Experience from three years of local capacity development for tsunami early warning in Indonesia: challenges, lessons and the way ahead

Abstract

Abstract. Five years after the 2004 tsunami, a lot has been achieved to make communities in Indonesia better prepared for tsunamis. This achievement is primarily linked to the development of the Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (InaTEWS). However, many challenges remain. This paper describes the experience with local capacity development for tsunami early warning (TEW) in Indonesia, based on the activities of a pilot project. TEW in Indonesia is still new to disaster management institutions and the public, as is the paradigm of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). The technology components of InaTEWS will soon be fully operational. The major challenge for the system is the establishment of clear institutional arrangements and capacities at national and local levels that support the development of public and institutional response capability at the local level. Due to a lack of information and national guidance, most local actors have a limited understanding of InaTEWS and DRR, and often show little political will and priority to engage in TEW. The often-limited capacity of local governments is contrasted by strong engagement of civil society organisations that opt for early warning based on natural warning signs rather than technology-based early warning. Bringing together the various actors, developing capacities in a multi-stakeholder cooperation for an effective warning system are key challenges for the end-to-end approach of InaTEWS. The development of local response capability needs to receive the same commitment as the development of the system's technology components. Public understanding of and trust in the system comes with knowledge and awareness on the part of the end users of the system and convincing performance on the part of the public service provider. Both sides need to be strengthCorrespondence to: H. Spahn (harald.spahn@yahoo.de) ened. This requires the integration of TEW into DRR, clear institutional arrangements, national guidance and intensive support for capacity development at local levels as well as dialogue between the various actors.

Generating tsunami risk knowledge at community level as a base for planning and implementation of risk reduction strategies

“…One key element of community-based disaster management is evacuation planning (Papathoma, 2003;UNESCO IOC, 2009;Post et al, 2009b;Taubenböck et al, 2009;Dall'Osso and Dominey-Howes, 2010;Spahn et al, 2010). This is a vital element of an effective risk reduction strategy.…”

Tsunami early warning and decision support

“…This is one of the not quite visible, yet innovative, approaches which make the system stand out from traditionally used systems. This DSS strives to improve those by mapping warning levels to inundation areas at the coast shown in the DSS decision proposals and by providing the warnings mentioning the respective reaction scheme for evacuation (Spahn et al, 2010). Thus, in conjunction with local administrations' trainings to improve the receiving, understanding and interpretation of the tsunami warning, GITEWS DSS is able to generate situational awareness faster at both ends of the warning chain, thereby improving people's ability to understand, react and escape.…”

Postface "The GITEWS Project – results, summary and outlook"

“…This is reflected by a broad spectre of different measures such as local work and support at different levels in Indonesia, described by Spahn et al (2010). The academic and technical training courses and a small but dedicated PhD programme, conducted by the United Nations University (UNU-EHS) in Bonn/Germany gave additional support (Schlurmann and Siebert, 2011).…”