"MAKING CITIES RESILIENT": Special Themed issue call for papers from International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment (IJDRBE)

“MAKING CITIES RESILIENT”

Special Themed issue call for papers from International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment (IJDRBE)


Background and Scope
Cities and local governments need to get ready, reduce the risks and become resilient to disasters. For 2010 – 2011 and beyond, the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) will campaign together with its partners for this to happen. "I call for the need of world leaders to address climate change and reduce the increasing risk of disasters- and world leaders must include Mayors, townships and community leaders", stated UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (2009). In this context, the 2010-2011 World Disaster Reduction Campaign “Making Cities Resilient” addresses issues of local governance and urban risk while drawing upon previous ISDR Campaigns on safer schools and hospitals, as well as on the sustainable urbanizations principles developed in the UN-Habitat World Urban Campaign 2009-2013.

Local governments are the institutional level closest to the citizens and to their communities. They play the first role in responding to crises and emergencies and in attending to the needs of their constituencies. They deliver essential services to their citizens (health, education, transport, water, etc.), which need to be made resilient to disasters. Accordingly, there is a need for national governments, local government associations, international, regional and civil society organizations, donors, the private sector, academia and professional associations as well as every citizen to engage in the process of making cities safe from disasters.

This themed issue of the International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment is proposed for researchers and academics, policy makers and other professionals working with disaster prevention, mitigation, response and reconstruction responsibilities who wish to improve their working knowledge of both theory and practice in making cities resilient to disasters.

Themes
This issue will cover the following sub themes (but not limited to):
• National and local governance
• Participation of citizen groups and civil society in the disaster risk reduction process
• Role of the local government in the disaster mitigation, management and reconstruction process
• Risk assessment on hazards and vulnerabilities
• Disaster risk reduction
• Manage and reduce urban risk
• Disaster risk reduction educational programmes and capacity building
• Risk-reducing infrastructure
• Infrastructure upgrades and improvement
• Building regulations and land use planning norms
• Early warning systems and emergency management capacities
• Building resilience auditing
• Risk reduction and continuity management
• Knowledge management practices
• Community engagement and development

High quality original papers are invited within the "Making Cities Resilient" Themed Issue. All papers will be subjected to the journal’s double-blind peer review process.

Important dates

• 28th February 2011 : Deadline for abstract submission
• 15th March 2011 : Decision and call for full papers
• 31st July 2011 : Full paper submission

Submissions
At this stage, we are calling for abstracts (200 words) with proposed title and up to three key words. These will be reviewed against the Themed Issue scope, and IJDRBE’s aim and objectives. Relevant authors will be asked to submit full papers. Themed issue editors are Helena Molin Valdés, Professor Dilanthi Amaratunga & Dr Richard Haigh. Helena is the Deputy Director, United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Secretariat (UNISDR) and the champion of the Making Cities Resilient Campaign. Dilanthi and Richard are the Editors of the International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment who are also Advisory panel members of the UNISDR’s “Making Cities Resilient” Campaign. In addition to the academic papers, practice notes and case study reports are also encouraged to submit for consideration for publication in this themed issue linking with the “Making Cities Resilient” campaign.

Any queries on this themed issue and your abstracts to be submitted to Chamindi Malalgoda (C.I.Malalgoda@edu.salford.ac.uk) at the Centre for Disaster Resilience, The University of Salford, UK.

International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment (IJDRBE)
International journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment aims at developing the skills and knowledge of the built environment professions and will strengthen their capacity in strategic and practical aspects of disaster prevention, mitigation, response and reconstruction to mitigate the effects of disasters nationally and internationally. The journal publishes original and refereed material that contributes to the advancement of the research and practice and provides contributing authors with an opportunity to disseminate their research and experience to a broad audience. IJDRBE is the only journal to promote research and scholarly activity that examines the role of building and construction to anticipate and respond to unexpected events that damage or destroy the built environment. IJDRBE is indexed in: British Library, Construction and Building Abstracts, ICONDA - The International Construction Database, Business Source Premier (EBSCO), ABI INFORM Global (ProQuest), Cambridge Scientific Abstracts (ProQuest), INSPEC, and is also a CIB encouraged journal.

Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/ijdrbe.htm to read more about the Journal.


Kind regards
Helena Molin Valdés, Professor Dilanthi Amaratunga & Dr Richard Haigh