Leave no field behind: Future-ready skills for a risky world

Abstract

The Sendai Framework, 2030 Agenda (including the SDGs) and Paris Agreements, along with 2016's Agenda for Humanity and New Urban Agenda, collectively underline the urgency for resilience building efforts. This paper probes the need for skill-sets and expertise that are ‘fit for purpose’ for advancing resilience under conditions of rapid change. It argues for systematic investment in skilled human capital as an integral component of disaster risk reduction and resilience-building, as well as in post-disaster recovery. Yet, the article draws on recent studies of higher education engagement in the disaster risk and resilience domains. These suggest persisting disciplinary fragmentation in teaching, as well as published research in these fields, along with a continuing conflation of the disaster risk discourse with emergency and disaster management. It argues that meaningful disaster risk reduction efforts require higher education to stimulate a more inclusive range of fields than currently engaged.