Community Disaster Recovery: Moving from Vulnerability to Resilience

Deserai Crow, Associate Professor, School of Public Affairs at Colorado University-Denver

Abstract:  Disasters can serve as focusing events that increase agenda attention related to issues of disaster response, recovery, and preparedness. Increased agenda attention can lead to policy changes and also to learning. The degree and type of learning that occur after a disaster within a government organization can matter to policy outcomes related to individual, household, and community-level risks and resilience. Local governments are the first line of disaster response, but also bear the burden of performing long-term disaster recovery and planning for future events. In this seminar, Dr. Crow will present a framework for understanding if, how, and with what effect communities and local governments learn after a disaster strikes. Drawing from analyses conducted over a five-year period following extreme flooding in Colorado, USA., she will discuss her forthcoming book (authored with Dr. Elizabeth Albright) titled Community Disaster Recovery: Moving from Vulnerability to Resilience.

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