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Projects

Acting in Time on Disaster Response and Recovery

Consequential public problems are rapidly approaching crisis stage, and governments, communities and nations seem unable to meet these challenges head-on. Under the leadership of Harvard Kennedy School Dean David Ellwood, the Acting in Time initiative harnesses the capabilities of HKS and the university as a whole to examine why particular problems such as mobilizing crisis resources, bridging the knowledge gap in public health and confronting health care reform are not addressed. By bringing together scholars of different backgrounds with practitioners, we will learn more about the analysis, governance, policy design, democratic institutional structure, information, political mobilization, and leadership necessary to generate effective solutions to effect prompt response to fast-developing crises and, in advance, to hasten community recovery planning.

The Program on Crisis Leadership directs two Acting in Time research projects.

• Acting in Time Advance Disaster Recovery project: HKS faculty and staff are seeking to identify how societies recover from disasters; researching and disseminating best practices in disaster recovery; making policy recommendations on how to prepare in advance for recovery, and facilitating ways for governments to make policy changes to support these efforts. Elements include recovery initiatives in the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles; a comparative examination of recovery in New Orleans; and the convening of a “community of inquiry and practice.”
• “Taming the Horsemen of the Modern Apocalypse” project: A research team of senior HKS faculty members is focusing on the challenge of acting in time to mitigate and to respond to the consequences of a broad array of landscape-scale disasters – hurricane, fire, flood, earthquake, accident, pandemic outbreak, and acts of terrorism. Using Hurricane Katrina as a “benchmark,” the team is reviewing the likely consequences, in the context of existing state of readiness, of this set of disasters and is considering what broad spectrum, all-hazards forms of response would be most appropriate for preparing for them.

Emergency Preparedness in Transportation

With funding from the US Department of Transportation's New England University Transportation Center, PCL conducts ongoing research on emergency preparedness within the United States' transportation sector. This research initiative examines, among other issues, emergency evacuation planning in major metropolitan regions; the integration of the transportation sector into the broader emergency management community; and efforts to harden transportation infrastructure and assets against the consequences of natural disasters and security threats.

Asia Emergency Management and Disaster Research

Concurrent with its Asia-specific crisis management education and training programs, PCL conducts extensive research into how disasters and emergencies unfold and are managed in several Asian countries, including China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam. PCL’s examination of community and government responses to public health emergencies, natural disasters and barriers to crisis readiness will bring to light new lessons about handling the unexpected and provide potential options to explore for future risk reduction and advance recovery planning. Specific initiatives include:

• The Harvard University Asia Center Disaster Initiative: PCL is co-leading a university-wide faculty research initiative on disaster management in Asia in collaboration with the Harvard University Asia Center. The effort brings together leading scholars to examine disaster impacts in the region; to convene an international issues’ conference; and to craft policy strategies that lead to directly improving the disaster loss cycle in emerging Asian nations where catastrophic events strike with increasing frequency.
• China’s 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake Recovery Assessment: In collaboration with Beijing Normal University and the School of Social Policy and Management, PCL faculty are determining the level of disaster recovery effectiveness resulting from the momentous Wenchuan earthquake. Government operations; mobilization of community and volunteer resources; and, repopulation dynamics are all topics of study in this initiative.

Swiss Reinsurance Research Initiative

SwissRe’s involvement in managing risk calls for subject matter expertise to craft in-depth analysis of the economic and social consequences of disasters and countervailing measures to reduce their impacts. PCL is partnering with SwissRe to observe systemic drivers affecting responses to crisis and to consider approaches that could yield less post-event damage and social harm.

AFFILIATED PROJECTS

The Broadmoor Project

Rebuilding New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is among the most complex domestic policy challenges that American government has ever faced, pushing the boundaries of bureaucracy. Using innovative approaches to governance through broad-based civic engagement, disaster recovery success is newly defined through collaboration among the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Through the Belfer Center’s Broadmoor: New Orleans Recovery Project, Harvard University students work with neighborhood partners on repopulation, education, housing, and economic development. The effort includes executive education for New Orleans residents at HKS; sponsoring of community forums; and funding for post-Katrina research by HKS faculty and affiliates.

PARTNERSHIP PROJECTS

California Earthquake Response and Planning Training

Working with the city governments of San Diego and Los Angeles, California, PCL faculty and staff train interdisciplinary groups of senior leaders in crisis management and recovery best practices. The effort identifies the skills and systems used in crisis situations; assesses how courses of action are established; and explores how complex bureaucracies can prepare effectively for the unexpected.research by HKS faculty and affiliates.

Linn County, Iowa 2008 Flood Project

In the aftermath of the 2008 Midwest floods, HKS faculty and staff have worked with the local government to track disaster recovery progress and to analyze pre-event factors that affect the long-term community response to the flooding. Of particular interest, is serving as a conduit to route disaster recovery information and resources to senior community leaders while observing the consequences of local decision-making and community interactions about development and economic revitalization.

Acting in Time Advance Disaster Recovery project

HKS faculty and staff are seeking to identify how societies recover from disasters; researching and disseminating best practices in disaster recovery; making policy recommendations on how to prepare in advance for recovery, and facilitating ways for governments to make policy changes to support these efforts. Elements include recovery initiatives in the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles; a comparative examination of recovery in New Orleans; and the convening of a “community of inquiry and practice.”

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Department of Homeland Security Quadrennial Review

PCL Faculty Co-Director Dutch Leonard serves on the advisory committee for the first quadrennial review of DHS.

World Economic Forum

PCL Faculty Co-Directors Arnold Howitt and Dutch Leonard serve on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Mitigation of Natural Disasters. This international initiative convenes the leading global experts on extreme events to develop strategic, comprehensive approaches to social risk.