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David Slater is an enigmatic figure in radical geography. He is much regarded for his theoretical contributions to geography although few geographers seem to know to what he contributed. David Slater appeared on the radical geography scene in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Dar es Salaam was described, in the early 1970s, as being a ‘hotspot’ for radical geographers. He focused his work on a critique of modernisation theory, publishing a two-piece article in Antipode. He rejected the western notions of the working class as the pivot for revolutionary change and, instead, sought to explore the power of peasant-worker movements drawing particularly on his Latin American experience. He moved to Amsterdam, The Netherlands, where his work was increasingly anti-imperialist and focused on theoretical discussions of territoriality. He began to take more open post-colonial positions although he was wary of the cultural turn in geography. This wariness came from his observation that most Anglo-American geographers do field work in developing countries without the relevant local language. This, plus his demand for close readings of classic texts, including Marx, was admired, but little followed, by geographers. He sought to define territoriality as a kind of Third Space but Soja had already done this. He moved again to Loughborough, United Kingdom, where his work became more stridently anti-American and where his exploration of territoriality took him away from political geography to international relations, away from economics and history towards politics and political action. Latin American exile groups that he championed very fondly remember him in the United Kingdom. To the end, he continued to explore theories of social change. His demand for knowledge of language, local culture and classic texts made him a somewhat foreboding supervisor. The body of literature, particularly the early critiques of development theory, stand the test of time.

This is the second chapter on unthinking, specifically building a new narrative to show anthropogenic climate change is not a result of modern industrial society rather it has a much deeper pedigree as essentially urban in nature. The narrative has been constructed by matching Jane Jacobs’ ideas on the power of cities from their initial invention of agriculture to William F. Ruddiman’s revision of the sequence of greenhouse gases generating anthropogenic climate change. There are two initial outcomes: first a critical reassessment of the importance of cities in geographical imaginings of the past, and second a critical intervention into the dating of the Anthropocene pushing it back many thousands of years.

This chapter asks the question, what does this unthinking mean for current anthropogenic climate change policies? This is answered in two ways. First, the concept of urban demand is discussed in its current manifestation as the product of a global Advertising-Big Data-Social Media complex. Second, the mechanisms behind the immensity of Chinese urban growth in recent decades are described. In their different, but intertwined, ways these two expressions of today’s modernity are pointing irrevocably towards terminal consumption. The only means to stop this happening appears to a reinvention of the city, creating an urban demand for stewarding nature for future generations, a posterity city

Current climate change policy is necessary but insufficient. This is because the basic modus operandi – presenting scientific evidence to states for them to take action - misrepresents the complex process of anthropogenic climate change. The ‘anthropo’ bit is neglected in a misconceived supply-side (carbon) interpretation. The key question is, why is there so much demand for this carbon in the first place? This book introduces a demand-side interpretation bringing cities to the fore as central players in both generating climate changes and for finding solutions. Jane Jacobs’ urban analysis is combined with William F. Ruddiman’s historical tracing of greenhouse gases to provide a new understanding and narrative of anthropogenic climate change. The conclusion is that we are locked into a path to terminal consumption, which is accelerating as a consequence of Chinese urban growth, historically unprecedented in its sheer scale. To counter this we need to harness the power of cities in new ways, to steer urban demand away from its current destructive path. This is nothing less than re-inventing the city: not mitigation (the resilient city, necessary but not sufficient), not adaptation (sustainable city, also necessary but not sufficient) but stewardship, a process of dynamic stability creating the posterity city in sync with nature.

This is the first chapter on unthinking, specifically unthinking modernity. It takes the form of 14 statements that are presented as basic modern theses, and which are countered by antitheses, alternative positions wherein urban demand is central to the argument. This thesis/antithesis device is used to broach three broad areas. First, the relationship between cities and states are considered with the former identified as constituting social development. Second, the role of cities in that social development is used to undermine modern time and spatial framings of change. Third, these contrarian ideas are brought to bear on the study of anthropogenic climate change, inserting cities as mass demand mechanisms. All this unthinking is intended to foster a fundamental mindscape break pointing towards transmodern sensibilities..

