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The COVID-19 pandemic has compelled higher educational institutions to implement alternative educational strategies that rely heavily on internet accessibility and utilisation to monitor and evaluate students. This study aims to find certain indicators for planning and designing future courses of inclusive online education in the domain of disaster risk reduction (DRR).

The study reviews and analyses online teaching and learning experiences of DRR courses. It uses online surveys and interviews to derive the perspectives of selected students and educators in universities in Asia and the Pacific region.

Active engagement is considered to be achieved when students are active in chat boxes, through presentations, through assignments and when the video cameras of students are turned on. On the contrary, students perceive active engagement differently because they face emotional disturbances and health issues due to prolonged screen/digital device use, have inadequate information and communications technology infrastructure or have digital literacy deficiencies among others. The study finds that online courses have many sets of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, when they are balanced, they can improve DRR courses in the future.

The study is based on the outcome of interviews with 10 experienced educators in DRR courses as well as students from different schools taking courses in DRR education. However, the students are not necessarily taking the courses of the educators interviewed due to the inability of some educators to avail themselves and the challenge of contacting the students. This notwithstanding, the results of this study give a general overview of the situation to be considered in the planning and design of online and distance education.

The results do not reflect the reaction of students and tutors of the same course. Future studies of collecting and analyzing the responses from the students and the educators with the same course could provide tailored solutions.

This study attempts to find solutions to bridging two different perspectives on teaching and learning. The results would be important to strengthening and designing future online courses.

This paper aims to assess climate change-related non-economic loss and damage (NELD) through case studies of Bangladesh and Japan, evaluate how NELD are addressed in these countries and provide the ways forward for further improvement.

This paper reviewed the literature to examine NELD and looked into currently available methodologies and their limitations. It reviewed governmental disaster reports and plans and interviewed with communities to understand NELD in each country’s context.

This paper indicates that NELDs are not sufficiently reported in the countries studied. Underestimation of NELD may lead to limited outcomes in disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (CCA). NELD should be measured and integrated into decision-making, through capacity-building from local to national level.

This paper is based on the literature review and stakeholder consultations in the study countries. The results are specific to these countries. Readers may find them applicable to other country situations.

NELD-related information is directly relevant for preparing countries to achieve their sustainable development, CCA and DRR objectives as suggested by the recent international frameworks such as sustainable development goals (SDGs), Paris Agreement and Sendai Framework for DRR.

This paper identifies several NELD indicators related to societal well-being in the study countries and beyond, and addressing them will have positive impact on the society.

Addressing NELD is a recent topic under United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and nothing much has been done on how countries can address NELD in their developmental, CCA and DRR approaches. This paper identifies the importance of integrating NELD into decision-making and the ways forward to researchers, governments and policymakers for addressing NELD.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the application of smart systems and emerging technologies for disaster risk management (DRM) in Nepal. This delves into specific technologies, including advanced connection and communication technologies, AI, big data analytics, autonomous vehicles and advanced robotics, examining their capabilities and potential contributions to DRM. Further, it discusses the possibility of implementing these technologies in Nepal, considering the existing policies and regulations, as well as the challenges that need to be addressed for successful integration.

For this review journal series of search strategy for identifying relevant journals, the initial examination of results, a manual assessment, geographical refinement, establishment of criteria for the final selection, quality assessment and data management, along with a discussion of limitations. Before delving into the relevant literature within the field of research interest, the authors identified guiding keywords. Further, the authors refined the list by filtering for articles specifically related to Nepal, resulting in a final selection. The final selection of these 95 articles was based on their direct relevance to the research topics and their specific connection in the context of Nepal.

The way technology is used to reduce disaster risk has changed significantly in Nepal over the past few years. Every catastrophe has given us a chance to shift to something innovative. The use of new emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, autonomous vehicles, advanced robotics and advanced connection and communication technologies are increasing for the purpose of generating risk knowledge, reducing disaster risk and saving the loss of lives and properties. The authors conclude that the successful implementation of smart systems and emerging technologies for disaster risk management in Nepal has the potential to significantly improve the country's resilience and minimize the impact of future disasters. By leveraging data-driven decision-making, enhanced connectivity and automation, Nepal can build a more proactive, adaptive and efficient disaster management ecosystem.

Studies on the application of smart systems in Nepal are limited and scattered across different database. This work collects together such literatures to understand the current status of the application of the smart system and technologies and highlights the challenges and way forward for effective disaster risk management in Nepal. Therefore, this work is an original one and adds value to the existing literatures.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse if the classification system introduced by International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), or INSARAG External Classification (IEC), contributes to effective international search and rescue (SAR) activities in the 2015 Nepal earthquake.

In addition to the data collected by Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team, the data were collected by one of the authors who was deployed to Nepal as part of the UNDAC just after the earthquake. Interviews with the deployed international SAR teams and the INSARAG Secretariat were also conducted.

