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A series of “learning lab” projects on disaster risk management for sustainable development (DRM-SD) have been accomplished from 2014 to 2016 in Malaysia, Vietnam, Lao PDR and Cambodia by the Centre for Global Sustainability Studies. The project is designed for professionals from the disaster risk management field to encourage integration of sustainable development (SD) concerns into the larger planning framework for DRM. As a case study for capacity building (CB) evaluation, the central purpose of this study is to explore the approaches, feedbacks and implications of the DRM-SD CB project that have been developed and carried out.

Three methods have been used which are participation observations, surveys and document analysis. The results show that the project had successfully applied seven different tools to enhance analytical skills and professional knowledge of development practitioners in specific areas of DRM-SD.

Based on the survey, the project received positive response and valuable information from participants for future project development. Regarding the perspective of outcomes, the result indicates that south–south, ASEAN regional and triangular cooperation and role of higher education in DRM-SD are significant impacts from this project which can bring several benefits and should be promoted as an approach for the DRM-CB project as a whole.

It is hoped that this study will serve as a transfer learning initiative to provide approach guidelines and innovative mechanisms for DRM practitioners who will have the know-how and potential for leadership in DRM-SD.

This paper aims to describe an in-depth study that aimed to assess and develop a strategic disaster risk reduction plan to integrate climate change adaptation countermeasures in Cilincing, a North Jakarta City sub-district.

The study used a back-casting approach to cover hazard assessment induced by increased susceptibility, as well as vulnerability, both as a baseline study and projected up to 2045 at the micro level. The urban village (Kelurahan) level is the unit of analysis. The capacity analysis is used as baseline data, which is reviewed against the trend of the hazard and vulnerability.

The results of the study identify short-, medium- and long-term recommendations to integrate disaster risk reduction and climate change adaption. These include capacity building, especially emergency response capabilities, an increase of drainage capacity, improvements to transboundary management and minimising driving forces.

These findings at the micro level are very important to present a more holistic and realistic strategy that can be implemented until 2045, but also provides a basis for up scaling into metropolitan region planning.

This is a unique, micro-scale case study in the Cilincing sub-district of Jakarta that assesses and develops strategic disaster risk countermeasures and a reduction plan that integrates the effects of climate change, thereby addressing future disaster risk in Jakarta.

As stated in the United Nations Global Assessment Report 2022 Concept Note, decision-makers everywhere need data and statistics that are accurate, timely, sufficiently disaggregated, relevant, accessible and easy to use. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate scalable and replicable methods to advance and integrate the use of earth observation (EO), specifically ongoing efforts within the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) Work Programme and the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Work Plan, to support risk-informed decision-making, based on documented national and subnational needs and requirements.

Promotion of open data sharing and geospatial technology solutions at national and subnational scales encourages the accelerated implementation of successful EO applications. These solutions may also be linked to specific Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) 2015–2030 Global Targets that provide trusted answers to risk-oriented decision frameworks, as well as critical synergies between the Sendai Framework and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This paper provides examples of these efforts in the form of platforms and knowledge hubs that leverage latest developments in analysis ready data and support evidence-based DRR measures.

The climate crisis is forcing countries to face unprecedented frequency and severity of disasters. At the same time, there are growing demands to respond to policy at the national and international level. EOs offer insights and intelligence for evidence-based policy development and decision-making to support key aspects of the Sendai Framework. The GEO DRR Working Group and CEOS Working Group Disasters are ideally placed to help national government agencies, particularly national Sendai focal points to learn more about EOs and understand their role in supporting DRR.

The unique perspective of EOs provide unrealized value to decision-makers addressing DRR. This paper highlights tangible methods and practices that leverage free and open source EO insights that can benefit all DRR practitioners.

This paper aims to assess to what extent South American countries have integrated recommendations of the international agenda to address human mobility in the context of disasters and climate change in their national laws and policies.

This research sought to find the level of discussions around human mobility in disaster laws, NDCs and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) by looking for a range of search terms connected to human mobility in the context of disasters and climate change, followed by the content analysis of these terms.

