DRR Summer school 2023

Reflections

Bringing together DRR pioneers and practitioners, the DRR Summer School 2023 was an effort to link research and practice in disaster risk reduction. Ian Davis, Terry Cannon, David Alexander, Maureen Fordham, and John Twigg — who all contributed substantially to the development and improvement of DRR — shared their insights and discussed experiences with 32 participants from 16 countries.

Organised by the Centre for Emergency and Development Practice (CENDEP) and Banyaneer Consulting, the five-day Summer School featured keynote presentations during morning sessions, and afternoon sessions that were shaped by the participants.

During morning sessions, pioneers reflected both on the lessons learned from their long careers, and on a variety of topics of their choice, such as disaster risk creation, gender intersectionality and the development and application of DRR tools.

For the afternoon sessions, the results of a survey amongst participants on the most pressing challenges in DRR were used to identify topics, and some participants guided these sessions. Topics included nature-based solutions (NbS), the use of games for risk communication, ways to strengthen community resilience, as well as disaster-induced displacement.

A poll after the event showed that around 90% found that their expectations of the Summer School had been met or exceeded. Furthermore, several suggestions were made to further improve the experience of future Summer Schools - these will be taken into account next time around.

Hear what some participants had to say below, explore our photo wall, watch Dr Bruno Haghebaert explain the history of DRR, and subscribe to our mailing list to hear about similar future events.