Although more than 50 teams have been classified in IEC, some IEC-classified teams could not utilise their full capabilities in the Nepal response. For example, they did not necessarily arrive in Nepal earlier than the non-classified teams, but it was because the affected country did not prioritise the IEC-classified teams. To save more lives by international teams, INSARAG will need to raise the awareness of IEC in receiving countries, consider the good regional balance of IEC-classified teams and facilitate strengthening local SAR capabilities through the IEC process.

The added value of this study is, by combining the evidence-based field reality and academic analysis, to find out the existing problems in the field and to provide tangible recommendations for further improvement of the IEC system, which will then lead to saving more lives.

Foreign residents in Japan are classified as one vulnerable group at risk of disasters. Therefore, various measures are in place to engage, educate and offer first-hand experiences of disaster countermeasures required to overcome systematic disaster preparedness problems. However, the need for Japan to prevent the spread and infection of COVID-19 has necessitated measures that prohibit public gatherings and other social activities. This study aims to look at how these arrangements have impacted public engagement approaches to disaster preparedness for foreign residents within the Tokyo Metropolitan Area.

This study identifies local organizations and examines their methods of engagement that enhance the disaster preparedness of foreign residents in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. The activities are examined in the context of when there was no COVID-19 pandemic and the current state of the pandemic. A change in activities attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic is then extracted and explained through field surveys and interviews with the relevant organization.

This study reveals that most disaster preparedness activities were best accomplished through in-person engagements. Nevertheless, online engagements have become the alternative option because of COVID-19 infection prevention. This change has widen the coverage of some activities but major setbacks include events cancelations and technical and technological challenges attributed to using online platforms.

This study did not examine the effectiveness of pre-COVID-19 pandemic engagement approaches and current changes attributed to the pandemic; many public engagement literatures acknowledge success to include the number of participants, the abilities of organizations to find ways to effectively and positively engage their stakeholders for meaningful partnerships, the number of clicks, access to a website and comments made online. Therefore, as organizations in this study have shown a glimpse of the above characteristics, there are indications of some level of effectiveness in their engagement approaches even amid a pandemic.

To avoid such situations in the future, there is the need for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, local governments and associated organizations to develop public engagement approaches that are flexible to resist or cope with in-person, remote encounters, or sudden circumstances that could potentially derail planned activities.

The most effects attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic are the cancelation of many disaster drill exercises, community disaster walks, training of volunteers for foreign residents’ assistance and many hours of “Yasashii Nihongo” lesson. The cancelation of activities is a setback to the efforts of self-help and mutual aid campaigns by authorities to reduce the impacts of disasters.

The spirit of inclusion has been an embodiment of disaster management approaches in Japan for years for which policy recognitions have been tagged along the dimensions of public aid, self-help and mutual aid. These are aimed at engaging the populace, especially foreign residents in disaster training and exercises, language study and other communal activities for disaster preparedness. However, to prevent the spread of COVID-19, there have been a series of restrictions on gathering and inter-personal public engagement activities in Japan. As foreigners are classified as the most vulnerable to disaster in Japan, it is important to understand how these restrictions will/are affecting the efforts of integration and disaster preparedness, which are a crucial part of the Government’s effort to reduce casualties and damage in the anticipated Nankai megathrust earthquake. Besides the results being useful for government interventions, it also adds to the knowledge of the repercussion of COVID-19 and how to plan for emergencies.

The Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction (DRR) 2015–2030 offers guidelines to reduce disaster losses and further delivers a wake-up call to be conscious of disasters. Its four priorities hinge on science, technology and innovations as critical elements necessary to support the understanding of disasters and the alternatives to countermeasures. However, the changing dynamics of current and new risks highlight the need for existing approaches to keep pace with these changes. This is further relevant as the timeline for the framework enters its mid-point since its inception. Hence, this study reflects on the aspirations of the Sendai framework for DRR through a review of activities conducted in the past years under science, technology and innovations.

Multidimensional secondary datasets are collected and reviewed to give a general insight into the DRR activities of governments and other related agencies over the past years with case examples. The results are then discussed in the context of new global risks and technological advancement.

It becomes evident that GIS and remote sensing embedded technologies are spearheading innovations for DRR across many countries. However, the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated innovations that use artificial intelligence-based technologies in diverse ways and has thus become important to risk management. These notwithstanding, the incorporation of science, technology and innovations in DRR faces many challenges. To mitigate some of the challenges, the study proposes reforms to the scope and application of science and technology for DRR, as well as suggests a new framework for risk reduction that harnesses stakeholder collaborations and resource mobilizations.

The approach and proposals made in this study are made in reference to known workable processes and procedures with proven successes. However, contextual differences may affect the suggested approaches.

