Urban Disasters: Vulnerability and Resilience in a Pandemic
As cities have grown exponentially over the last decade, more than half the world’s population lives in urban areas. Not only do cities offer social mobility and economic prosperity, almost all of the projected population growth until the year 2050 is expected to take place as part of the urbanisation process. However, cities also witness growing inequality, debility, and environmental degradation and urban poverty.
ACU Summer School 2021 will explore how inequality and injustice are experienced by the most marginalised in cities, in the context of disasters such as the current pandemic. The Summer School will focus on urban disasters alongside concepts of disaster vulnerability, risk and resilience. It will enable participants to explore community-based initiatives and reflect on the scope for collaborative governance.
By focusing on disaster risk reduction and adaptive capacity and resilience, the Summer School will provide opportunities for cross cultural learning and generate valuable insights into the idea of localisation in humanitarian efforts.
In making the logical linkages between reducing disaster risks and building resilience, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, 2015 connects with other international policy frameworks- the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement, the New Urban Agenda, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the Agenda for Humanity. These interconnections will also be explored, providing participants with cutting edge knowledge on the significance of these international frameworks.