Natural Disaster Risk Reduction & Resilience — GCSE Geography Revision

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What is Natural Disaster Risk Reduction & Resilience?

Natural Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) is a systematic approach to identifying, assessing, and reducing the risks of disasters. It aims to reduce the vulnerability of communities to hazards and build their resilience, which is their capacity to resist, absorb, and recover from a disaster. This proactive approach is more effective and cheaper in the long run than simply responding to disasters after they happen.

Board notes: DRR is a modern and important concept in the study of natural hazards for all boards (AQA, Edexcel, OCR). It requires students to think critically about the relationship between hazards and vulnerability and to evaluate proactive strategies for reducing risk.

Worked example

Common mistakes

• 1Thinking that DRR is the same as disaster management. Disaster management often focuses on the response *after* an event has happened. DRR is about being proactive and taking steps *before* the event to reduce its potential impact.
• 2Assuming that DRR is only about engineering solutions. While building earthquake-proof buildings or sea walls is part of it, DRR also includes things like public education, early warning systems, and protecting ecosystems like mangroves that provide natural protection.
• 3Believing that disasters are natural. The hazard event (e.g., the earthquake) is natural, but the disaster is the result of the hazard's interaction with a vulnerable population. The core idea of DRR is that we can't stop the hazard, but we can reduce the vulnerability, and therefore prevent the disaster.

Natural Disaster Risk Reduction & Resilience exam questions

Exam-style questions for Natural Disaster Risk Reduction & Resilience with mark-scheme style solutions and timing practice. Aligned to AQA, Edexcel and OCR specifications.

Frequently asked questions

• What is resilience in the context of disasters?

  Resilience is the ability of a community or society to cope with and recover from a disaster. A resilient community is one that has the resources, knowledge, and organisation to withstand the impacts of a hazard and to bounce back quickly afterwards.

• What is the Sendai Framework?

  The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction is a global agreement, endorsed by the UN, that sets out a plan for reducing disaster risk between 2015 and 2030. It emphasizes the need to understand risk, strengthen governance, invest in resilience, and enhance preparedness.