Barbeque diplomacy with Ben Preston Ben Preston is fascinated not just by scientific problems, but by how humans respond to weather and other large-scale hazards. He wants to know what societies can do to make different, better choices – to be more resilient over time. After events like hurricanes and wildfires, we feel vulnerable. Cities want to prepare better, attribute responsibility and grant compensation. But why do we value putting people in low lying coastal areas in the first place? Why do we value building expensive subdivisions at wildland interface? Preston discusses risk and our perception of it. Why protect against terrorism but not hurricanes? He says when it comes to hazard and risk, people tend to de-prioritize disasters that are familiar, routine, that we do not have control over. We figure we have to live with it. Because we view terrorism as a human choice, Preston says, we tend to think they can prevent it. In terms of resilient infrastructure, another problem we face is the consequences of old decisions. So when city managers are trying to manage storm water, for example, they are concerned about future hazards, but the may be constrained by an antiquated storm water system. For example, in Houston, people are dealing with the fact that the city is built in a flood plain. Outcomes are products of old human decisions, he says. So how do we deal with problems in the future? Preston says we have to be in it for the long haul. We can’t be resilient instantly. Preston says the good news is that the concept of resilience has caught on at the local level, where the problems are immediate and an existential issue. In situations where communities need to leave an area, Preston says, people are forced to assess their values and make hard decisions, such as how do to pay for the move or preserve the community. Cities and state governments can enhance resilience by thinking long term, by considering what problems will look like decades in the future. Depending on where you live, Preston says, people can develop common values. For instance, protecting homes and people should be a value. So how can communities be proactive? We have a long way to go, he says. Barbeque diplomacy. Preston says it can be hard to convince people to adopt resilience as a value. So, he practices what he calls “barbeque diplomacy,” a friendly approach to engaging people in informal settings -- something he learned while living in Australia, where they take their barbies seriously. You can try to show people data, he says, but it won’t help if they don’t perceive it’s their problem. So, Preston says when talking with people who don’t share his values, he tries to give examples that might affect people personally, such as electricity costs. Try to have realistic expectations, he says. People need to see the benefits of adopting policies that ensure resilience. We’ll get there, he says. https://www.rand.org/about/people/p/preston_benjamin_lee.html Benjamin_Preston@rand.org @bl_preston https://www.rand.org/news/experts.html?topic=natural-hazards https://www.rand.org/about/people/p/preston_benjamin_lee.html
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