Workshop Interdisciplinarity / Transdisciplinarity in Disaster Risk Assessment

Julien Rebotier (1) , Patrick Pigeon (2)

1 LISST - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Solidarités, Sociétés, Territoires
2 USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc

On September 29 th , REMAKE Research Program (or REMAKE – Website: http://remake.osug.fr/) held an international workshop called Interdisciplinarity / Transdisciplinarity: from announcement to implementation, the example of the geo-hazards in the Andes. REMAKE's WP6 aims at improving Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Disaster Prevention Policies (DPP) through both knowledge and action. WP6 was in charge of the organization of the workshop. Workshop's insights relate with one of the 2 objectives of REMAKE's WP6 (" cognitive objective " – see website), which is " how to turn ID & TD into actual research practices in REMAKE research program? " According to international assessments (like GAR, 2015), fragmentation of knowledge, risk governance, or low integration of different kinds of actors involved in DRR initiatives are among the main shortcomings for achieving better and more efficient DPP policies on the ground. To solve part of these problems, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity (ID & TD) are acknowledged as appropriate approaches for assessing risks and how it is managed. We can find many definitions of what ID and TD are. In our case, and in line with a clear distinction coming from various international institutions as with the Swiss EAWAG :-ID corresponds to the articulation of different disciplines (concepts, methodologies, viewpoints, or data) in risk assessment-TD refers to the integration of different kinds of actors (scientists, policy-makers, inhabitants, political representatives, or leaders from the private sectors) in the ways problems and assessments are framed, as well as in the manners options are chosen, or initiatives are implemented on the ground. Yet, limits and obstacles for achieving both ID & TD are also well acknowledged in the literature. This is the issue at the heart of this REMAKE Workshop. First, we introduce a synthesis of the main elements of the discussion regarding ID & TD in risk assessments. We present definitions elements, the reason why ID & TD approaches are critical in risk studies, and some of the key obstacles put forward during the workshop.

Domaines: Géographie

Julien Rebotier, Patrick Pigeon. Workshop Interdisciplinarity / Transdisciplinarity in Disaster Risk Assessment. 2017. ⟨halshs-01621659⟩