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The perspective of disaster has shifted from that of an inevitable catastrophe to a natural phenomenon in which the impact can be reduced by strengthening existing capacity within the community. Local capacity played an important part in disaster risk reduction. This is especially true in Indonesia where disaster can strike anytime because of its geographic location. Several studies have been done to identify local wisdom related to disaster risk reduction in Indonesia. However, the study of Mapalus local wisdom in Tombulu people in Tomohon, North Sulawesi related to disaster risk reduction is little to non-existent. Therefore, an effort toward linking Mapalus local wisdom and practices in Tombulu community was made in an attempt to fill the gap in the literature. This paper correlates social and economic capital found in existing Mapalus local wisdom and practices with sustainable livelihood perspective for disaster risk reduction. Future research may refer to this paper as a stepping stone toward unraveling the spirit of Mapalus in disaster risk reduction context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Participatory methods are a common approach for giving voice to local communities in hazard and disaster research. Drawing on a study that trialled and modified a range of participatory methods in North Sulawesi, eastern Indonesia, this paper reflects on how such methods help document the capacities of small island communities. We assessed capacity from a sustainable livelihoods perspective, identifying the assets that enable villagers to cope with hazards. This overall approach promoted a discourse of strengths and resourcefulness, contrasting with vulnerability and needs-assessment approaches common to government and non-governmental organizations, which tend to focus on weaknesses and can sometimes fuel undeliverable expectations of funding. We provide a critical reflection on participatory methods and their significance for researchers, policy makers and funding agencies working with communities in hazard-prone regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on the literature on agroforestry, disaster risk reduction, and livelihoods of people on small islands as it applies to a community prospering in conditions of adversity in Kinali village on Siau Island, Indonesia. Siau Island produces between one-third and one-half of all nutmeg and mace exported from Indonesia. The Kinali community has adopted strategies that enable it to prosper in spite of the risks of living on a small island with an active volcano. The paper charts the sociocultural dynamics of the village and examines how local coping mechanisms based on an agroforestry economy have assisted villagers in dealing with the multiple hazards and constraints arising from the biophysical characteristics of their island. The paper thus contributes to more informed responses to managing volcanic risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A diversity of place‐based community economic practices that enact ethical interdependence has long enabled livelihoods in Monsoon Asia. Managed either democratically or coercively, these culturally inflected practices have survived the rise of a cash economy, albeit in modified form, sometimes being co‐opted to state projects. In the modern development imaginary, these practices have been positioned as ‘traditional’, ‘rural’ and largely superseded. But if we read against the grain of modernisation, a largely hidden geography of community economic practices emerges. This paper introduces the project of documenting keywords of place‐based community economies in Monsoon Asia. It extends Raymond William’s cultural analysis of keywords into a non‐western context and situates this discursive approach within a material semiotic framing. The paper has been collaboratively written with co‐researchers across Southeast Asia and represents an experimental mode of scholarship that aims to advance a post‐development agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]