Shifting mindsets and action for systemic disaster risk

In this Ignite Stage presentation the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR) will showcase Australia’s new Systemic Disaster Risk Handbook, that AIDR produced in the midst of COVID-19 last year. The new Handbook is cutting edge. It works from the premise that we are in a new era of disaster risk management, the age of taking a hazard-by-hazard risk approach is over and that when we view risk through a systems lens we better understand the dynamic moving parts that make up a system, as well as the people and places affected by our decisions. This reality has been brought into clear focus by the impacts of COVID-19, extreme weather events and compounding disasters in all corners of the globe. The new Handbook presents principles and guidance to support a shift to systemic disaster risk reduction, inclusive governance and decision-making for resilience and sustainability. It supports implementation of the Sendai Framework and Australia’s National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework.

While the Handbook is a core component of Australia’s disaster risk guidance, the principles can be adopted internationally. For example, when confronted with compounding and challenging disasters, thinking globally while acting locally is a must; and the first principle in the Handbook is to ‘Embrace Uncertainty’. COVID has taught us that the changing risk context involves greater uncertainty and that there are many different perspectives to be negotiated. Inclusive approaches to governance and systems thinking can help chart the way forward.

In this session, Amanda Leck will will share the key messages and principles in the Handbook and showcase how decision makers in Australia are leading the way towards systemic disaster risk thinking and action.