Global Disaster Resilience Centre publishes 2022 Annual Report

Report this content

The Global Disaster Resilience Centre (GDRC) at the University of Huddersfield is pleased to confirm that the 2022 Annual Report of the Global Disaster Resilience Centre has been published, detailing the year’s activities. This reflects a tremendous amount of work from all our members and research collaborators

After several years of serious disruption to our research activity because of COVID-19, 2022 saw our team gradually having to adjust to a ‘new normal’ way of working. As restrictions lifted in most countries, our team has been able to resume face-to-face working with many of our 285 partners in 85 countries around the world.

As restrictions have eased, our team have been extremely busy working on 20 funded research grants, including three that successfully completed this year. In delivering these, we have organised or been a partner in 29 conferences and workshops, authored 58 articles, including 15 peer-reviewed journal papers, delivered 24 invited keynotes and talks, and made many more presentations at conferences in the UK and around the world. 

After so much disruption in recent years, we have been especially pleased to see many of our doctoral candidates and early career researchers being able to contribute to events and expand their research networks.

“Most of us will recognise the value of meeting in person periodically and it has been important to do so to sustain our existing partnerships, but also to build new ones”,  said Professor Dilanthi Amaratunga, Co- Director of the GDRC.

“However, we have also been able to take advantage of the improved capabilities for remote working to maintain more regular contact with our partners than would have been practical in a pre-COVID-19 world. We also recognise the opportunities these technologies provide to limit our carbon footprint, primarily through less air travel, while still delivering our planned outcomes, and hopefully, contributing to safer cities and communities around the world.

Professor Richard Haigh,  Co-Director of the GDRC, commented: “For the first time, we have also comprehensively mapped all our activities and outputs to the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs)”. “We recognise that universities have a central role to play in implementing the SDGs by providing a gathering of experts and scholars from various disciplines to help countries achieve critical development targets by 2030”.

The Annual Report contains details of the Centre’s 2022 activities, outputs and outcomes, including an overview of current research themes and projects; appointments to national/international organisations, committees and strategic advisory bodies; international collaborations, events, achievements and awards, global research impact, publications; as well as education and training.  

Creating Impact through our Research

We collaborate extensively with researchers and stakeholders, both locally and

internationally, to translate research findings into impact. We seek to ensure that our research achieves impact - the demonstrable contribution to society and the economy made by knowledge and skilled people. To deliver this, we engage and collaborate with the public, business, government and the third sector.

The impact cases that we submitted  to the UK Research Excellence Framework exercise which  reflect the effect of our research on, change or benefit to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life, beyond academia, were rated as world-leading and outstanding impacts in terms of their reach and significance.

The GDRC Annual Report is available to read along with the details of these world-leading case studies. 

Nicola Werritt
Media Relations & Content Officer
n.c.werritt@hud.ac.uk
 

The University of Huddersfield – Inspiring Global Professionals

The University has a growing reputation as an inspiring, innovative provider of higher education of international renown. Our researchers are dedicated to solving the problems and answering the questions posed by industry, science and society as a whole.  The University's research is showcased by world-leading applied research groups in biomedical sciences, engineering, physical science, humanities, the arts and social sciences.

The University annually enrols over 19,000 students to an increasingly multicultural campus that welcomes students from over 120 countries on to a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes across subjects covering…

…the sciences, engineering and IT
…health, education and social sciences
…business, management, law and accountancy
…architecture, design, humanities and the arts.

In 2017, the University won the first Global Teaching Excellence Award (Higher Education Academy) and is currently joint first in England for professionally qualified teaching staff.

The University has been awarded an overall 5-star rating from QS Stars, which renders the university world-class for teaching, employability, facilities, innovation, internationalisation and inclusiveness.

In 2021, the University gained a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for the innovative work carried out at the Centre for Precision Engineering. This followed the 2019 Queen's Anniversary Prize awarded to the University's Institute of Railway Research and the 2015 Queen’s Anniversary Prize for expanding global boundaries in new music.

Recognised as a leader in enterprise and innovation, the University has been the recipient of the Times Higher Education magazine’s awards for the University of the Year, Entrepreneurial University of the Year and Outstanding Leadership and Management and also a recipient of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise.

Tags:

Subscribe

Media

Media

Documents & Links