legal, social, cultural, political and public health perspectives in a holistic manner, considerable purchase is added to the research around preparedness and resilience, which, while not new within the aid sector more generally, has not been focussed sufficiently on the urban context to date. The opportunities to carry out the research in test-bed sites in Africa, Asia and Latin America adds to the potentially broad utility and transferability of the findings globally.
The objectives of the project are as follows:
1. To advance the state of the art by exploring the relationship between resilience and socio-economic issues across a range of societal institutions.
2. To advance the state of the art by addressing the theoretical and practical gaps in the protection of crisis-affected communities and vulnerable groups in urban settings in order to acquire new evidence-based knowledge to foster resilience. 3. To advance the state of the art by determining the contribution of existing legal frameworks at different levels of governance to urban resilience and how they can be improved.
4. To advance the state of the art by positioning urban resilience within the human security paradigm.
5. To advance the state of the art by modelling the effectiveness of public health preparedness interventions in urban settings for improving household, community, and local government resilience to humanitarian crises.

Work performed

In pursuit of this aim the project is divided into several distinct phases that serve to group the tasks to be undertaken sequentially within each work package in achievement of this aim. The phased approach serves to categorise the relevant deliverables.

Phase 1 (January – December 2016)
In this phase of the project considerable progress was made in laying the groundwork for the project by developing a literature review, conceptual framework and research design to guide each of the five work packages. As a consortium the project has been engaged collectively across work packages in the following areas:
- Obtaining peer input on the broad research approach to each of the five work packages through panel discussion at the foremost international humanitarian studies conference;
- Holding the PRUV Kick-start Seminar to familiarise participants with one another and further brainstorm the work package research designs;
- Selection of PRUV test-bed cities and particular localities within them on the basis of pre-defined selection criteria;
- Defining project key terms, e.g. resilience, preparedness, urban etc.;
- Compilation of secondary data concerning each of the selected localities;
- Completion of a baseline survey questionnaire for deployment within a survey to be conducted in phase 2;
- Agreement of a detailed research project timeline.

Phase 2 (January – September 2017)
Obtaining secondary baseline data
The data from the localities selected in Nairobi, Kibera and Kawangware, were collected by Concern Worldwide through the IDSUE Urban Surveillance programme.
Primary baseline data collection
Quantitative baseline data concerning urban livelihoods have been collected on the basis of a household survey. The survey serves to obtain an understanding of the livelihoods, capacities and vulnerabilities in the context of the urban informal settlements included within the study. Through multistage cluster sampling, the survey was conducted including a total of 1136 randomly selected households in six localities across the three PRUV cities of Bogotá (Altos de la Florida), Nairobi (Kibera and Kawangwere), and Jakarta (Rawabadack Utara and Lagoa). The data allows for the obtaining of rich comparative understanding of how conditions across several sectors, detailed below, vary across the test-bed localities:
• food security;
• hygiene and sanitation;
• health and health-seeking behaviour;
• personal security;
• housing and tenure;
• inter-personal relationships;
• income and expenditure;
• coping strategies in case of shocks and stresses.

Phase 3 (October 2017 – December 2017 (ongoing))
Having obtained baseline data from the six localities from both primary and secondary sources, the data were then collated and stored in order to enable comparability across the six localities. Contingencies tables detailing percentages were then created for each of the livelihoods sectors detailed above. The contingencies tables served to inform the refinement of the research design for each work package. Together with partner organisations located in the test-bed cities the project conducted a review of the methods, sampling strategy and tools concerning each work package above to each case study context. Applications for ethical approval have been submitted or are currently being prepared . Key stakeholders within the localities were identified who would be in a position to assist with the recruitment and convening of research participants as part of participatory research methods including focus group discussions and social network analysis. The identification of potential research assistants was also undertaken.

Final results

Progress beyond the state of the art
The project has generated published review papers that identify gaps within the state of the art to which the PRUV project aims to contribute. Given the highly informal and insecure nature of the PRUV localities (in particular in Nairobi and Bogotá) the baseline survey data is highly valuable and further qualitative methods implemented in the localities will yield important insights concerning these gaps in knowledge.

Expected results and potential impacts
The expected results from the project will generate a number of potential impacts. The project plans to develop an urban vulnerability index. This innovation would provide the rationale for assessing sources of information and guidance concerning how to grade information. UVI would allow dynamic, longitudinal comparison across and within cities (particularly in slums and informal settlements) to see where the needs are the greatest, make a decision about the strengths of the city, and allow decisions on where to focus humanitarian aid assistance. Further potential impacts relate to career and skills development of the participating researchers, a sustainable research partnership between academia, the NGO sector and the private sector.

Website & more info

More info: http://pruv.ucd.ie.