Back to search

KLIMAFORSK-Stort program klima

Quantifying community resilience to natural hazards in Norway

Awarded: NOK 53,999

The PhD project presented here is part of the ongoing research project 'Climate change and natural hazards: the geography of community resilience in Norway (ClimRes)' funded by the Research Council of Norway through grant number 235490 E10. The overall aim of ClimRes is to identify the role of community resilience in situations of crisis, and to investigate how community resilience can be strengthened as a means to effectively deal with climate change-related disastrous events in Norwegian communities. The PhD project will apply different quantitative methods to identify and measure those capacities and resources that contribute to a community's resilience. It is comprised of three distinct yet interlinked elements. First, a community resilience index for Norway based on existing data at the municipality level will be constructed. After thorough testing and evaluation, the index can then be used to map community resilience across Norway and to track fluctuations over time. Second, an in-depth, household-level study of community resilience will be conducted in a geographically limited area. This is meant to gather more in-depth material on aspects that cannot be examined by analysing register data at the municipality level and thus extends and complements the research and findings from the indexation exercise. Third, nationally representative climate surveys (TNS Gallup Klimabarometer) will be analysed and provide a basis for further triangulation and validation of the results of the first two elements of this research. It is anticipated that the proposed research will result in four to five publications in peer-reviewed international journals. To improve the quality of this research project and to foster further collaboration between the Department of Geography at NTNU and the Hazard & Vulnerability Research Institute at the University of South Carolina, a six-month research visit is planned from January to June 2016.

Funding scheme:

KLIMAFORSK-Stort program klima