#74 - IDRIM Podcast Live - Beyond Sendai: Rethinking Disaster Risk Reduction and What Comes Next

Summary:

As the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction approaches the final years of its 2015–2030 lifespan, attention is increasingly turning towards a critical question: what comes next?

Recorded live at the IDRiM 2026 Conference, this panel discussion reflects on the legacy of the Sendai Framework, examining what has changed in disaster risk reduction since its adoption, where progress has been made, and where significant gaps between policy and implementation remain.

The conversation explores the growing complexity and interconnectedness of disaster risk, from climate change and systemic risk to health emergencies, conflict, inequality and development. Panellists consider whether a global framework designed in 2015 has been able to keep pace with a rapidly changing world, and whether the next global disaster risk reduction agenda will need to become more flexible, systemic and responsive to different national and local contexts.

Looking beyond 2030, the discussion turns towards moving from frameworks to action: strengthening implementation at the local and community level, improving access to data and knowledge, embracing new technologies, addressing barriers to effective disaster risk reduction, and better connecting resilience with development, livelihoods and human well-being.

Ultimately, the panel asks what should be retained from Sendai, what needs to be rethought, and what priorities should shape the next era of global disaster risk reduction.

Guests:

• Prof. Andrew Collins (Northumbria University, United Kingdom)
• Prof. Ana Maria Cruz (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway)
• Prof. Reinhard Mechler (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis [IIASA], Austria)
• Dr. Nombulelo Kitsepile Ngulube (Waseda University, Japan)
• Prof. Peijun Shi (Beijing Normal University, China)

Hosts:

• Dr. Mark Ashley Parry (Northumbria University, United Kingdom)

Music:

“Sunset” by Kai Engel, available at ⁠Free Music Archive⁠, licensed under CC BY 4.0.