Local Building Practices as a vehicle for broader impact and greater localization
Olivier Moles and Enrique Sevillano Gutiérrez, CRAterre

“People affected by a crisis are the first responders, starting their recovery process immediately after the shock; and they will continue to work on improving their lives regardless of external support. The vast majority of affected people, often between 80 and 90 percent, seek shelter and start to recover their homes with little to no external or formal assistance - they ‘self-recover’, relying on their own resources and knowledge”
(Care et al., 2022. Guidance for Supporting Shelter Self-Recovery).

Local Building Practices and Cultures (lifestyles, existing construction sector, natural and human resources, local knowledge, solutions and good practices, and local cultural and social practices such as existing DRR knowledge, know-how and techniques at various scales) can be suitable for supporting self-recovery processes. They can favor the development of shelter and human settlements responses (preparedness, early-recovery or later phases linking with development stages) more focused on localization, reduction of climate change impact, and promotion of self-recovery strategies.