Reflexions on multidisciplinarity and geologic risk management in Cuba

Liber

Description

ABSTRACT
Geological risk management has special relevance in construction and the creation of new infrastructure in Cuba.
The aim of this work was to focus on making some reflections about the multidisciplinarity analysis of geological
risk management in the country from a critical perspective
RESUMEN
La gestión del riesgo geológico tiene una especial relevancia en la construcción y la creación de nuevas infraestructuras en Cuba. El objetivo de este trabajo fue centrarse en hacer algunas reflexiones sobre el análisis multidisciplinario de la gestión de riesgos geológicos en el país desde una perspectiva crítica.

Sujets

• Management
• Multidisciplinarity
• Construction
• Infrastructure
• Gestion
• Construcción

Informations

• Publié par: erevistas
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 11
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

EARTH SCIENCES
RESEARCH JOURNAL
Earth Sci. Res. SJ. Vol. 15, No. 2 (December, 2011): 137 - 144
GEOLOGy
Refexions on multidisciplinarity and geologic risk management in Cuba
1 2 3 4Liber Galbán Rodríguez , Ingrid N. Vidaud Quintana , Tomás Jacinto Chuy Rodríguez, José María Ruiz Ruiz ,
4 4Francisco Calderín Mestre , Eduardo Rafael Alvarez Deulofeu
1 Geology Engineer. Assistant Professor. Universidad de Oriente, Constructions Faculty, Hydraulic Engineering Department. E-mail: [e-mail]
2 Civil E. Doctor in Pedagogical Sciences. Titular Professor. Universidad de Oriente, Constructions Faculty, Civil Engineering Department.
E-mail: [e-mail]
3 Physic. Doctor in Geophysical sciences. Principal Investigator. National Seismic Research Institute of Cuba (CENAIS). E-mail: [e-mail]
4 Civil Engineer. Master in Civil Engineering. Auxiliary Professor. Universidad de Oriente, Constructions Faculty, Civil Engineering Department.
E-mail: [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]
AbSTRACT
Keywords: management, multidisciplinarity, geological risk,
construction, infrastructure.
Geological risk management has special relevance in construction and the creation of new infrastructure in Cuba.
Te aim of this work was to focus on making some refections about the multidisciplinarity analysis of geological
risk management in the country from a critical perspective
Palabras claves: gestión, multidisciplinaridad, riesgo geológi-
RESUMEN
co, construcción, infraestructura.
La gestión del riesgo geológico tiene una especial relevancia en la construcción y la creación de nuevas infraestruc- Record
turas en Cuba. El objetivo de este trabajo fue centrarse en hacer algunas refexiones sobre el análisis multidiscipli- Manuscript received: 30/08/2011
nario de la gestión de riesgos geológicos en el país desde una perspectiva crítica. Accepted for publications: 02/12/2011
Introduction social harm. Some of the most comprehensive geological risks conception
posed them as those processes, events or situations occurring in geological
Geological events afect the disordered way that man has set into environments that can cause damage or harm to communities or infrastruc-
space, on many occasions and for various reasons, in terms of maximum ture occupying vulnerable territory. Tey can also be understood as any
exposure and high vulnerability to natural phenomena’s whose potential geological, natural, induced or mixed situation or event which can produce
levels are known, thereby creating very high-risk situations. Its prevention economic or social harm to a community, where geological criteria may be
at national, regional, and local levels could be solved applying policies, used for their prediction, prevention or correction (Ayala, 1992).
measures and actions that can be implemented within the investment pro- Management is thus needed to avoid or prevent such geologic risks,
cess that is executed for the construction of new infrastructure. Te pos- a concept bringing together issues such as study, planning, organisation,
sible occurrences of earthquakes, fooding, landslides, erosion processes, evaluation, management, analysis, implementation, monitoring and con-
and action of the sea on the coasts among others, constitute hazards whose trol (Koontz and Weihrich, 1998). Tis is an element which when prop-
impact can lead to serious injury or geological risks. erly inserted in terms of geological risk mitigation is a very useful working
Geological risks form part of a wider range of environmental risks tool regarding construction and infrastructure. Geological risk manage-
and are grouped into classes according to their origin. Te defnition of ment concerns studies regarding phenomena or processes related to geody-
geological risk has been addressed by several authors; one of its frst defni- namics and earth processes or phenomena induced by human activities af-
tions was made by the US Geological Survey in 1977, stating that geo- fecting projects and/or civil engineering works, or infrastructure, situated
logical risk is understood as any geological condition, process or event or in the future be located on the ground, so that they contribute towards
