About Us

The Research Network on Disaster, Environment and Society (ReNDES) is composed of three research teams based at the University of Auckland, Auckland University of Technology and the University of the Philippines Diliman. Together, we are a collective of around 25 researchers and as many ‘alumni’ committed to uncovering and addressing issues at the interface between the environment, disasters and society.

We come from a range of backgrounds that include geography, psychology, social work, economics, business and management, urban planning, public health, architecture, agricultural science, environmental science, biology and forestry. We have considerable experience working with civil society organisations, including international and local Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), as well as national and local government agencies towards reducing the risk of disasters. We particularly focus on Asia and the Pacific. Each member of our network is grounded in a particular country/region, with secondary expertise in another, so that we collectively cover a very wide range of geographical and cultural contexts. We also speak more than 25 languages, which facilitate our grounding in places where we do research and foster disaster risk reduction.

Our expertise spans:

We have wide expertise in studying and fostering the participation of local people in enhancing their everyday life, especially in the context of environmental management and disaster risk reduction. We particularly focus on understanding and overcoming unequal power relations that prevent those at the margin of society to make decisions that matter for them. We have developed a number of participatory approaches, most notably around participatory mapping and participatory numbers, to encourage genuine participation in respect of local cultural norms and values.

2/ Vulnerabilities and capacities assessment in dealing with a wide range of natural and other hazards

We take a critical perspective in studying how people deal with hazards and disasters, trying to understand who is more affected and why. We also focus on people’s resources, skills and knowledge to directly support the work we do with civil society organisations to reduce the risk of disasters. We draw upon a diverse sets of ontologies (worldviews) and epistemologies (ways of knowing and generating knowledge) to make our research and practical work culturally relevant.

3/ Gender in disaster

We have significant experience working with men, women and gender minorities towards unpacking the role of gender in shaping unequal vulnerability and different capacities in dealing with natural and other hazards. We have conducted pioneer works on gender minorities who do not identify within the male-female binary, unpacking their unique concerns and contribution to disaster risk reduction. We therefore focus on gender in its cultural context to challenge assumptions and labelling.

4/ Minority groups in disasters

We have strong expertise in working with children, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, prisoners and homeless people. We have led ground-breaking research and practical work with these groups to emphasise their concerns in dealing with disasters. We have also worked towards enhancing their contributions to disaster risk reduction in partnership with civil society and government organisations in a wide range of contexts.

5/ Disaster recovery

We have significant experience in researching reconstruction and people’s re-establishment of their livelihood, in a broad sense, following disasters. We have conducted research in the aftermath of both large and smaller events. We are particularly interested in the latter which ratchet effects are often overlooked in research, policy and practice. We also focus on long-term recovery, that is decades after the initial event, to uncover the protracted effects of disasters. This work particularly focuses on unpacking the role of culture and ethnicity, particularly in relation to place attachment and people’s territorial identity.

6/ Advocacy

We promote meaningful and equitable disaster studies and disaster risk reduction. We are the forefront of the manifesto titled Power, Prestige and Forgotten Values that challenges the hegemony of ontologies and epistemologies inherited from the Enlightenment. We edit the journal Disaster Prevention and Management and organise regular seminars in Auckland. We also contribute to policy through continuing collaboration with international organisations and contribution to regional and international meetings such as the regional and Global Platforms for Disaster Risk Reduction.