Mitigating natural disasters: The role of eco-ethics

Abstract

David Etkin currently serves as Coordinator of the Program on Emergency Management at York University, Toronto, Canada. He worked for Environment Canada from 1977 to 2005, collaborating on teaching and research projects over the last ten years with members of the Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Toronto. His area of expertise is natural hazards and disasters. He has 55 publications to his credit, 23 of which are in peer-reviewed journals. He has participated in several international projects dealing with disaster studies, and was Principal Investigator on the Canadian Natural Hazards Project.

Ingrid Leman Stefanovic is Director, Centre for Environment, at the University of Toronto and a former member of the Executive Council of the World Society for Ekistics. Her area of teaching and research is environmental philosophy, with a special interest in how values and perceptions affect environmental decision making. Her most recent book is entitled Safeguarding Our Common Future: Rethinking Sustainable Development (SUNY, 2000). Contact Professor Stefanovic at Centre for Environment, University of Toronto, 33 Willcocks Street, Toronto, Ontario.M5S 3E8 or email ingrid.stefanovic@utoronto.ca. The text that followsis a slightly edited version of a paper published in Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, vol. 10, pp. 467-490 (Springer, 2005).