International conference on building resilience: Individual, institutional and societal coping strategies to address the challenges associated with disaster risk

Communities around the world are faced with the threat of disasters on a daily basis. National governments, local government associations, international, regional and civil society organisations, donors, the private sector, academia and professional associations as well as every citizen needs to be engaged in reducing their risk to disasters. All these stakeholders must play their part in contributing to building disaster resilient communities. Despite this, research and evidence based knowledge about the need for and benefits of disaster risk reduction are both poor and underutilized. We need to find mechanisms that apply scientific evidence and knowledge in policy and decision-making.

The 2013 International Conference on Building Resilience will encourage debate on individual, institutional and societal coping strategies to address the challenges associated with disaster risk. As a country subject to several large-scale disasters in recent years, including the 2004 Tsunami and a civil war spanning several decades, Sri Lanka provides an ideal setting to explore the challenge of creating resilient communities and cities.

This event will build upon the successful 2011 International Conference on Building Resilience, which was held in association with the launch of The Making Cities Resilient: 'My City is getting ready!' campaign, which addresses issues of local governance and urban risk. The 2013 Conference will continue to support the campaign focus areas up to and beyond 2015, including city-to-city learning and capacity building, and an emphasis on partnerships.

The scientific committee welcomes contributions from researchers, policy makers and practitioners. These contributions may be in the form of research papers, practice notes or case studies. Please see overleaf for a detailed list of conference themes.