Involvement in disaster by international, national and academic institutions has led to a number of implicit and explicit definitions of disaster. Several major sources of data provide global statistics on disaster. The best data available are from the League of Red Cross Societies and the Natural Hazards Research Group. A summary of the League of Red Cross data is available elsewhere. Emphasis is usually placed on the lack of integration between the rural, ‘traditional’, or ‘backward’ sector and the relatively ‘modern’, industrialised, or capitalist sector. It is argued that if the rural sector population would adopt the correct attitudes and entrepreneurial behaviour, the problems of underdevelopment could be overcome. The foreign domination is easily documented. Capital flows are one example: from 1950–65 the total flows of United States capital investment to underdeveloped countries amounted to $900 million, while the flows from these countries to the United States was $25 600 million.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for developing climate adaptation strategies to reduce climate risk for cultural heritage. Cultural heritage has an important role in human well-being. This paper posits that cultural heritage requires an approach that recognises the uniqueness of cultural heritage. The paper draws from the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) Making My City Resilient campaign and the Heart of the City Partnership in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, and proposes a Cultural Heritage Adaptation Forum. The role of the forum is to develop adaptation strategies in a sustainable development context. This is an original attempt to link cultural heritage to climate risk.Design/methodology/approach– The paper draws from two initiatives and uses good practice established from the disaster management and climate communities and proposes a Cultural Heritage Adaptation Forum that can be used to formulate adaptation interventions for cultural heritage. The approach builds on active participation in a global overview of cultural heritage and climate risk led by UNISDR together with personal experience of implementing such strategies in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.Findings– The paper finds that a model can be developed that incorporates good practice from the climate and disaster management communities.Practical implications– The paper presents a model that can be used by those stakeholders that have an interest in protecting cultural heritage form climate driven hazards.Social implications– Cultural heritage has a value for all and protecting it from climate driven hazards can impact human well-beingOriginality/value– The paper brings together concepts from different academic and practitioner communities. The concept outlined in the paper will be of interest to all those interested in protecting cultural heritage for climate driven hazards.

Despite the heightened interest in resilience over the past decade, theorising and operationalising resilience across sustainable development, disaster risk reduction and climate change and adaptation realms remains a challenge. The frameworks that have been developed to theorise and operationalise resilience tend to be vague, and, in some cases, theoretically weak. The major challenge, we believe, is the lack of clarity on the resilience capacities required to deal with the destabilising events. In this article, we provide a chronology of resilience, on a decade basis, from 1970 to 2016 in order to establish the connections between resilience and capacity literatures, and how these literatures affect the operationalisation of resilience. Based on the resilience and capacity literature review, a new approach to resilience termed Disaster Resilience Integrated Framework for Transformation (DRIFT) is presented, which advances the notion of capacity, as one of the principal bridges between the resilience theory and practice. DRIFT outlines the linkages between context, risk drivers, capacities and processes that are required to deal with the risk in order to achieve positive outcomes. We present the preventive, anticipative, absorptive, adaptive and transformative capacities as distinct elements, although in practice there are overlaps between these capacities. Presenting the capacities as distinct elements allows us to unpack the elements and the processes that may be critical in both theorising and operationalising resilience. Looking to the future, DRIFT is a first step towards developing a global resilience index, to be applied at various scales, including global, regional and local levels.

Recent changes in the agrarian studies and geography literatures present differing views on the pace and trajectory of change in rural developing areas. In this special section of Human Geography, we contrast the theoretical and practice implications of these differing approaches, namely depeasantization, accumulation by dispossession and deproletarianization. Depeasantization refers to change in livelihood activities out of agriculture, long theorized as necessary for an area's transition into capitalism. Accumulation by dispossession is a process of on-going capital accumulation where a give resource is privatized, seized, or in some other manner alienated from common ownership in order to provide a basis for continued capital accumulation. Deproletarianization occurs when workers are no longer able to freely commodify and recommodify their only commodity, their own labour. In this section, we explore these three theses with case studies that draw upon empirical data. The papers in this collection all speak to one aspect or another of these debates. We do not intend to try to determine a “best approach”, rather we explore strengths and weaknesses of each argument. The production of nature, change in the mode of production and the political economy of nature are discussed in the first article by Brent McCusker. Phil O'Keefe and Geoff O'Brien examine the evolution of worked landscape under pre-capitalist modes of production in riverine ecologies. Through further case studies, Paul O'Keefe explores links between livelihoods and climate change in Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, while Franklin Graham explores the persistence of pastoralism in the Sahel. Finally, Naomi Shanguhyia and Brent McCusker examine the process of governance in dry land Kenya through the study of chronic food shortages.

PurposeMalaysia is still in the process of reorganising and restructuring disaster management policy, learning from national and international experiences. Argument about the current situation of emergency management and housing in Malaysia can be used by the decision makers, authorities and NGOs to develop strategies and actions that include awareness raising and capacity building for enhancing enforcement of current legislation.Design/methodology/approachThe work concentrated mostly on academic reports of original investigations rather than reviews. The conclusions in this paper are generalizations based on the authors' interpretation of those original reports.FindingsMalaysia is not a developed country and also not a developing country but is more in the middle, and follows any direction from the international arena to national situation. Malaysia has a developed country approach in disaster management policy but with the implementation capacity of a developing country. This paper argues that providing post‐disaster housing must accommodate requirements in the national disaster management policy and parallel with the needs from international concern to the rights of disaster victims.Originality/valueThe outcomes from this discussion might give insights into designing and planning the national policy and disaster management framework by restructuring and reorganising the present National Disaster Management Mechanism in terms of enhancing the coordination of responsibility between and within government bodies in the National Disaster Management Mechanism.

This article outlines current issues in the delivery of humanitarian assistance. It explores the postulates of humanitarian interventions. The increasing level of aid is mapped against changing patterns of natural disaster and complex emergency. The humanitarian system itself is explored by sectors, and levels of global funding are analysed. Over the last 15 years, there has been a rising demand for accountability by humanitarian actors, this is especially true in chronic, long-term complex emergencies where the criteria of humanitarian assistance delivery are expanded beyond the need for immediate relief. A series of continuing tensions, particularly the dominance of a western-based model of intervention largely delivered to non-western beneficiaries are explored for an unanswered conclusion.

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) at the community level is usually addressed by forming community based disaster organisations and training persons in disaster management courses. The focus is mainly on the response phase of a disaster, but understanding the overall impact of disasters requires a more comprehensive approach. This paper assesses the level of vulnerability and Community DRR capacity in four Windward Island communities. This assessment is based on a questionnaire survey, of some 400 householders across four island states, and 24 semi-structured interviews with key informants involved in community development and disaster management. The findings show that, in general, there is a sense of community in the Windward Islands but a general lack of coordination and collaboration on issues related to disaster management. Where community organisations exist they tend to work in isolation, this exacerbates vulnerability. Poor communities have strong mechanisms to manage disasters but these strong internal ties militate against broader community efforts to address DRR. Essentially poverty acts as a double bind. The double bind of poverty is the bind that ties poor people together in coping while simultaneously the coping mechanisms make a barrier for engaging with other organisations. The conclusion is that there is need for multi-stakeholder partnerships to reduce vulnerability and build resilience in communities.

