Introduction

Disasters often provide unique opportunities to promote climate-resilient development and to build political will to integrate resilience measures into recovery and development. Recent evidence shows a growing demand for sustained engagement in countries following a disaster to support the implementation of resilient recovery and reconstruction planning. Politicians and donors alike are attuned to the issue, and the general public may be more amenable to the often-difficult trade-offs necessary for risk reduction.

According to the World Bank (2013), a major challenge for post-disaster and climate-resilient recovery support is timely and sufficient access to resources. All climate- and disaster-resilient development actions have an upfront cost. However, if the action is well designed and proportionate to the risk, then the outcome will be cost-effective and save money in the long run.

Disaster resilience is a shared responsibility between governments, communities, businesses and individuals. Enhancing coordination, synergies and linkages among various organisations, institutions and involved actors is fundamental to keeping all stakeholders focused on the goal of reducing vulnerability. Collaboration provides an opportunity to share knowledge, experience and skills with multiple members in order to modify goals and contribute to development. In order to successfully collaborate, there must be sufficient resources, a culture that encourages effective teamwork and cooperation, and clearly defined responsibilities.

The current management of disaster risks is often fragmented due to a lack of coordination between involved actors, for example, civil protection and spatial planning – a phenomenon known as the ‘problem of interplay’ (Young, 2002, p 23; Greiving et al, 2012). Lack of coordination refers not only to prevention/preparedness measures, but also to preparations for the remediation phase. It should not be forgotten that remediation functions simultaneously as the prevention stage for the next disaster event. Fragmentation and disconnection leads, among other things, to a lack of synergy and mutually subverted or duplicated measures and funding. These problems become more acute in times of limited resources (financial, personnel, etc) (Sapountzaki et al, 2011). Spatial planning is increasingly regarded as one important instrument for disaster risk reduction. Spatial planning is responsible for decisions on the long-term utilisation of land.

Theoretical background

Today, in the ‘globalised’ world, all areas of human activities are interconnected, and risks ‘know no borders’. This is regardless of whether the risk is related to the individual, community, region, state or globe.