A decade after Sendai: Assessing global actor dynamics and roles in participatory flood early warning systems

The operation of Flood Early Warning Systems (FEWS) is widely acknowledged to value the participation of diverse actors. Yet, little is known about the involvement of actors and the categories of roles they undertake in FEWS operations. A decade after the adoption of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, this study comprehensively reviews the evidence on participatory FEWS operations with the aim of (1) analyzing the global actor dynamics across various contexts and (2) examining the roles assumed by these actors in FEWS operations. Two groups of actor types were identified from the analysis: those that are highly recognized and frequently reported in the literature – “established actors” - and those that are relatively underrepresented and occasionally documented – “periphery actors”. We observed persistent biases in the multi-scalar and regional participatory FEWS operations. These biases include institutionalizing the operation of certain FEWS components at the national level around a few actor types, with limited to no involvement of other critical actors, such as those with a strong local presence. Interconnectedness among examined role categories can be leveraged to facilitate synergistic efforts in FEWS operations. This review highlights the need for standardized actor mapping and monitoring to consistently recognize and understand their roles.