The role of cultural heritage in governing vulnerability and community resilience in the volcanic area of Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia

Abstract

Volcanic eruption (Mt. Agung) in Karangasem Regency is a major geological source of disaster in Bali. Culturally, however, this mountain has a big influence on communities. From geological point of view, Mt. Agung is a danger (hazard), and from cultural perspective, intangible cultural heritage that is manifested in people's belief systems may be the source of resilience or burden in disaster management. Prior research indicates there is potential in cultural heritage for disaster management. This research aims to address the aspect of how cultural heritage is, or can be, a source of resilience.

To manage disaster issues in Indonesia, the national government applies a holistic concept of disaster risk reduction which is seen as a function of hazard, vulnerability, and capacity. Hazard is the danger amongst communities which in this research is Mt. Agung eruption. Vulnerability is the communities’ situation that is assessed using socio-economic, institutional, disaster-related, infrastructural, educational, and health factors. Capacity is the implementation of the government initiative.

Two things are addressed in this research: the role of cultural heritage within communities and government intervention as a legal document for resilience strategies. To identify whether cultural heritage positively influences resilience and what aspects of cultural heritage support resilience, the social condition of the community should be identified through a vulnerability assessment.

Considering the proximity of cultural heritage and government initiative implementation, four villages have been selected for this research. Those villages are Besakih, Sebudi, Ulakan, and Tulamben which all fall under Karangasem Regency, Bali Province, Indonesia.

This research expects to answer the question of whether cultural heritage and government intervention relate to vulnerability and resilience and if yes, how they relate. A comparative case study is employed to see the variation between Besakih, Sebudi, Ulakan, and Tulamben. To support the comparative case study, several practical methods are used such as desk research, constructed interviews, and in-depth interviews.

This research results : First, the variation of vulnerability that is identified from a vulnerability assessment and different conditions from one village to the other that are analysed from a comparative case study. Second, the evidence that cultural heritage can reduce vulnerability. Third, factors related to economic of the communities, how the communities perceive disaster information, and how the communities psychologically recover from the Mt. Agung eruption disaster are aspects within vulnerability that prove the relation between cultural heritage and vulnerability. Fourth, both cultural heritage and government initiatives are aligned with each other and positively support in reducing vulnerability. And finally, present some ideas on how to link cultural heritage into current resilience strategies.