Disaster risk and development
Employing postgraduate field projects to bring theory into practice
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21540646 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Patricia Zweig (0000-0002-1561-1029, Stellenbosch University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 107 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 533-547 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | South African Geographical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0373-6245 • E-ISSN: 2151-2418 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/03736245.2025.2472648 |
| OpenAlex | W4408220878 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 39 |
Though South African disaster risk management legislation requires the institutionalization of disaster management in all spheres of government, it is at the local level, closest to the citizens impacted by disasters, where the responsibility for this function truly lies. The Disaster Management Amendment Act (16/2015) presents significant challenges for small local municipalities by expanding their mandate even further. In seeking to contribute to risk management at municipal level, the convenor of a post-graduate module in Disaster Risk & Development has been collaborating with local Western Cape municipalities in undertaking short community-based student field projects. These annual encounters have assisted local resource-constrained municipalities and simultaneously created opportunities to bring theories learnt in the classroom into practice, providing students with experience of working with local government in undertaking risk assessments and post-event analyses. In the process, students have grappled with real-world risk and development problems, tasked on each occasion to employ a range of research methods and write up a detailed report for their ‘client’. This paper suggests that these projects have not only enriched student learning but simultaneously provided a valuable service to the local authorities concerned, contributing information derived from applied research to inform risk-averse development planning and decision-making
Engineering ethics · Environmental planning · Geography · Political science · Disaster Management and Resilience · Engineering · Tourism, Volunteerism, and Development
The Decolonization of Knowledge
Citizenship, Diversity and Education
Deepening students' understanding of democratic citizenship through arts-based approaches to experiential service learning
Reconceptualising engagement
Climate change adaptation mainstreaming in the planning instruments of two South African local municipalities
Putting ‘developmental local government’ into practice
Handbook of Hazards and Disaster Risk Reduction
From civil defence to civil protection – and back again
Are South African Geography education students ready for problem-based learning
Who's Serving Whom? Partners, Process, and Products in Service-Learning Projects in South African Urban Geography
Classrooms without borders
Brokering communities of knowledge and practice
Confronting the Colonial Library
The Scholarship of Engagement
Situated solidarities and the practice of scholar-activism
A critical analysis of the South African Disaster Management Act and Policy Framework
The capacity of personnel in disaster risk management in South African municipalities
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |