Converging Research in the Earth, Health and Social Sciences with Humanitarian Practice for Community Protection in Volcanic Eruptions

Abstract:

Volcanic eruptions produce a multitude of hazards which can cause many impacts, from local destruction and death, to widespread socioeconomic and infrastructure disruption. Volcanic ash, generated mainly during explosive eruptions, is one of the most concerning hazards for communities, as it can travel in an airborne plume for hundreds or thousands of kilometres from the volcano, arriving sometimes with little to no warning, and blanketing the landscape. Contamination of air by volcanic emissions can be frightening for communities unused to such pollution; immediate answers need to be provided on whether it is safe to breathe the air and how to protect oneself.

Such public health protection guidance, delivered in a timely, evidence-based and locally-relevant format can only be achieved by prior collaboration amongst academics, humanitarian practitioners and local communities. This convergent approach also requires scaffolding through long-term interdisciplinary partnerships across the volcanological, exposure, public health, medical and social sciences in order to develop the evidence to support the guidance.

This presentation will contextualise these challenges through the lens of the International Volcanic Health Hazard Network (www.ivhhn.org), founded in 2003 to, initially, build these partnerships. Now, almost 20 years later, IVHHN is the leading source of public health information for eruptions, with its directors advising governments, globally. We have made good progress, but our greatest challenge lies in transforming generic guidance into context-specific, culturally-sensitive information that encourages protective behaviours, and ethical decision-making by local humanitarian agencies. This work needs to happen prior to volcanic crises but, with little funding or logistical support, has only been achieved in a few places, to date.