Climate and Disaster Resilience at the Community Level Recording

To strengthen climate and disaster resilience of urban poor communities, a range of programmatic responses need to come together at the community level, including access to risk-informed neighborhood planning, delivery of resilient basic services and community infrastructures, livelihood and skills development, protection of natural resources, and financing for community-led actions.

Samantha Kay Lisay

Samantha Kay L. Lisay is a licensed Architect and a Certified BERDE Professional from the Philippines. After finishing her Bachelor of Science in Architecture at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in 2014, she had been involved in a number of projects in the residential and commercial sectors. In 2019, she joined Build Change Philippines, to be a Design Architect in charge of using architecture and design to promote resilient housing worldwide.

Lizzie Collins

Lizzie Blaisdell Collins is the Vice President of Engineering for Build Change, a non-profit social enterprise with a critical mission of preventing housing losses caused by disasters. After working early in her career with a private sector earthquake engineering firm in San Francisco, USA, Lizzie joined Build Change’s Haiti team as Lead Structural Engineer, supporting the recovery from the 2010 earthquake.

Using Climate and Disaster Information for Designing Pro-Poor Investments in Housing Recording

The urban poor often lives where they can afford to such as in informal settlements, which are often non-compliant with planning and building regulations and lack community infrastructure for essential services. Factors such as rapid urbanization and limited land space continue to drive informal construction of housing in cities in high-risk areas. Precarious living conditions exacerbate their vulnerability to climate and disaster risks such as extreme heat, droughts, flooding, cyclones, storm surge, and sea-level rise.

Smita Rawoot

Smita Rawoot is the Urban Resilience lead at World Resources Institute (WRI). She leads a team of researchers and urban development professionals who are focused on helping cities manage and adapt to their climate risks while advancing human & environmental health, economic opportunity, and social wellness. She is leading the Urban Water Resilience Initiative in Africa that is helping develop strategic plans for water resilience in six cities.

Kirsten McDonald

Kirsten McDonald is an associate principal with Arup’s International Development team in the Australasian region. Kirsten has 28 years’ experience scoping, planning, designing and delivering programs and projects that maximise impact throughout Asia, Australia, and the Pacific for organisations such as the Asian Development Bank (including the UCCRTF), the World Bank, DFAT, the European Union, the Rockefeller Foundation, Mercy Corps, Plan International, and Habitat for Humanity.

Sanjay Srivastava

Sanjay K. Srivastava is presently Chief of Disaster Risk Reduction at UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). He was ESCAP Regional Adviser on Disaster Risk Reduction from October 2009 to June 2014; Head of SAAARC Disaster Management Centre – New Delhi from 2007-2008; Deputy Project Director of Disaster Management Support Programme at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO); and Scientist/Engineer at ISRO HQ Bangalore since 1991.

Debora Utami

Debora Dian Utami or Amie is currently the Program Manager of YAKKUM Emergency Unit (YEU) Indonesia—an NGO that was established in 2001 and has mandates on inclusive emergency response, disaster risk reduction (DRR), and climate change adaptation. Amie graduated with a degree in communication studies from Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia, and has been working in YEU since 2016.