International Research and Higher Education Centres
Links to international hazard research institutions
University of Colorado Natural Hazards Centre
Since 1976, the Natural Hazards Center has served as a national and international clearinghouse of knowledge concerning the social science and policy aspects of disasters. The Center collects and shares research and experience related to preparedness for, response to, recovery from, and mitigation of disasters, emphasizing the link between hazards mitigation and sustainability to both producers and users of research and knowledge on extreme events.
University of Delaware Disaster Research Centre
The Disaster Research Center, the first social science research center in the world devoted to the study of disasters, was established at Ohio State University in 1963 and moved to the University of Delaware in 1985. The Center conducts field and survey research on group, organizational and community preparation for, response to, and recovery from natural and technological disasters and other community-wide crises.
Millersville University Centre for Disaster Research and Education
Asian Disaster Reduction Centre
Risk Frontiers
(Formerly the Macquarie University Natural Hazards Research Centre)
James Cook University - Centre for Disaster Studies
The Centre for Disaster Studies is a multi-disciplinary research unit presently housed in the School of Tropical Environment Studies and Geography of James Cook University. The Centre has acted as the university's face to the public and the professionals in the Emergency Management and Meteorology fields, city councils and other researchers since its establishment in 1979.
Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters
CRED promotes research, training, and information dissemination on disasters, with a special focus on public health, epidemiology, structural and socio-economic aspects. It aims to enhance the effectiveness of developing countries' disaster management capabilities as well as fostering policy-oriented research.
Flood Hazard Research Centre - Middlesex University
The Flood Hazard Research Centre (FHRC) at Middlesex University comprises of a small group of committed social and environmental scientists working to improve policy making and implementation in the fields of hazard, coastal and integrated water management.
Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute
The Hazards and Vulnerability Research Institute (HVRI) is an interdisciplinary research and graduate and undergraduate training centre focused on the development of theory, data, metrics, methods, applications, and spatial analytical models for understanding the newly emergent field of hazard vulnerability science. In addition to basic research, the HVRI facilitates local, state, & federal government efforts to improve emergency preparedness, planning, and response and disaster resilience through its outreach activities. These activities include providing technical assistance to and translational products for the practitioner community as well as training emergency managers in GIS applications. Partnerships with federal, state, and local emergency managers will continue as an important component of the Institute’s purpose and mission.
Benfield Hazard Research Centre - University College London
With over fifty researchers and practitioners, Benfield UCL Hazard Research Centre is Europe's leading multidisciplinary academic hazard research centre. BUHRC comprises three groups: Geological Hazards, Meteorological Hazards & Seasonal Forecasting, and Disaster Studies & Management.
Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology - University of New Orleans
The focus of the Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology (CHART) is to support Louisiana community sustainability in light of natural, technological, environmental and terrorist risks to which the region is vulnerable. The Center undertakes applied social science research to understand ways in which Louisiana communities and the coastal region respond to these risks, assists in the development of best practices for reducing risks and helps in implementing these practices to achieve comprehensive community sustainability.
FEMA Higher Education Project
A program created in 1994 at FEMA’s Emergency Management Institute to encourage and support the dissemination of hazard, disaster, and emergency management-related information in colleges and universities across the United States. The programme provides a focal-point for emergency management higher education, with the aim of fostering the professionalization of the field via educational efforts. This site contains a wealth of resources on emergency management theory and professional development, including articles, presentations, reading lists and access to free textbooks.
UK Emergency Planning College
The Emergency Planning College is situated at the heart of Government, within the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CCS) of the Cabinet Office. Since 1989, it has been the Government's centre for running short seminars, workshops and courses on an inter–agency basis in the field of crisis management and emergency planning. Its diverse and dynamic programme attracts in excess of six thousand delegates per year from a wide range of backgrounds providing a national forum for discussion and the sharing of good practice.