IDRMFSS’s Five-Year Research Thematic Area (2025–2030 GC) 

Aligned with Ethiopian Disaster Risk Management Commission and DRM Global Research Priority

Title: Integrated Risk and Resilience Research for Social-Environmental Systems in a Changing Climate

Thematic Pillars

1. Hazard and Disaster Risk Characterization
Focus: Understanding the nature, dynamics, and impacts of hazards and disasters.

Key Research Areas:

• Multi-source hazard characterization using field data, satellite observations, and computational/statistical modeling.
• Frequency-size analysis of hazard events and their recurrence intervals.
• Impact assessment of small and large-scale disasters, including loss and damage estimation and future projections.
• Epidemiological studies on public health risks, including transmission dynamics of infectious agents.
• Temporal and spatial dynamics of natural and anthropogenic hazards under climate and environmental change.

2. Vulnerability and Resilience of Social-Environmental Systems
Focus: Understanding how communities and ecosystems respond to and recover from disasters.

Key Research Areas:

• Analysis of protracted food crises, cascading effects, and poverty traps.
• Resilience assessment of livelihood and food systems in risk-prone and chronically food-insecure areas.
• Differential vulnerability analysis across social groups (e.g., smallholder farmers, urban poor, gendered groups).
• Urban vulnerability and resilience in informal and underserved settlements.
• Role of institutions, social capital, and learning in adaptation and transformation processes.

3. Risk Management and Resilience Governance
Focus: Enhancing decision-making, coordination, and governance in disaster risk management.

Key Research Areas:

• Conflict prevention, management, and resolution within DRM frameworks.
• Public risk perception and effective risk communication strategies.
• Decision-making under uncertainty in risk and emergency management.
• Societal responses to shocks and systemic risks.
• Operations research for emergency planning and response coordination.
• Knowledge management and learning systems in humanitarian and disaster response.

4. Cross-Cutting Themes: Communication, Partnerships, and Capacity Building

Focus: Strengthening the enabling environment for research, policy, and practice.

Key Research Areas:

• Strategic communication for risk awareness and behavioral change.
• Multi-stakeholder partnerships for co-production of knowledge and innovation.
• Training and capacity development for researchers, practitioners, and communities.