Some advances with regards to human mobility are already confirmed in the domestic level of South American countries through humanitarian visas to disaster displaced persons and the inclusion of the topic in the DRR, climate change laws, NAPs and INDCs/NDCs. But they have not developed specific strategies with regards to it. Hence, their advances still require that national norms and policies are harmonized with the international guidelines. This will enable to fill the protection gap of people in context of disasters and climate change.

The results assess the level of harmonization above-mentioned between international instruments with national policies on human mobility in the context of disasters and climate change in South America.

This brief is designed to inform disaster risk reduction and management in Philippine jails and prisons. It draws upon research conducted in nine jails and prisons between July 2015 and January 2016. This research included 44 interviews with stakeholders, including inmates and prisoners, and nine focus groups with inmates and prisoners in different regions of the country. The research indicates that natural hazards are one amongst the many threats that inmates and prisoners face in their everyday life. Natural hazards are significant because inmates and prisoners are particularly vulnerable. Inmates' and prisoners' vulnerability stems from a thread of proximate and root causes that range from insalubrious and overcrowded facilities and limited resourcing from the government, to the neoliberal nature of the Philippine state. However, inmates and prisoners are not helpless “victims” in dealing with natural hazards. They display a wide range of skills, resources and knowledge (i.e. capacities) that are grounded in everyday practices and values reflective of the broader Philippine society. This policy brief finally makes some recommendations for strengthening hazard prevention, fostering vulnerability mitigation, enhancing preparedness, and reinforcing disaster management in Philippine jails and prisons. These recommendations emphasise the contributions of a number of stakeholders, including the active role of inmates and prisoners who are the first line of defence in facing disasters in jails and prisons.

The small-scale artisanal fishers in coastal Bangladesh are comparatively more vulnerable to climate risks than any other communities in Bangladesh. Based on practicality, this paper aims to explain the local level climate change perception, its impact and adaptation strategies of the fisher in southeast coastal villages in Bangladesh.

To achieve the above objective, this study used structural, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion in two coastal communities, namely, at Salimpur in the Sitakund coast and Sarikait Sandwip Island, Bangladesh. It reviews and applies secondary data sources to compare and contrast the findings presented in this study.

Results show that the fishers perceived an increase in temperature, frequency of tropical cyclones and an increase in sea level. They also perceived a decrease in monsoon rainfall. Such changes impact the decreasing amount of fish in the Bay of Bengal and the fishers’ livelihood options. Analysing seasonal calendar of fishing, findings suggest that fishers’ well-being is highly associated with the amount of fish yield, rather than climatic stress, certain non-climatic factors (such as the governmental rules, less profit, bank erosion and commercial fishing) also affected their livelihood. The major adaptation strategies undertaken include, but are not limited to, installation of tube well or rainwater harvesting plant for safe drinking water, raising plinth of the house to cope with inundation and use of solar panel/biogas for electricity.

Despite experiencing social stress and extreme climatic events and disasters, the majority of the fishing community expressed that they would not change their profession in future. The research suggests implementing risk reduction strategies in the coastal region of Bangladesh that supports the small-scale fishers to sustain their livelihood despite climate change consequences.

This paper aims to identify key factors for a contextualised Systemic Risk Governance (SRG) framework and subsequently explore how systemic risks can be managed and how local institutional mechanisms can be tweaked to deal with the complex Indonesian risk landscape.

Using a case study from Palu triple-disasters in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, the authors demonstrate how inland earthquakes in 2018 created cascading secondary hazards, namely tsunamis, liquefactions and landslides, caused unprecedented disasters for the communities and the nation. A qualitative analysis was conducted using the data collected through a long-term observation since 2002.

The authors argue that Indonesia has yet to incorporate an SRG approach in its responses to the Palu triple-disasters. Political will is required to adopt more appropriate risk governance modes that promote the systemic risk paradigm. Change needs to occur incrementally through hybrid governance arrangements ranging from formal/informal methods to self- and horizontal and vertical modes of governance deemed more realistic and feasible. The authors recommend that this be done by focusing on productive transition and local transformation.

There is growing awareness and recognition of the importance of systemic and cascading risks in disaster risk studies. However, there are still gaps between research, policy and practice. The current progress of disaster risk governance is not sufficient to achieve the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015–2030) unless there is an effective governing system in place at the local level that allow actors and institutions to simultaneously manage the interplays of multi-hazards, multi-temporal, multi-dimensions of vulnerabilities and residual risks. This paper contributes to these knowledge gaps.

