A glimmer of hope? : an assessment of vulnerability and empowerment in the coastal area of North Lebanon

Abstract

DEDICATIONThis work is dedicated to my family. To my wonderful father and mother, Tony and Amale, who sacrificed their lives to raise us and to give us the best education and opportunities in life. To my lovely siblings Vicky, Fahed, Micho, and Wally and my nieces Rita and Lara, for your unconditional love and for always being there for me. To my caring grandfathers, Abdel Nour and Fahed, for your great love and for teaching me how to be strong. You were always proud of me. I really wish you were still with us now. May your souls rest in peace. To my loving grandmothers, Najat and Nazek, strong and achiever women beyond all odds. You taught how to be patient and loving. To the rest of the family, thank you for being a great family and for being a source of love and happiness throughout the years. The relationship between outcomes and correlates of empowerment 67List of Tables Table 3.1 Research questions, steps, and methods 26 Table 4.1 Direct impacts resulting from different episodes of armed conflict 38 Table 4.2 Indirect impacts resulting from different episodes of armed conflict 42 Table 5.1 Indicators of physical and social vulnerability 52 Table 5.2 Social vulnerability Index for each of the five areas of the Lebanese northern coast 58 Table 6.1Indicators of Agency 68 Table 6.2 Indicators of Empowerment 69 Table 6.3 Authorities' equitability in addressing needs and concerns, and the influence of political and religious characteristics on the authorities' treatment of people 73 Table 6.4 Spearman's rho correlations between various variables within the public services delivery domain 74 Table 6.5Logistic regression to evaluate determinants of individual perceptions as to whether the way in which authorities treat people is affected by people's religion or political affiliation 76 Table 6.6 Spearman's rho correlations between various variables within the labor domain 78 Table 6.7Logistic regression to investigate determinants of individual perceptions of job security 79 Table 6.8Perception of involvement in Community decision-making processes 80 Table 6.9 Spearman's rho correlations between various variables within the community domain 81 The project aims to provide a longitudinal analysis of the impact of recurring armed conflict on the human-environment system in the region of North Lebanon using an interdisciplinary and integrative approach through combining different disciplines including social geography, political economy, ethnography, environmental and life science, and economics. The objective of this project is to highlight the processes of vulnerability, environmental mitigation and reconstruction, and trust relationships in these processes in the area of North Lebanon during and after conflict.The research was carried out at the Department of Governance and Technology for Sustainability (CSTM) at the University of Twente, the Netherlands and the Institute of the Environment (IOE) at the University of Balamand, Lebanon. Both institutions provided exceptional academic and technical support which a...