Implementation of full regulatory compliance in Malaysian disaster management mechanism will probably come in the form of a directive from Prime Minister's Department of Malaysia. The success or failure of regulatory compliance in Malaysia will depend to a large extent on the readiness of actors to accept responsibility to implement at every level. This article highlights discussion concerning barriers to implementation of disaster management policy in Malaysia. Concerning the main negative attitudes as a result of a research on actors’ perceptions about compliance with disaster planning policy in Malaysia, it is essential to recognise them as the barriers which would have to be systematically addressed by the Prime Minister's Department to minimise their negative effects on regulatory compliance implementation. Undoubtedly, some actors have reservations about accepting regulatory compliance. This reservation might be the key to the main issue towards implementation. They have broadly negative general attitudes towards regulatory compliance, arguing that currently too many barriers are present in department levels to make regulatory compliance implementation straightforward. Actors in Malaysia appear to see the process of regulatory compliance from the point of view of the existing public service system. They underestimate barriers in disaster planning by not taking appropriate and effective measures (preparedness) to reduce or minimise (mitigate) effects in response to disaster.

PurposeCoping with and adjusting to disruptive challenges has always been a characteristic of human development. Formalisation of this has led to the emergence of a number approaches addressing disruptive challenges. Often formalised practice has a narrow focus. Increasingly complex challenges require a refocus of formalised approaches. Drawing from these approaches, the purpose of this paper is to posit that a greater focus on preparedness through pre‐disaster planning is needed for a more holistic approach to disaster management.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews the evolution of disaster management thinking and practice and proposes that changes are needed to the dominant disaster management model. These changes are drawn from a number of alternative perspectives. Based on the uncertainties surrounding complex or “wicked” problems, for example, climate change and variability, this paper develops a more holistic approach.FindingsResponding to “wicked problems” requires a greater focus on preparedness. In terms of disaster risk reduction a greater emphasis on pre‐disaster planning is needed driven by social learning processes.Originality/valueFaced with an increasingly uncertain and complex future, current approaches to conceptualising disaster management are inadequate. This paper develops an approach that is likely to be more effective.

In a previous publication (Org. Process Res. Dev. 2010, 14, DOI:10.1021/op100161y) we described the process research and development of a manufacturing route for the potent SRC kinase inhibitor AZD0530. While the route was successfully used to manufacture 4.5 kg of AZD0530 difumarate, it was still relatively long, used two Mitsunobu couplings, and was, in our opinion, undesirable for manufacture on a larger scale. Herein we describe the research and development of a shorter, more practical synthesis of AZD0530 difumarate. The new route, which required fewer steps, scaled well to produce >80 kg of AZD0530 difumarate in an overall yield of 38%.

Adaptation to already discernible climate changes, particularly an increase in extreme events, is an urgent task for all nations. This article argues that adaptation is an urgent priority, especially for the developing world, to build a resilient society. For poor nations, poverty alleviation is the main policy driver, although changes in livelihood strategies are driven by a range of factors. Using a case study, direct and indirect adaptation is examined with reference to the specific livelihoods of the Chagga people on Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. Evidence suggests that coping strategies to maintain livelihood systems can work against long-term adaptation to climate change, unless there is linkage to poverty alleviation. Linking climate change adaptation to project development through notions of additionality does not carry sufficient leverage to simultaneously address poverty alleviation and climate change. It is suggested that, rather than micro-economic project management, a broader macro-economic frame be...

To make any progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a new approach to energy systems for the poorer nations is needed. Equally, a new approach to energy should shape thinking in the developed and industrializing world about energy futures. All countries need to have access to clean, affordable and reliable energy services that do not exacerbate the climate change risks. A global energy policy will emerge, but by the backdoor of environment policy. This article is in three parts. First, it examines the problem in the developing world. Second, it -establishes a framework for evaluating the approach to energy systems. Third, it argues that technology transfer as commonly practised is not an appropriate vector. In concluding, this article sets out an approach at international level.

The network externalities portrayed as connectivities in Part A can only be taken advantage of through the local practices of firms in Chengdu. The framework we use to guide this part of the research derives from the seminal work of Jane Jacobs.

