Title: Using community-based participatory research post-disaster to address social and environmental problems
Speaker: Kayleigh Ward, ESIIL

Abstract: Disasters produce and build upon existing social, environmental, and economic ills. Treating these exacerbated problems is critical to community well-being and recovery. Based on community engagement in Japan, this presentation covers the outcomes of robust community building to address issues such as poor disaster management, environmental degradation, depopulation, social isolation and industrial decline. This includes discussions of ethics, justice, and the importance of coproducing knowledge.

Speaker Bio: Dr. Ward's sociological research investigates how rural post-disaster communities handle and address co-evolving issues of depopulation, environmental decline, labor issues, and aging. Kayleigh is most active in Japan, having worked with NGOs, NPOs, and CSOs in Miyagi prefecture for eight years to create community-partnered programs to address social and environmental problems following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. She promotes meeting the needs of local partners and residents through projects that center local knowledges to create community-specified and context-specific solutions.

Her environmental science and policy research investigates the connections between national and local government disaster management policies and their influence on natural resource management, and the health of fisheries, forests and agricultural land.