Crawford School of Public Policy

On this episode of The Brief, David Sanderson looks at disaster risk, response, and resilience.

Hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes, and landslides – headlines this month have been overflowing with natural disasters. The Asia-Pacific is known as the most disaster-prone region in the world, and its policymakers are under pressure to design its rapidly growing urban centres to withstand catastrophe. How can they prepare for events which are destructive, unpredictable, and don’t respect national borders? In this episode of The Brief, Edwina Landale talks to David Sanderson about why poor countries suffer the worst disasters, how urbanisation and technological change could shape the future of disaster resilience, and how Australia is failing its Pacific neighbours.

Listen to the podcast here.

Professor David Sanderson is the inaugural Judith Neilson Chair in Architecture at UNSW, and is an expert in designing for disaster. David has over 25 years’ experience working in development and emergencies and has carried out a number of assignments for NGOs and donors across the world.

Edwina Landale is the presenter of The Brief. She is a student of Politics, Philosophy, and Economics at the ANU.

Show notes | The following were referred to in this episode: Humanitarian Innovation Fund

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This episode of Policy Forum Pod was written and produced by Edwina Landale.

This post and podcast were first published on policyforum.net, Crawford School’s platform for public policy debate, analysis, views, and discussion.