The role of legislation in the advancement of community education. Part 2 : Is exhortation the key?

This article (second of two parts) examines the significance and adequacy of legislation providing for or indeed requiring community education in the emergency area. The first section of this part accordingly considers the political effects which the provisions have or could have. In the second section the article considers alternative legislative models. These alternatives are offered to stimulate reflection on the current offerings rather than as part of a case for necessary reform. The final section offers some conclusions from the study as a whole

The 1982 urban landslide disaster at Ancona, Italy

This study describes the landslide that ocurred in the City of Ancona, in central Italy, on december 13, 1982. An integrated view of the disaster is obtained by examining its political, social, logistical, financial, geological and geotechnical aspects, with particular emphasis on interactions among these factors. The report describes the evolution of both physical events and human response (including the debate and responsability and the struggle of local politicians to obtain relief and reconstruction funding from central governmemt). Geotechnical site studies at Ancona are criticized and appraised with respect to the use made of them by local politicians and planners. The Ancona landslide, which destroyed or damaged 785 homes and affected 11

of this city of 108,000 inhabitants, was one of the largest of such disasters to occur in recent European history. Here in, it is evaluated as a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon or train of events, and compared with both the contemporary Italian natural hazards situation and smaller landslide disaster which occured in central-southern Italy shortly afterwards. Italian hazard response is appraised in the light of these disasters. (AU)

The Politics of disaster - Nicaragua

The ocurrence of natural disasters, such as floods and earthquakes, are in themselves, beyond our control. However, careful preparation before such events, and the correct management of the problem once it occurs, can both lead to major reduction of the suffering involved. Disaster preparation and emergency planning are both inextricably linked to politics and economics nature and the response to a natural disaster both in the short and the long term is largely determined by the political relations within a country, and between that country and the international community. This paper examines these issues by taking the examples of the earthquake of Managua, Nicaragua in 1972 and the flooding that occurred in Nicaragua in 1982. These two natural disasters occured under different administrations in Nicaragua and this allows some interesting comparisons (AU)