Hazard risk communication has arguably been a challenge, especially in communities which are susceptible to multiple hazards. Orewa was specially chosen for this research in order to provide a complete assessment of the effectiveness of communicating New Zealand's early warning strategy in a multi-hazard area. Two categories of surveys were undertaken; experts and academics in emergency management and disaster risk resilience and the Orewa community. A semi-qualitative indicator-based analysis was conducted with the normalization of index values which resulted in four (4) categories; risk perception, risk awareness, risk governance and uncertainty, trust and credibility. The resulting vulnerability index indicated that risk perception and uncertainty, trust and credibility ranked the highest, followed by risk awareness and risk governance. Risk perception had stark differences between what the community perceives as being most at risk from to what the experts deem to be the highest risk for Orewa. This has implications for policy directives as well as funding for risk reduction. Uncertainty, trust and credibility was another area which indicated conflicting sentiments between the community and experts. The community generally trusts decision-makers but the experts think they don't. This shows that the community is aware of their risks, but may not necessarily believe that the experts are providing enough efforts in what is of importance to them. Risk governance is not a vulnerable area to the experts as they have been actively engaging in hazards that they deem Orewa was most at risk from. Any breakdown in communication can have detrimental effects if multiple hazards were to occur at once in the case of Orewa.

Although, a number of initiatives have been taken after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami to institutionalise disaster risk reduction (DRR), gaps still exist in the Sri Lankan local government sector. Even after ten years, local governments are still struggling to overcome a number of challenges in relation to making resilience in the built environment. DRR has not yet been properly integrated into the local government system and, as a result, poses a significant challenge. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to discover the hindrances for local governments in creating disaster resilient built environment within cities and to propose ways of overcoming the identified limitations.

In total, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted among experts from Sri Lanka who are involved in disaster management, local governments and built environment fields of study. The interviews were conducted with the intention of gaining expert knowledge pertaining to this field of study. The interviews were mainly designed to capture the current practices for instigating DRR initiatives within Sri Lanka, the role of local governments in creating a disaster resilient built environment and the associated challenges, and ways of overcoming such challenges to ensure an effective contribution to city resilience.

Primary data discovered 36 challenges along with some associated sub-challenges. The challenges were categorised under eight main themes: legal framework; lack of adequate tools, techniques and guidelines; human resource constraints; funding constraints; weaknesses in the internal systems and processes; weaknesses in the external systems; community engagement; and other challenges. The paper analyses these challenges in detail and proposes a set of recommendations to overcome the challenges in order to create disaster resilient built environments within cities.

The paper provides a descriptive analysis of how the Sri Lankan local government sector could overcome the underpinning challenges of contributing to disaster resilience in the built environment and no comparative studies were conducted with in other tsunami affected regions. Furthermore, the paper analyses partial findings of a broader research, which was aimed at developing a framework to empower local governments in creating a disaster resilient built environment.

The paper provides an extensive analysis of the challenges faced by local governments in contributing to the resilience of their built environment and proposes how these challenges could be overcome while making a worthwhile contribution to both theory and practice. Accordingly, the paper recommends major changes in policy and practice with respect to bringing local governments into DRR.

Recently, due to its passive property, the smart beta has become one of the most interest topics in searching the alpha. In this paper, we attempt to show whether the smart beta strategy generate abnormal excess return, in tradition, which are known as the exclusive property of active fund. Further, we attempt to verify the key drivers of the alpha in the smart beta portfolios. For this purpose, we categorize various smart beta strategies by their scheme for asset picking and risk reduction. Then, based on our categorization, we evaluate and analyze the performance of smart beta strategy in perspective. Our empirical analyses show following results: applying alternative risk reduction scheme to traditional market index portfolio would results in enhanced efficiency; however, without combining any asset picking scheme, the performance of the smart beta portfolio seems explained by the Fama-French 3 factor. Our results lead us to conjecture that it is not the portfolio weighting scheme alone but in association with asset selection scheme that generate significant alpha in the smart beta strategy. In actual practice, our results imply that any passive fund may succeed in seeking the alpha without active strategy, thereby avoiding the risk of market timing and saving the management cost.