Resilience Before The Disaster Arrives

The United States faced a historic number of billion-dollar disasters in 2023. The number and intensities of hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, deadly blizzards, cyclones, increasing drought and flood conditions, rising temperatures, and more have been escalating in recent years. Experts agree that climate change is going to continue to lead to increased numbers and intensities of disasters. Disaster research is prolific, but also in a state of flux. Scientists can gather data and explanations, but many seek visions of just and sustainable futures after what is arguably a consistent increase in extreme operating conditions across the globe. Those engaged in disaster research and response planning are being urged to better connect with communities on the ground in the co-production of new knowledge and wisdom that can enhance community resilience. This workshop is an opportunity to engage in a transboundary convergent dialogue with the different perspectives in and outside of disaster research to plant the seed for change.

Institutions of higher learning have long produced knowledge regarding management and responses to disasters. True disaster resilience, however, demands a new approach. Now that many academics find themselves centered in pre-disaster and post-disaster environments, they become both observers and the observed. A new architecture of relationships is needed, where disaster recovery and reconstruction benefit from the privilege of all knowledge creators. A pan-university vision deploying a collaborative network of institutions can both create trust and nurture practicable resilience.

This workshop will bring together academic and community-based experts with emerging scholars and storytellers, including a core who have been collaborating since before Hurricane Maria through the RISE network. Joining together in person and online with others who are doing cutting-edge collaborative work on disaster preparation and response, organizers will gather ideas presented through pre-submitted abstracts meant to spark the co-creation of new ideas that will be developed and finalized into very short (and moderately cited book chapters) over the summer of 2024. The workshop will be interdisciplinary, research/data-based, and deploy a practical and action-oriented scholarly and collaboratory approach.