Just as with other Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, Mozambique faces severe, interrelated problems of energy and environment linked, with massive consumption of fuel wood biomass. The conventional power grid provides less than 7% of the energy needs for the country’s 17 million inhabitants, and about 83% of the energy consumed in the country comes from biomass. Renewable energy resources can play an important role in the process of development of the country. From the vast renewable energy resources available in the country, solar energy represents one of those with the highest potential. Thus, the evaluation of the potential of solar energy systems in small-scale applications suitable for villages is a strategically good starting point for promotion of sustainable rural development. One of the major impediments in carrying out such studies is the fact that the exact behaviour of solar energy resources throughout the country has not been well studied. In this paper a general characterisation of the global, diffuse and direct solar radiation fields in Mozambique is presented. The study is based on experimental data measured by the National Institute of Meteorology (INAM) in the period 1970- 2000. For these analyses global, diffuse and direct solar radiation data from three stations along the coast line and three stations in the interior of the country have been used. The six stations were representative of the three main regions of the country, namely south, centre and north. Furthermore, sunshine hours data of one selected station was analysed.

It is increasingly widely recognised that humanitarian assistance is broadly understood in two distinct ways: one is to see it as a part of foreign policy, which is the customary position of donating states; the other is to see it as independent of governments and a matter of relieving suffering without distinction and is embodied in the Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross/ Red Crescent family. The present authors argue that any intervention is necessarily a political event and they support this contention with an examination of assistance in Sudan in general and Darfur in particular. In describing the way in which donating states concentrated on the settlement between Khartoum and south Sudan to the detriment of intervention in Darfur in time to forestall massive human slaughter, the authors are pointing to political failure. They also maintain that the consequence of not recognising and examining the political nature of humanitarian assistance is to reduce people affected by emergencies of all kinds...

We write against a background of depressing news items. The latest round of WTO negotiations over trade tariffs and subsidies has been suspended amid mutual recrimination by the EU and USA. At the same time, as unauthorised landings of desperate and destitute African migrants on the southern shores and outposts of the European Union reach an annual peak, EU countries are concluding multi-lateral and bi-lateral 'sustainable fishing' deals with governments along the West African coast for access to their waters by EU trawlers. There are also reports of destructive floods in Ethiopia, Somalia and Burkina Faso; continuing (maybe even worsening) conflict in Nigeria's Niger Delta; electoral tension in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and menacing demands by Chad's Idriss Deby for an immediate 60 per cent majority stake (currently held by Petronas and Chevron) in the local oil producing consortium. By comparison, last year's 'bad' news was dominated by coverage of post-drought floods, locust infestation and famine in the Sahel, alongside Zimbabwe's Operations Restore Order and Murambatsvina; remarkably, forced evictions and demolitions affecting several million urban Nigerians failed to make the international news. Clearly, the challenge for ROAPE remains, as always, how to use environmental issues to bear witness to Africa's complicated political struggle, while not ignoring the cultural and other forms underpinning that struggle in particular environments. It is an undertaking which is complicated by the increasing mainstreaming of the notion of sustainability in environment and wider development policy and debates, particularly as there are distinct traditions of sustainability. The first is ecological, and refers to sustainability at either the genetic, species or ecotome level. The second derives from conventional market economics, and attempts to guarantee both the stock and flow of resources. The third seeks to explore the political economy of the environment, recognising that environmental conflict is usually a proximate cause of deeper problems in the body politic. It is this third tradition, with its emphasis on capital, class and power, which has traditionally preoccupied us at ROAPE. And, as the ten main contributions in this issue show, it continues to inform our deliberations, albeit to varying degrees and in different ways. It is worth taking the opportunity presented by this, ROAPE's third ever issue devoted specifically to environment-related questions (and first of the current century), to reflect on the evolution of the environment debate in the journal and more widely.

Two interlinked and complex problems face energy policy‐makers: future energy supplies and climate change. The choices made on energy mix will lock development pathways for some considerable time ahead. Climate change is a challenging problem. Decarbonising the energy system requires sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies that work within the context of the planetary environment and do not cause “collateral damage”. Several approaches are available. But nuclear power is an unsustainable technology that has already caused “collateral damage” and will leave a toxic legacy of waste, for which there appears to be no solution. Including nuclear in a future energy system is a step in the wrong direction.

