The Journal for Progress in Disaster Science has launched a special issue examining current research on systemic risk, cascading disasters, and compound events. The issue aims to explore future research directions in this field. In this editorial, the authors summarise papers across four thematic areas: 1) Resilience Challenges; 2) Area Studies and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction; 3) Community and Health; and 4) Enhancing New Methodologies. The conclusions highlight open research challenges that require further exploration.
The research highlights that 21st Century disaster risk is characterised by its evolving and systemic nature due to increased reliance on technological networks, societal interdependencies, and climate change dynamics. These cascading and compounding dynamics are now considered the “new normal,” which poses a challenge for emergency management in maintaining operations in the face of complex disruptions. It requires the development of good practices and strategies to facilitate the recovery process.
The special issue aims to support the development of a paradigm shift in understanding complex events and recommending a network-based, cross-disciplinary approach to resilience to achieve this.