Toward a critical technical practice in disaster risk management: lessons from designing collaboration initiatives

• Main Authors: Lallemant, David, Bicksler, Rebecca, Barns, Karen, Hamel, Perrine, Soden, Robert, Bannister, Steph
• Other Authors: Asian School of the Environment
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2022
• Subjects: Science::General::Moral and ethical aspects; Social sciences::Geography::Natural disasters; Engineering::Environmental engineering; Critical Technical Practice; Ethics in Disaster Risk Management
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/162403
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Despite decades of social science research into disasters, practice in the field continues to be informed largely from a technical perspective. The outcome is often a perpetuation of vulnerability, as narrowly defined technical interventions fail to address or recognize the ethical, historical, political and structural complexities of real-world community vulnerability and its causes. The authors propose that addressing this does not require a rejection of technical practice, but its evolution into a critical technical practice – one which foregrounds interdisciplinarity, inclusion, creativity and reflexivity, as means to question the assumptions, ideologies and delimited solutions built into the technical tools for understanding risks. Design/methodology/approach: The authors present findings from three events they designed and facilitated, aimed at rethinking the engineering pedagogy and technical practice of disaster risk management. The first was a 2-day “artathon” that brought together engineers, artists and scientists to collaborate on new works of art based on disaster and climate data. The second was the Understanding Risk Field Lab, a 1-month long arts and technology un-conference exploring critical design practices, collaborative technology production, hacking and art to address complex issues of urban flooding. The third was a 4-month long virtual workshop on responsible engineering, science and technology for disaster risk management. Findings: Each of these events uncovered and highlighted the benefits of interdisciplinary collaboration and reflexivity in disaster risk modeling, communication and management. The authors conclude with a discussion of the key design elements that help promote the principles of a critical technical practice. Originality/value: The authors propose “critical technical practice” which foregrounds principles of interdisciplinarity, inclusion, creativity and reflexivity, as a means to question the assumptions, ideologies and delimited solutions built into the technical tools for understanding climate and disaster risk.