Climate change, although a natural phenomenon, is accelerated by human activities. Disaster policy response to climate change is dependent on a number of factors, such as readiness to accept the reality of climate change, institutions and capacity, as well as willingness to embed climate change risk assessment and management in development strategies. These conditions do not yet exist universally. A focus that neglects to enhance capacity-building and resilience as a prerequisite for managing climate change risks will, in all likelihood, do little to reduce vulnerability to those risks. Reducing vulnerability is a key aspect of reducing climate change risk. To do so requires a new approach to climate change risk and a change in institutional structures and relationships. A focus on development that neglects to enhance governance and resilience as a prerequisite for managing climate change risks will, in all likelihood, do little to reduce vulnerability to those risks.

In the summer 2003, an evaluation of Danida's rural development programme in Eastern and Coastal Provinces of Kenya took place. This external evaluation, commissioned by Danida's independent evaluation service, was unusual not least because each of the five evaluation teams included Kenya professionals as evaluators, a rare occurrence despite the current level of evaluation requirements. The evaluation covered the period from 1998 to 2003.

Over the last decade humanitarian interventions have increased significantly. Parallel to this increase in humanitarian assistance has been the growth of evaluation of humanitarian action. This article describes the results of a global evaluation of emergency assistance from 1992 to 1999. It was undertaken by DANIDA utilizing the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) methodology for humanitarian evaluation. The evaluation reports that lie behind this summary article are based on case studies in Afghanistan, Angola, the Caucasus, the Great Lakes, Sudan and the Former Yugoslavia. In addition detailed analysis was provided of the international response system, focusing on the United Nations family of humanitarian actors and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as well as leading international non-governmental organizations. These reports were summarized in an overall synthesis report, which is used to draw out the conclusions contained in this article. The conclusions note the significant level of change that has occurred, especially the debate about the disaster continuum and the emerging problem of internally displaced people. The article also notes the impact of the overall evaluation exercise on the reformulation of Danish humanitarian assistance.

Accelerated climate change and increasing variability is the single greatest threat to humanity. Despite more extreme weather events across the world there appears to be a lack of urgency in reaching an agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This chapter reviews the evolution of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and argues that the governance of the convention is a mess and the reliance on market based measures are unlikely to produce the reduction in emissions that are needed if we are to avoid dangerous climate change. This chapter posits that the society is missing from the governance of climate change. The current debate is dominated by climate scientists as well as economists, but those that will be impacted the most, the people, have little or no voice. That must change.

Humanitarian aid is the assistance given to people in distress by individuals, organisations or governments with the core purpose of preventing and alleviating human suffering.The principles of humanitarian intervention are impartiality, neutrality and independence. Impartiality means no discrimination on the basis of nationality, race, religious beliefs, class, gender or political opinions: humanitarian interventions are guided by needs. Neutrality demands that humanitarian agencies do not take sides in either hostilities or ideological controversy. Independence requires that humanitarian agencies retain their autonomy of action. These principles, originally drawn up for war and consolidated in humanitarian law expressed in the Geneva Convention of 1949, underlie response to conf lict-related and natural disasters.

Urban agriculture is an illegal activity in most African towns and cities, as it is seen to be competing with other, higher value, urban land uses. Despite this, food production occurs throughout the African urban environment and is crucial to the urban economy; providing employment, food security and investment opportunity for a large proportion of the urban population. Urban agriculture also adds value to urban land, bringing unused land into production, reversing degradation and improving the urban landscape. In the context of a rapidly expanding urban population, food production in Dar es Salaam is playing a crucial role in sustaining the city, employing 210000 people. Urban agriculture also has an important role to play in providing a viable land use in the hazard lands of Dar es Salaam, as an alternative to squatter housing which exposes the inhabitants to a substantial risk from flooding. This paper looks at the role that urban agriculture plays in Dar es Salaam and identifies the major actors. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.