Sustainable Disaster Risk Management: Transformative and Resilient Practices—2nd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

In recent years, many countries have experienced natural disasters due to unprecedented severe and frequent natural hazards such as floods, droughts, storms, cyclones, heatwaves, wildfires, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Climate change is further exacerbating extreme weather events, resulting in more severe impacts on social and ecological systems around the world, regardless of whether they affect developing or developed nations, rural or urban areas, traditional Indigenous communities or modern societies.

To tackle the impacts of natural disasters, disaster risk management remains a key development agenda in every country, and in international forums. Recent global development agendas such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (SDGs) focus on strengthening existing disaster risk management systems towards more sustainable and resilient systems. While various disaster risk management practices have been implemented around the world over the past several decades, evidence of sustainable best practices remains scarce. Traditional structural (e.g., levees, cyclone shelters, etc.) and non-structural (e.g., insurance, early warning, etc.) measures are still the most common disaster risk reduction strategies implemented by many countries; however, nature-based solutions are being introduced in some countries on an experimental basis. Though some proven and successful risk reduction measures have been widely implemented, there are many cases of malpractice, which has led to a worsening of the effects of disasters in the long-term (for example, the negative impacts of embankments on floodplain ecosystems). To overcome the current situation, the world needs a holistic transformation of disaster risk management practices that can ensure better protection and sustainable development of both communities and natural ecosystems.

The aim of this Special Issue is to explore different disaster risk management practices within the disaster management cycle (mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery) that have transformed current management regimes and helped to develop resilient and sustainable socioecological systems in disaster-prone areas.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome and research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Sustainable disaster risk management concepts, frameworks, policies, and strategies;
• Vulnerability and risk assessment of socioecological systems to natural hazards;
• Transformative adaptation practices for disaster risk reduction;
• Advances in early warning systems;
• Evidence of maladaptation/malpractice in disaster management;
• Resilient infrastructure for disaster risk reduction;
• Nature-based solutions for disaster risk reduction;
• Climate change adaptation and disaster management;
• Community resilience to natural disasters;
• Disaster risk management and the Sustainable Development Goals;
• Safe operating spaces in disaster-prone areas;
• Advances in disaster response and recovery practices;
• Other topics relevant to sustainable disaster risk management.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Aminur Shah
Dr. Xander Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• vulnerability and risk assessment
• transformative adaptation
• nature-based solutions
• community resilience
• early warning systems
• resilient infrastructure
• maladaptation
• disaster response and recovery
• sustainable development

• Sustainable Disaster Risk Management: Transformative and Resilient Practices in Sustainability (7 articles)