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Environment and disasters have a close relationship. Environmental change causes disasters or enhances the frequency or intensity of disasters. Climate change is often regarded as an environmental phenomenon; however, when we see changes in the typhoon path, or repeated occurrences of heavy rainfall or strong typhoons, it is often attributed to climatic changes. In that case, environmental change (climate change) is the cause and disaster (typhoon or flood) is considered as the impact. On the other hand, when a disaster like typhoon, earthquake, or tsunami occurs, it produces a huge amount of debris. Disaster debris or disaster waste becomes an environmental problem. In many cases, the disaster also causes significant impacts on the ecology. Therefore, disaster becomes a cause, and environmental degradation becomes the impact.

Although gender dimensions have been widely discussed in social research, many disaster relief and recovery programs still ignore gender needs and gender discrepancies. Specially, in a disaster situation, certain cultures and governments have a lack of mind-set and skills to focus on women's needs adequately although it requires much more investigation. During natural disasters, females face unprecedented challenges than men, because they are vulnerable and marginalized – socially, culturally, economically, and politically. To overcome these challenges, it is strongly suggested that a multifaceted decision-making process is practiced.

This chapter explains challenges for women in a natural disaster situation and discusses how to overcome difficulties and rebuild livelihoods of a vulnerable population in Sri Lankan society. The 2004 tsunami claimed over 40,000 lives, displaced about 1.0 million from their homes, and caused severe damage to the physical infrastructure and the damage estimated was well over US $1.5 billion. As the female population face unprecedented challenges, it is suggested that gender needs and gender discrepancies require thorough investigation. This chapter presents a study based on needs assessment carried out in tsunami impact communities in East and South Sri Lanka in 2005 and outlines the lessons learned on how women and men operate and anticipate post-disaster relief and recovery. Using participatory mapping methodology (e.g., narratives, ethnographic observations, community mappings, key informant interviews, focus group interviews, and other qualitative methods) this study suggests effective techniques to incorporate gender needs in a natural disaster situation.

This article demonstrates how psycho-sociological concepts have a place in disaster risk sciences. It draws attention to the relationship between risk perception and disaster management from Western and traditional viewpoints.

This paper is conceptual and draws from published works. The systematic literature review (SLR) methodology was adopted to analyse existing literature on the subject matter.

Risk perception evolved over centuries and disciplines until it found applicability in modern times. Despite the proliferation of western science-based approaches to risk perception, Indigenous knowledge systems still hold sway over communities’ understanding of risk. These perspectives are enshrined in religious and cultural convictions that become the lenses through which a society assigns cause, effect and remedy to risk events. A deeper understanding of these convictions enables disaster risk management strategies to be better accepted by those at risk and to align with their lived realities.

Risk perception becomes the lens through which we better understand the realities and complexities of populations at risk. Indigenous knowledge systems have a strong influence on society’s perception of risk and if they are not harnessed and studied, they will stand in conflict with Western approaches. Hence, the study of the nexus between risk perception and disaster management presents an opportunity for policymakers and practitioners to design risk management solutions that have a higher chance of acceptance and sustainability.

In this paper we ask: “What are the opportunities and challenges that creative methods pose in terms of conducting research processes with indigenous peoples impacted by emergencies and disasters?” To do that, we critically examine the creative and collaborative methodological approaches applied in the research project, Moving with Risk: Forced Displacement and Vulnerability in Colombia. This project sought to understand the trajectories of risk of families who were forcibly displaced as a result of the armed conflict in Colombia and resettled in areas at risk of disaster.

This article is intentionally written from the perspective of the researchers’ positionality. In doing so, we embrace writing that is situated and embodied in the researcher’s experiences and positionalities. This reflexive writing allows us to question the methodological experience of the research project we are analysing and, at the same time, ourselves, “the researchers” be questioned by it.

In this paper, we show how creative methods and participatory research can foster awareness and become the basis for inclusive and reciprocal research processes with indigenous communities in disaster studies. Specifically, we show that the use of creative methods helped us recognise that agency needs to be framed in collective spaces with the indigenous women we were working with and in relation to their livelihoods needs. We argue that finding spaces to conduct collaborative research and recognize agency is inextricably related to how the researchers reflect on their positionality.

This article contributes to critical perspectives in Disaster Studies and to an overall understanding of the role that creative methodologies play in research processes with people affected by disasters. It provides a novel perspective on the opportunities and challenges of applying arts-based methods in disaster risk studies with indigenous communities in Latin America.