that involves a potential risk to the health, safety or welfare of a group of planning, organising, directing, evaluating and controlling organisational,
citizens or for the functions of a community or economy (rbusi-Roque, technical and technological measures for such projects or works, aimed at
2003). Another defnition understood them as a circumstance of distress, preventing or mitigating the efects of disasters caused by natural or man-
loss or damage to social and economical development due to a geological made geological events (Galban, 2010).
condition(Ogura and Soares, 2005). Te main problem of international risk management for all levels of
Man’s interaction with the environment creates potentially hazardous government is that risk management is a long-term problem and govern-
situations since human action itself triggers mechanisms involving natural ments have not been particularly good at planning long-term develop-
hazards, or natural geological events may constitute a danger or lead to ment and have not spent much money on reducing such risks to long-term 138 Liber Galbán Rodríguez, Ingrid N. Vidaud Quintana, Tomás Jacinto Chuy Rodríguez, José María Ruiz Ruiz, Francisco Calderín Mestre, Eduardo Rafael Alvarez Deulofeu
Government
Specialists Community
Figure 1. Diagram showing the interrelationship of factors involved in geological risk management.
(Monge Granados, 2003). Governments have a crucial weakness regarding Multicriteria decision-making, or adopting a multidisciplinary ap-
risk management; specialists also play an important role here but similarly proach, involves predicaments in business and public administration; it
have not demonstrated their expertise in this area. is dif cult to make a decision regarding a public issue (such as geological
T is analysis indicates that there must be a proper multidisciplinary risks) that will satisfy all stakeholders, because the cost often comes into
relationship between specialists, government and the community (Figure conf ict with other criteria. However, multidisciplinary analysis has to pri-
1); such interaction inf uences such actors to a greater or lesser extent re- oritise realism and readability which are important assets in organisations,
garding geological risks concerning man-made structures and therefore at a time when the complexity of decision-making is recognised by most
whether risks will materialise, meaning that management needs to be con- actors, even if not all of them show the same sensitivity regarding the dif-
textualised, proposing a mechanism that permit each country working ac- ferent criteria.
cording their real possibilities. T ere have been experiences of international multidisciplinary par-
Cuba, the largest island in the Caribbean, is not an isolated case. ticipation and choices being made to reduce geological risks regarding
Here, the multidisciplinary management of geological risks developed construction and infrastructure; the most commonly seen have been in
during construction process deserves an independent analysis according to implementing preparedness, prevention and mitigation so that damage
its singular political and administrative system. caused by geological events involving construction has been minimal and
that rehabilitation and reconstruction ef orts have enabled lower costs, as
Data and methods: the Cuban experience referred to the multi- suggested by Wold Health Organization/Pan-American Health Organiza-
disciplinary management of geological risk tion (WHO / PAHO) since 2000 regarding management and comprehen-
sive disaster management (Figure 2).
A summary of the bibliographic sources consulted has described mul- Disaster management is supported by the body of knowledge, mea-
tidisciplinarity as being cooperation between dif erent disciplines towards sures, actions and procedures, which together with the rational use of hu-
common goals, whether related or not, where there can be coordinated man and material resources are geared toward the planning, organizing,
collaboration from the exchange of ideas to the mutual integration of ba- directing, implementing and monitoring activities to prevent or reduce the
sic concepts and methods aimed at providing solutions and establishing a ef ects of disasters on people and infrastructure services and products. T e
foundation for such solutions. actions and tasks performed for the management or disaster management
Multidisciplinarity in environmental management and therefore in are permanent in time and space, forming a cycle comprised of three phases:
geological risk management has a close relationship with decision theory 1. before (Prevention, Preparedness and Early Warning), including measures
which has been studied extensively in the f eld of economics and engineer- and actions designed to prevent or reduce the disaster, among these are:
ing science. T e methods used today are the product of research in such • Conduct ongoing monitoring and surveillance of natural and
areas of knowledge. human phenomena through information systems and early
It is undeniable that every real decision is in fact a comp