Reducing vulnerability, bringing together engineering and social science perspectives

The activity undertaken through this Discipline Hopping proposal will address the different perspectives on the vulnerability of economies, societies, groups and individuals held by engineers on the one hand and social scientists on the other. It will then use this understanding to promote a better understanding of vulnerability for engineering practitioners which in turn will lead to enhanced policies to reduce vulnerability.This project involves a discipline hop by a leading civil engineering researcher into an ESRC-sponsored research institute on sustainability, vulnerability and climate change. The particulal focus will be on how engineering techniques can inform responses to vulnerability from a range of drivers and how social science can inform and improve engineering responses to vulnerability. The project will establish a common understanding of how vulnerability arises, how it can be evaluated and how it can be addressed.As well as the PI's dedicated time within the Sustainability Research Institute, workshops, role plays and consultations will be carried out with international researchers, UK researchers, practitioners and stakeholders. These activities will lead to an interactive website allowing users to quantify vulnerability in specific cases, changed practices in both engineering and social sciences and academic publications.Examples of the questions that we will be able to address more comprehensively as a result of this work are:- How do socio-economic characteristics including: gender, age, income, education, ethnicity, social exclusion and participation in social networks, age affect a person's ability to evacuate?- How do attitudes to risk affect people's willingness to take action in response to early warning systems?- How does a family's access to media and other forms of communication affect their preparedness to take heed of warnings?- How do different socio-economic groups view evacuation i.e. do they have access to transport and alternative accommodation?- Which socio-economic groups are most affected by flooding?- What are the wider economic impacts of vulnerability?

Social vulnerability to a range of impacts has significant effects on people, not only through the immediate impact on personal injury and disruption of daily lives, but also through economic disruption and potential breakdown in society. The latter was seen to an extent in recent floods in Pakistan and in the events in the UK in 2007. A greater understanding of vulnerability amongst social scientists and engineers will lead to more effective responses and greater resilience. This is becoming more important as changes in the climate and social effects such as urbanisation reduce the validity of relying on past experience and increase the uncertainty of future drivers. In addition to the clear benefit to people, there is a benefit to organisations involved in assessing vulnerability and developing responses. This includes national government, government agencies, emergency services, local authorities and consultants. Enhanced understanding of vulnerability and a greater evidence base will allow them to develop more economic preparations and responses. Government agencies will be able to achieve more for less and consultants will be able to market their services more widely at an international level. Insurance companies need to assess risk in order to set realistic premiums for potential losses. Clients for this include not only individual households, but also companies, professional organisations and governments. Such losses are affected by the full range of vulnerabilities and better understanding will improve the risk assessments. Discussions with insurers show that there is particular concern over vulnerabilities in emerging economies where there are significantly increasing economic risks, but little history on which to base risk assessments. The proposal will ensure impact through: - the PI's existing network with commercial and government organisation - focused and carefully programmed workshops - an interactive website - presentations and publications for professionals - follow-on PhD and research projects.