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Introduction : life in anticipation of slow calamity -- Aponte : political, geographical and community context -- The phenomenon : the natural hazard and its characteristics : some reflections -- Making sense of the hazard : interpretations of the phenomenon -- Living with a slow calamity : disruption and continuity in the face of creeping destruction -- The ancestral land : territory, community and resettlement -- Living in anticipation of impending calamity : towards an analytical notion -- Concluding reflections.

On March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the emerging COVID-19 threat a pandemic following the global spread of the virus. As countries around the world implemented emergency measures in a concerted effort to handle the emerging pandemic, the nature and implications of the different kinds of precautionary measures adopted have remained contested. The majority of countries opted for efforts to slow the rate of infection, whilst critics have argued for stricter and milder measures, respectively. The living experience of the pandemic is inherently temporal as it is shaped by sentiments of living in anticipation of the envisioned pandemic peak(s) and aftermath, as vividly illustrated with references to the need for 'flattening the curve' so as to reduce the impact of the looming or creeping crisis. This paper sets out to critically discuss the notion of pandemic 'strategies', recognizing also that governments altered their strategic stances throughout the initial phase of the pandemic. It is likely that the aftermath of the crisis will trigger discussions of what kind of response should be considered as best practice. Thus, greater attention to the notion of 'strategies' in light of the COVID-19 pandemic is in order.

On March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the emerging COVID-19 threat a pandemic following the global spread of the virus. As countries around the world implemented emergency measures in a concerted effort to handle the emerging pandemic, the nature and implications of the different kinds of precautionary measures adopted have remained contested. The majority of countries opted for efforts to slow the rate of infection, whilst critics have argued for stricter and milder measures, respectively. The living experience of the pandemic is inherently temporal as it is shaped by sentiments of living in anticipation of the envisioned pandemic peak(s) and aftermath, as vividly illustrated with references to the need for 'flattening the curve' so as to reduce the impact of the looming or creeping crisis. This paper sets out to critically discuss the notion of pandemic 'strategies', recognizing also that governments altered their strategic stances throughout the initial phase of the pandemic. It is likely that the aftermath of the crisis will trigger discussions of what kind of response should be considered as best practice. Thus, greater attention to the notion of 'strategies' in light of the COVID-19 pandemic is in order.

PurposeThe importance of onset speed has been stressed by disaster researchers and inter-governmental bodies for some time, but its meaning and knowledge frontier has not been explored in depth. The purpose of this paper is to contextualise disasters involving slow-onset hazards within the broader literature on disasters, assess the current state of knowledge and identify themes in the literature.Design/methodology/approachThis paper employs a semi-structured review design with the purpose of identifying both scholarship engaging directly with the term and less obvious but related literatures.FindingsThe majority of publications that mention slow-onset hazards and their adverse impacts do so only by means of delimitation. The paper finds that there is a great need for empirical and theoretical work on onset and manifestation speed and to test the degree to which existing theories and frameworks of disaster management are also relevant for the study of slow-onset hazard impacts.Research limitations/implicationsThe review identifies several gaps in existing research disasters involving slow-onset hazards and proposes research on community, political, policy and practical challenges, including answering the question of how to secure proactive response to emerging slow-onset hazard impacts.Practical implicationsIn theory, hazards with a gradual and creeping onset are easier to manage and proactively respond to than that of sudden and unexpected ones. Not only do slow-onset hazards provide more lead time, but also a larger potential for proactive response, which in turn provides ample time to take early action to cushion their impacts. Yet, warnings often go unheard and response is put on hold until impacts become unnecessarily costly to reverse. More research on onset speed and gradual manifestation patterns should therefore be carried out.Originality/valueGradually occurring hazards have remained largely absent from the core literature on disasters, including most definitions of the term. This paper represents an initial effort to assess the state-of-the-art on the concept and the phenomenon of disasters involving slow-onset hazards.

Contribution paper to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction (GAR) 2019. Source at https://www.preventionweb.net/publications/view/66508. Link to the project: https://gar.unisdr.org/. ; Disasters differ markedly in their speed of manifestation, which in turn greatly affects how researchers as well as authorities interpret and respond to them. In theory, disasters with a gradual and creeping onset are easier to manage than sudden and unexpected ones. However, the unfortunate reality is that hazards with a slow-onset are often ignored, left smouldering in the background, while their impacts gradually build up and strengthen over time – sometimes irreversibly so – until eventually becoming critical emergencies. This is also true for disasters where forecasts provided decision makers with several days' advance notice. Enhancing the understanding of these phenomena, including why they rarely secure proactive response, is therefore central in achieving the ambitious targets set out in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR). By focusing on six traits, or lessons associated with slow-onset disasters, this background paper sets out to elaborate on the unique challenges posed by slow-onset disasters with implications for disaster risk reduction (DRR) work. This paper summarizes these traits as: Early warning technologies do not necessarily secure proactive response to slow-onset disasters due to political and practical obstacles in the way of timely action. Generic all-hazards DRR strategies, while best practice in the context of sudden-onset disasters, are generally inappropriate for the management of slow-onset disasters. Slow-onset disasters often fall outside the mandate of specialized disaster management agencies. The geographically dispersed nature of slow-onset disaster impacts reduces their perceived severity and political salience. The concept of disaster is often equated with sudden-onset disasters. The vast majority of disaster research and theory revolves around sudden-onset disasters, generally the largest and most destructive historical events. Addressing these obstacles head on as the SFDRR process matures will enable both better prescriptive policy recommendations, as well as research that is more sensitive to the different demands introduced by slow-onset disasters.

