Disaster Risk Reduction & Management | Institute for Global Development

The climate crisis is causing more and worse natural disasters.

Disasters, including associated health emergencies such as pandemics, have major negative impacts on development because of the social and economic disruption they cause.

The Asia-Pacific region is already among the world's most disaster-vulnerable areas and is predicted to be more exposed to the coming effects of climate change, increasing both the frequency and the impact of disasters to catastrophic levels.

Notable Research Highlights and Facilities

A rural Australian house is flooded up to its first storey

ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes reduces Australia’s economic, social and environmental vulnerability to climate extremes.

City Futures Research Centre

The City Futures Research Centre has developed into a national leader in scholarly applied public interest research on our cities since 2005.

A streetscape of parkland in the UK. In the foreground is a small park with people sitting and standing. In the background is a building with windows.

Rapid Urbanisation & Population Health (RUPH) Network

A bushfire burns on the horizon. The air is thick with smoke and illuminated orange from the flames.

Resilient Futures Collective

The UNSW Resilient Futures Collective was established in response to increasing cyclone, flood, drought, and bushfire hazards, to operate through a wide lens of disaster risk reduction and resilience, to address the emergent needs of communities, local, state and federal government, as well as the private sector.

Partners in medical education in Myanmar

The Kirby Institute

The Kirby Institute is a world-leading health research institute at UNSW Sydney. It works to eliminate infectious diseases, globally. The Institute's specialisation is in developing health solutions for the most at-risk communities and working to build a safer, healthier world for everyone.

UNSW Centre for Interactive Cinema Research

The iCinema Research Centre is focused on the creative development of AI-based visualisation across the Faculties of Arts, Architecture & Design, Engineering, Science and UNSW Canberra, to address pressing and unpredictable scenarios such as wildfires and other disasters.

Recent Events

Urban Resilience Asia Pacific Conference

URAP2 was hosted by the Faculty of Built Environment at UNSW (Sydney) in association with the Australia Pacific Security College at ANU, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, ARUP and SEEDS India.

Listen to the recordings.chevron_right

A road is covered by flood waters. There is a sign across the lanes indicating road is closed due to flood.

Anticipating extreme crises and disruptions: Developing a National Risk Management Strategy

This seminar, delivered by Dr Paul Barnes of the University of New South Wales, will explore the structure of a risk management strategy and consider how it could enhance national policy development in the context of an evolving threat landscape.

Watch the recording.chevron_right