Institutional response to disaster risk: the City of Vancouver and District of Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada

Understanding heat vulnerability in the subtropics: Insights from expert judgements

“…Further research could integrate different types of knowledge through systematic and evidence-driven participatory processes aimed at gaining consensus from experts in situations of high uncertainty (e.g. Raikes and McBean, 2017;Rasanen et al, 2019). Identifying authors of key peer-reviewed studies and inviting them to participate in expert workshops alongside those whose expertise derives from practice and experience could be one way to reconcile findings of peer-reviewed research with expert judgement.…”

Identifying factors contributing to social vulnerability through a deliberative Q-Sort process: an application to heat vulnerability in Taiwan

“…Where our approach differs to more conventional applications of Q-Methodology is that, rather than having participants conduct individual Q-Sorts which would then be analysed to identify ‘factors’ and shared views about a topic (e.g. Eden et al 2005 ; Raikes and McBean 2017 ), we instead asked an expert panel to work together to collaboratively undertake a single Q-Sort. In doing so, we sought to achieve a final heat vulnerability ranking that was representative of the breadth of knowledges and expertises in the room.…”

“…In a Q Study, participants sort a series of statements into a grid of numbered columns running from positive through to negative integers, sorting the statements in order from those they most agree with to those they least agree with (Eden et al 2005 ). Q-Methodology has been used in an environmental context to identify issues of priority and concern in, for example, non-governmental organisation (NGO) attitudes to environmental science in the UK (Eden et al 2005 ); stakeholder responses for flood management on the Scotland-England border (Forrester et al 2015 ); and municipal managers’ responses to disaster risk in British Columbia, Canada (Raikes and McBean 2017 ). In these contexts, ‘expertise’ can be seen to encompass not only techno-scientific expertise, but also expertise gained through practice and experience.…”

“…In doing so, we build on existing scholarly interest in systematic and evidence-driven participatory processes to synthesise knowledge from experts in situations of high uncertainty (e.g. Raikes and McBean 2017 ; Räsänen et al 2019 ). We explore our technique through the issue of heat vulnerability for cities in Taiwan, a country predicted to face notable heat risk but one where empirical evidence on societal drivers of heat vulnerability is limited (Shih and Mabon 2021 ).…”

Urban Flooding in Vancouver, Canada

“…Vancouver is ranked the third rainiest city in Canada, with more than 161 rainy days per year. The city receives an average of 1,189 mm (46.8 in) of rain annually (Raikes & McBean, 2017). Vancouver is vulnerable to every major type of flooding event, fluvial, coastal, and pluvial, yet it is the highest-ranking North American city according to the 2016 Arcadis Sustainable Cities Index, where the city leads the continent in social, environmental, and economic sustainability efforts.…”