Report Archives | Humanitarian Frontiers Lab

Woman standing in front of business in home

Report

Exploring the Role of Shelter and Livelihoods Recovery

We address the role of shelter and livelihood in humanitarian crises and how stronger livelihoods can support adequate shelter. Their proposed research asks how shelter and livelihood support can be better integrated into humanitarian response, looking at the tools used by humanitarian actors to understand livelihoods, how livelihood security and diversity affect shelter, and how existing inequalities affect shelter and livelihoods.

Emily Nabong, Aaron Opdyke, Maria Kristina Alinsunurin, Scott Merrill, Gregg Mcdonald, Pia Jensen June 9, 2021

Report

Incoporating Local Building Practices in Response

We focus on ways to facilitate acceptance of local, non-engineered building techniques in post-disaster recovery. Local building practices cover a wide range of local knowledge and practices that are absent from building codes and may be overlooked by institutional actors. The research seeks to analysis social and engineering datasets and assist decision making.

Eugénie Crété, Julien Hosta, Eefje Hendriks, Aaron Opdyke, Santosh Yadav, Mampionona Rakotonirina, Olivier Moles, Prem Nath Maskey, Ramesh Guragain, Lumanti Joshi, Yannick Sieffert, Philippe Garnier, Bill Flinn June 9, 2021

Students in lecture hall during presentation

Report

Humanitarian Engineering in Australia & New Zealand: Past, Present, and a Way Forward

This paper examines the state of Humanitarian Engineering in Australia and New Zealand, developed through desktop research and interviews. It catalogues the various educational offerings offered by universities and outlines the current and future challenges to the ecosystem as identified through interviews with key academics.

Rhys Keogh, Cris Birzer, Nick Brown, Eva Cheng, Mariela Machado, Charles Newman, Aaron Opdyke, Jeremy Smith, Alison Stoakley, Jennifer Turner February 1, 2020

Report

Typhoon Haiyan Overview

Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) made landfall on 8 November 2013 and was one of the largest typhoons ever recorded. While the main government response consisted of subsidies for housing reconstruction or repair, humanitarian agencies used a range of approaches which included cash- or voucher-based interventions, but also training and construction of transitional, core or permanent shelters. Particular issues in this response included the lack of support for secure tenure, the lifespan of transitional shelter solutions and the poor quality control, particularly in regards to coco-lumber.

Aaron Opdyke, David Dalgado, Victoria Maynard January 31, 2017

Timber framed wall of house under construction

Report

Typhoon Haiyan: Shelter Case Studies

This report presents 19 cases of humanitarian shelter implemented in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Lessons learned, barriers to implementation, and innovative methods are presented across projects in Cebu, Leyte, and Eastern Samar. The report also presents themes in shelter and beyond that defined recovery in communities affected by Haiyan.

Aaron Opdyke, Amy Javernick-Will, Matthew Koschmann January 31, 2017