This research aims to investigate post-forest fire perceptions of businesses towards the environment as a stakeholder. Through interviews with affected businesses, the authors aim to understand whether disasters prompt sustainability prioritisation beyond legal or market demands, shedding light on potential shifts in environmental attitudes and decision-making processes.

The authors used qualitative methods to investigate post-disaster shifts in environmental perceptions. Using site visits, preparatory meetings and semi-structured interviews between October 2017 and April 2021, the authors gained insights into destruction, recovery efforts and stakeholder perspectives. Content analysis provided valuable decision-making insights, particularly in understanding the landscape dominated by SMEs reliant on short-term strategies.

Interviews revealed varied perspectives on stakeholder recognition, especially concerning the natural environment. Although some managers promptly acknowledged stakeholder groups, the recognition of the natural environment as one varied. Concerning the natural environment as a stakeholder, responses ranged from ecological acknowledgment to denying its stakeholder status. Despite differing views, many agreed on the forest's importance, especially for resource-reliant industries. The findings suggest that although many decision makers verbally acknowledge the natural environment as a stakeholder, their actions reveal the opposite.

The limitations are the COVID-19 pandemic in the data research phase. The methodology applied (qualitative) can be a limitation in itself and the authors recommend further research, applying mixed or quantitative methods. The research covers one event in one country. It is relevant to test our questions and conclusions in other countries/after other natural disasters. Incorporating other stakeholders' views and exploring alternative theories could enhance understanding and challenge existing results.

This study holds practical implications for understanding the relationship between organisations and the natural environment, particularly in recognising it as a stakeholder. By acknowledging the environment as a stakeholder, organisations can mitigate the effects of future natural disasters, as well as reducing their environmental footprints. Implementing these insights can lead to more informed decision-making processes and contribute to more effective resources and stakeholder management.

Recognizing the environment as a stakeholder fosters environmental consciousness and community engagement. Addressing the natural environment as such enhances the ownership and responsibility of the surrounding natural environment.

The study's originality lies in its exploration of organisational responses to natural disasters, particularly in recognizing the environment as a stakeholder. It offers unique insights into decision-making processes and attitudes towards environmental responsibility, contributing to advancing understanding and informing strategies for sustainable disaster management on a global scale.

This study aims to assess the effects of natural disasters on food security in a sample of 40 sub-Saharan African countries. First, the authors assess the effects of natural disasters on the four dimensions of food security and second, the authors disaggregate natural disaster using the two dimensions that are most representative, namely, hydrological and biological disasters.

The regressions are based on the generalised method of moments on a data set covering the period 2005–2020. Natural disasters are measured by the total number of people affected and food security by its characteristics: access, availability, use and sustainability.

The results show that natural disasters increase the prevalence of undernourishment but reduce dependence on cereal imports. An increase in natural disasters by 1% increases the prevalence of undernourishment by the same proportion. As for import dependency, a 1% increase in natural disasters reduces dependency by 2.2%. The disaggregated effects show that hydrological disasters are more significant than biological disasters in impacting food security. Floods reduce the average energy supply adequacy but also dependence on cereal imports. Policy implications are discussed.

The study complements the extant literature by assessing the effects of natural disasters on food security in a region where food insecurity is one of the worst in the world.

This paper aimed to develop a participatory methodology to analyze the disaster risk creation in coastal cities, based on an approach that combines social, urban, environmental and disaster risk elements.

The methodology uses some aspects of three theoretical approaches in a complementary way: i) the Pressure and Release (PAR) framework for the identification of dynamic pressures that contribute to disaster risk creation; ii) the application of Drivers, Pressure, State, Impact, Response (DPSIR) framework to analyze environmental dimensions; and iii) urban analysis, applying the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) tool to classify urban processes. The methodology combined the use of satellite remote sensing data to analyze the urban sprawl and citizen science methods to collect social and environmental data, using the case study of the watershed of the Juqueriquerê River in the coastal city of Caraguatatuba, Brazil. The pilot project was part of a local university extension project of the undergraduate course on Architecture and Urban Planning and also engaged residents and city hall representatives.

