Incorporating the local: bottom-up transformation of DRR

This report aims to support Practical Action’s work in the development, implementation and roll-out of technologies capable of increasing a community’s resilience to natural hazards. The study focuses on flood early warning systems (EWS) as representative of the most significant challenges in the implementation of DRR technology. Through an analysis of EWS policies at the national, district and local levels in the UK, Peru, and Nepal, the report identifies common and distinct challenges to meeting the needs of the most vulnerable in “technology-rich” and “technology-poor” countries.

This analysis offers an assessment of different approaches to understanding disaster risk and the extent to which these approaches inform, and rely upon, different approaches to forecasting and risk communication. This case study analysis identifies the key determinants of success throughout the EWS process. This insight provides a basis to assess the efficacy of existing international frameworks, incentives and discourse to leverage the change required. By recognizing the strengths and limitations of existing approaches at the local, national and global level, the report extrapolates wider recommendations to shift DRR approaches.