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Leveraging Post-Disaster Windows of Opportunities for Change towards Sustainability: A Framework

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  • Katja Brundiers

    (School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 875502, Tempe, AZ 85287-5502, USA)

  • Hallie C. Eakin

    (School of Sustainability, Arizona State University, P.O. Box 875502, Tempe, AZ 85287-5502, USA)

Abstract

Disasters are catalysts for change: they are increasingly recognized as offering opportunities to direct and navigate change towards aspired outcomes, such as sustainable development goals. However, we know little about how to leverage the opportunities created by disasters to achieve sustainability objectives. Learning from existing case studies is challenging, partly because there is no framework that integrates concepts of change from both sustainability science and disaster recovery literatures. This study develops a unified analytical framework to facilitate the documentation and analysis of case studies of sustainability transitions following disasters. Our aim is to enhance the potential for theory-building, and to draw lessons that can be used to help leverage opportunities presented by disasters in the future. We apply the framework to available empirical cases and identify specific conditions, resources, social relations and constraints that affect disaster-to-sustainability transitions. Our expectation is that this framework will serve professionals and researchers in the fields of sustainable development and disaster mitigation to enhance the effectiveness of their research and applied activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Katja Brundiers & Hallie C. Eakin, 2018. "Leveraging Post-Disaster Windows of Opportunities for Change towards Sustainability: A Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-18, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1390-:d:144074
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sung Hoon Kang & Mark Skidmore, 2018. "The Effects of Natural Disasters on Social Trust: Evidence from South Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, August.
    2. Katariina Koistinen & Satu Teerikangas, 2021. "The Debate If Agents Matter vs. the System Matters in Sustainability Transitions—A Review of the Literature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-32, March.
    3. Nicholas A Cradock-Henry & Joanna Fountain & Franca Buelow, 2018. "Transformations for Resilient Rural Futures: The Case of Kaikōura, Aotearoa-New Zealand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-19, June.
    4. Lauri Peterson, 2021. "Silver Lining to Extreme Weather Events? Democracy and Climate Change Mitigation," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 21(1), pages 23-53, Winter.
    5. Ensor, Jonathan & Tuhkanen, Heidi & Boyland, Michael & Salamanca, Albert & Johnson, Karlee & Thomalla, Frank & Lim Mangada, Ladylyn, 2021. "Redistributing resilience? Deliberate transformation and political capabilities in post-Haiyan Tacloban," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    6. Mahir Yazar & Dina Hestad & Diana Mangalagiu & Yuge Ma & Thomas F Thornton & Ali Kerem Saysel & Dajian Zhu, 2020. "Enabling environments for regime destabilization towards sustainable urban transitions in megacities: comparing Shanghai and Istanbul," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 160(4), pages 727-752, June.

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