The study provides alternatives to risk reduction approaches that hinge on practically tested procedures that harness inclusivity attributes deemed significant to the Sendai framework for DRR 2015–2030.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the key challenges, approaches and lessons of the higher educational institutions (HEIs) in the context of COVID-19.

A survey was conducted to understand the key challenges being faced by the HEIs around the world during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 150 responses were collected from 65 universities, located in 29 countries.

The results show that 47% of respondents with defined universities believe their institutions lacked a permanent or dedicated emergency management office, and 41% said their HEIs lacked a general business continuity plan for an emergency. In universities with BCPs, 33% of the plans do not cover biological hazards and pandemic risk management, and 60% of the plans did not include conducting any advanced simulation exercises. More than 70% the responded said their instruction, information sharing and decision-making process were timely and open. The major challenges identified were a lack of adequate preparedness for pandemic and of pandemic-specific advanced simulation exercises. The next major challenges were the change in the mode of teaching to online lectures and working from home. Based on these challenges, a set of short- and long-term recommendations were proposed.

This was the first survey in academic institutions in post COVID-19 context. The findings will be useful for preparing for biological and other related hazards.

This paper aims to analyze the current responses applied in Vietnam to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and link these measures to priority actions highlighted in the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR). From there, strengths, limitations and recommendations on applying the SFDRR to build the pandemic resilience in the future are discussed.

The authors synthesize literature on response measures to the COVID-19 pandemic in Vietnam from January to June 2020 and compare to four priority actions of the SFDRR including understanding risk, strengthening governance, investing in risk reduction for resilience and enhancing preparedness for effective response and resilient recovery.

Vietnam has effectively controlled the pandemic with 401 infected cases and no death so far. Well preparation, timely policies’ implementation, risk communication and comprehensive approaches are key strategies. These measures are same as the four priority actions in the SFDRR.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in Vietnam to link the COVID-19 response and the SFDRR, which can serve as an important example for other countries in responding to the pandemic. Some measures have surpassed SFDRR’s guidance, especially preventive responses applied nationwide with strong political will and the community’s commitment accompanied by sanctions. Cultural factors such as the habit of using masks to prevent air pollution have contributed to the good observance of wearing mask regulations during the pandemic. However, some areas that need more attention include specific solutions for vulnerable groups, limiting fake news and ensuring patient privacy.

The purpose of the paper is to provide an overview on two specific issues of reconstruction process: environment disaster linkage, and cross‐learning among affected countries. The paper also demonstrates a unique community‐based reconstruction program in three affected countries.

Two approaches are adopted in the paper: one, description of salient features of past reconstruction process, roles of different stakeholders, and vulnerability reduction – human security context. The other part is description of a specific program highlighting its goal, objective, scope and activities. Focus is given on the community‐based reconstruction process with in‐depth analysis, followed by the dissemination of the results to wider communities.

The major finding of the paper is that the reconstruction process should be considered as development opportunity, and should be linked to vulnerability reduction measures of the community, which, in long term, will lead to enhancement of human security.

The long‐term impact of the reconstruction process is yet to be verified. It will remain as future challenge how the community‐based initiatives are linked to policy and plans of the government.

The paper describes field‐based reconstruction process in three countries, which are implemented in cooperation with local communities and local non‐government organizations. Thus, the findings of the paper are directly related to its practical implications.

The original part of the paper is that it highlights two very important issues of the reconstruction process. The paper also provides detail description of the innovative community‐based reconstruction process. It gives a unique analysis to link reconstruction process with vulnerability reduction and enhancement of human security.

The concept of multi-purpose cyclone shelters has been found effective in saving various lives during past cyclones. The recent cyclone Amphan, which hit the Indian states of Odisha and West Bengal in the middle of pandemic COVID-19 has posed severe issues related to cyclone shelter management in the rural areas. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the case of Odisha in a pandemic and draw some key lessons of cyclone shelter management, which can be useful for future cascading risks in other parts of the country and the region.

Cyclone shelters are critical infrastructures in the management of cyclones, associated hazards and saving crucial lives. The effective management of shelters during emergencies is dependent on the existing institutional mechanism, local stakeholders and their understanding of the key functions of the emergency shelters. This paper reviews the key challenges through literature, reports and direct interviews of field professionals and practitioners.

In normal times, cyclone shelters are used as schools and their management lies with the local communities and/or elected bodies. Some of the key emerging issues include: the convincing population at risk for evacuation with proper care, existing emergency shelters being repurposed as COVID-19 facilities, need for hygiene and safety material, special arrangement and segregation of population at higher risk of COVID-19 and large destruction of social infrastructures.

During cascading disasters, adaptive governance becomes important. With the study of cyclones during the pandemic period, the paper draws key decision-making and governance points of cyclone shelter management. This case analysis can be useful to other similar situations during the prolonged pandemic time.