The satellite remote sense data analysis indicated a continuous urban sprawl between 1985 and 2020, especially in the south of the Juqueriquerê watershed, reducing urban drainage and increasing the extension and water depth of urban flooding and riverine floods. Using citizen science methods, undergraduates identified settlements with limited economic resources to elevate houses and a lack of infrastructure to promote a resilient coastal city. After identifying the dynamic pressures that contribute to disaster risk creation and the weaknesses and strengths of a resilient city, undergraduate students proposed urban planning interventions and gray and green infrastructure projects to mitigate disaster risks.

The paper identifies urban sprawl in disaster-prone areas as one of the risk factors contributing to disaster. It also comprehensively analyzes differences between different zones in the Juqueriqere River, which will be useful for policy-making.

The method presented an interdisciplinary approach that used satellite remote sensing data and citizen science techniques to analyze disaster risks in coastal cities. The multidimensional approach used to evaluate risks is useful and can be replicated in other similar studies to gain a more comprehensive understanding of disaster risks.

The cumulative impact of accidents not considered as disasters far surpasses the impact of disasters. Accidents taking toll of human lives and economy are often underreported and go unnoticed and the victims of these incidences are also ill compensated. It is therefore necessary to pay adequate attention to accidents and formulate appropriate policies for giving equal treatment to the victims of these events and also to make efforts for mitigating these. This paper aims to discuss this.

The paper discusses the impact of accidents and attempts to assert that these are a cause of major concern. The database of the disasters (EM‐DAT) of Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED), Belgium has been utilised for ascertaining the toll of disasters, while for assessing the cumulative toll of the accidents and disasters database available at departmental web sites (Department of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Government of India (www.morth.nic.in) and Railway Ministry, Government of India (www.indianrailways.gov.in) together with some other web sites have been used. The two databases have been correlated to establish that the cumulative toll is far more than what is generally perceived to be the toll of the disasters.

Based on the correlation of one event each under the category of natural and man made disasters (landslides, transport accidents) it is concluded that these correlations establish that the toll of accidents is many times more than the disaster events and there exists a pressing need to pay adequate attention towards managing accidents that take heavy toll of the global resources.

At present there exists no formal and comprehensive database recording the toll of accidents and the study is based on the database compiled from different sources. The paper establishes beyond doubt that the magnitude of the toll of accidents is far more than that of disasters and there exists pressing need for managing accidents.

This paper would bring forth the importance of managing accidents before the policy makers and initiate advocacy for putting in more resources for managing these events. In the long run the victims would not be differentiated on the basis of the magnitude of the incidents they have faced.

The paper shows the importance of managing major accidents and provides guidance for appropriate changes to be made.

Major hazard organizations are dealing with hazardous material exceeding the threshold quantity. Major hazard organizations are relatively secure areas and cannot fail from single error. However, failure of an organization to control hazardous material usually results in a technological man‐made disaster. The conditions preceding the onset of technological man‐made disaster are collectively called the technological man‐made disaster precondition phase “incubation period”. A model has been developed representing the technological man‐made disaster pre‐condition phase where it focuses on the origin of the technological man‐made disaster. The model was based on detailed analysis of four technological man‐made disasters at major hazard installations in Malaysia.

To provide graduate students, researchers, and responsible personnel with an overview on the disaster types worldwide in general and disaster types in Malaysia.

The types of disasters by region for the period 1988‐1997 were obtained from recent published sources. The disasters which occurred in Malaysia have been collected from several sources such as the technical, general articles, internet web sites, and internal reports. The disasters which occurred during the period of 1968‐2004 have been reviewed. The disasters have been classified into natural disasters, man‐made disasters, and subsequent disasters. The man‐made disasters have been classified into technological disasters, transportation accidents, public places failure, and production failure.

Disasters have been classified into natural, man‐made disasters. The regions worldwide have experienced all kinds of natural disasters in last decade. It was pointed out that the occurrence of disasters from almost all kinds of hazards is among the highest in Asia and the Pacific. Malaysia experienced natural, man‐made and subsequent disasters. Malaysia has experienced 39 disasters during the period of 1968‐2004. The natural disasters were 49 percent of total disasters. Most of the natural disasters were resulted from the heavy rains. Malaysia has experienced 18 man‐made disasters. The man‐made disasters resulted in 282 fatalities, and 1,892 injuries.

This paper presents an overview on the disaster types by region worldwide. The paper also presents an overview on the disaster types in Malaysia. This paper combined the scattered disasters into one record. Therefore, there is a need for an authorized body to be responsible for the collecting, arranging, classifying, and storing of all type of the accidents in Malaysia. This experience can be benefited from/at any country.