The Sustainable Procedure Framework for Disaster Risk Management: Illustrated by the Case of the EU Floods Directive in Sweden

Abstract

How can the concrete meaning of the ambiguous and theoretical concept of sustainable development (SD) be defined and implemented, without losing sight of its fundamental principles? This study introduces a theoretical framework that supports studies of SD implementation in the context of strategic disaster risk management, by defining what SD implies with regard to planning procedures. The framework is based on the procedural SD principles of participation and integration. It was originally developed for, and has shown great value in, the field of water resource management. In-depth interviews with senior risk management researchers indicate that the framework is also applicable to and valuable for disaster risk management studies. To illustrate the application of the framework, a study of the EU Floods Directive in Sweden is summarized with the framework as the basis for the analysis.

Complexity is no excuse

“…The case example illustrates STEP and shows how it can support research that explicitly links SD theory to specific practices. The example is taken from my own research and includes several individual studies on water and flood risk planning over the last 10 years which centre on sustainable planning procedures in Sweden and EU (Hedelin 2007(Hedelin , 2008a(Hedelin , b, 2015a(Hedelin , b, 2016Hedelin and Lindh 2008).…”

“…See Table 3 for an outline. For a detailed explanation of the SPF and of how it is derived, see Hedelin (2007Hedelin ( , 2015aHedelin ( , 2016. The criteria that mainly stem from the SD principle Integration are much influenced by research on integrated planning and management (Bellamy et al 1999;Born and Sonzogni 1995;Margerum 1999;Sneddon et al 2002) and by research on organisational coordination and collaborative planning (O'Leary and Vij 2012;Prager 2010;Rashman et al 2009;Susskind et al 2012;Weiss and Hughes 2005).…”

“…The table outlines the sustainable procedure framework (SPF) for river basin planning It synthetises research from several fields. For a complete description of the SPF and of how it is derived, seeHedelin (2007Hedelin ( , 2015aHedelin ( , 2016 …”

Developing a Substantive Sustainability Framework for Urban Planning in Desert Regions in Egypt

“…In line with this, many scholars have approved the suitability of` 'substantive-procedural' paradigm when acknowledging SD in planning [1,[16][17][18][19], or as it is named 'ends-means' paradigm [20,21], which helps to fully comprehend [22] and achieve [17] sustainability throughout the planning process. The substantive dimension (ends) reflects the goals of sustainability, or the 'What is to be sustained?'…”

Dynamics of Urban Disaster Risk Paradigm: Looking Through the Perceived Lens of the Residents of Informal Settlements in Khulna City, Bangladesh

“…According to Dovers (2004, p. 21) sustainability principles in disaster management refer to understanding 'individual and group perception of risk and uncertainty, community vulnerability and resilience in the face of environmental change'; 'integration of social, environmental and economic policy'; studying 'vulnerability into broader and deeper spatial and temporal scales' and enhancing interdisciplinary research. While traditional methods are useful to accommodate critical geophysical information, they may have difficulty in incorporating such principles in strategic disaster management (e.g., municipal land use planning to reduce the exposure to disaster; Hedelin, 2016). Sustainability principles have entered into disaster research more recently as a reflection of universal acceptance of this concept in development practice particularly in natural resource management (Hedelin, 2007;Hedelin, Evers, Alkan-Olsson, & Jonsson, 2017;Renn, 2015).…”