Purpose - The importance of onset speed has been stressed by disaster researchers and inter-governmental bodies for some time, but its meaning and knowledge frontier has not been explored in depth. The purpose of this paper is to contextualise disasters involving slow-onset hazards within the broader literature on disasters, assess the current state of knowledge and identify themes in the literature. Design/methodology/approach - This paper employs a semi-structured review design with the purpose of identifying both scholarship engaging directly with the term and less obvious but related literatures. Findings - The majority of publications that mention slow-onset hazards and their adverse impacts do so only by means of delimitation. The paper finds that there is a great need for empirical and theoretical work on onset and manifestation speed and to test the degree to which existing theories and frameworks of disaster management are also relevant for the study of slow-onset hazard impacts. Research limitations/implications - The review identifies several gaps in existing research disasters involving slow-onset hazards and proposes research on community, political, policy and practical challenges, including answering the question of how to secure proactive response to emerging slow-onset hazard impacts. Practical implications - In theory, hazards with a gradual and creeping onset are easier to manage and proactively respond to than that of sudden and unexpected ones. Not only do slow-onset hazards provide more lead time, but also a larger potential for proactive response, which in turn provides ample time to take early action to cushion their impacts. Yet, warnings often go unheard and response is put on hold until impacts become unnecessarily costly to reverse. More research on onset speed and gradual manifestation patterns should therefore be carried out. Originality/value - Gradually occurring hazards have remained largely absent from the core literature on disasters, including most definitions of the term. This paper represents an initial effort to assess the state-of-the-art on the concept and the phenomenon of disasters involving slow-onset hazards.

Marine plastic litter and microplastics pollution is a global governance problem with unknown and potentially dire consequences. Efforts to promote individual‐centered solutions to the problem are increasingly necessary but are insufficient to tackle the root causes of the problem. Therefore, a concerted policy response at the global level is imperative. The success of such efforts necessarily depends on the way in which the problem is framed and understood, including its degree of urgency. This paper engages with this problem by considering the nature of the issue in light of the crisis term and argues that the global problem of marine litter may be more productively considered a "creeping crisis" given the complexity, scope, and spatio‐temporally fragmented nature of the problem.

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the contingency approach to disaster preparedness inhibits proactive management of slow-onset disasters, such as El Niño, with the purpose of advancing disaster risk theory.


Design/methodology/approach
This study draws on fieldwork data from Nariño, Colombia, combined with secondary data and a review of the literature on El Niño and disaster preparedness.


Findings
Disaster managers in Nariño do have contingency plans for El Niño events at their disposal. Yet, these plans do not come into play before impacts reach a certain severity. This "contingency approach" to disaster preparedness appears to stem from the assumption that disaster must come before response, effectively inhibiting proactive responses to El Niño impacts.


Research limitations/implications
Attributing observed cases of droughts and oral accounts of impacts to the El Niño phenomenon is methodologically challenging. To overcome this, the aim of this study is not the documentation of subjective attributions. Instead, the focus is on bringing to the fore key dilemmas that preparedness professionals may face when they prepare for disasters with a slow onset.


Practical implications
Developing prevention and preparedness conceptualisations that focus on preemptive measures should ensure a more proactive response to slow-onset disasters.


Originality/value
Whether slow-onset disasters lend themselves to the same types of risk reduction strategies applied to rapid-onset disasters is a theoretical and practical issue that has not been explored sufficiently in the disaster risk literature.

Crisis studies increasingly focus on developing proactive strategies to minimize the effects of unwanted occurrences and contingencies. Preparedness constitutes a key component of this approach, as many crises are difficult to prevent. However, at the conceptual and practical levels, it remains difficult to distinguish preparedness from other crisis‐related concepts. This study draws on an extensive survey of the preparedness literature with the goal of elucidating its defining attributes. The results show that preparedness can be minimally characterized as measures that are of an active, continuous and anticipatory nature. Contextually definitions, however, may also include social, planned, non‐structural or enabling conceptual attributes.

AbstractOn March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the emerging COVID‐19 threat a pandemic following the global spread of the virus. A year later, a number of governments are being handed the concluding reports of national public inquiries tasked with investigating responses, mishaps, and identifying lessons for the future. The present article aims to identify a set of learning obstacles that may hinder effective lessons drawing from the COVID‐19 pandemic responses. The seven obstacles discussed in this article are: (1) retaining lessons and implementing them effectively, (2) effectively drawing lessons from other countries, (3) the potential for reforms to introduce unanticipated vulnerabilities elsewhere in the system, (4) political pressure, (5) drawing the conclusions from observations, (6) experts versus decision makers, and (7) reforms may not be related to the actual crisis. Exploring these obstacles will be central to future discussions concerning which kinds of responses will set precedent for future pandemics and global health crises.