Centre for Crisis Studies and Mitigation

Crises result from the intersection between the natural world and society, engulfing societies in complex interacting social, environmental, financial and political system failures. A crisis resulting from a natural disaster is not merely natural, but also depends upon how those disasters impact society because of weaknesses in infrastructure or societal response (e.g., despite a perfect weather forecast for Hurricane Katrina, over 1400 died). Such crises are often sudden-onset phenomena and difficult to predict, fostering dysfunctionality and paralysis in decision-making. What makes crises so intractable is that their solutions lie beyond the scope of conventional single-discipline problem-solving techniques.

Through the interdisciplinary Centre for Crisis Studies and Mitigation, the University of Manchester is uniquely posed to address crises given our breadth of expertise. We address crises from all disciplines and along the spectrum from theoretical, environmental, societal, and economic, including prediction, mitigation, and recovery to address the root causes of crisis and address future societal risks in a manner that is democratic, just, and inclusive. The Centre cuts across disciplinary boundaries and encompasses most schools and all faculties at the university, harnessing Manchester’s world-class expertise in humanitarian and conflict response, natural hazards, risk assessment of infrastructure to earthquakes, water supplies during disasters, resilient energy networks, urban environments and social studies of climate change, geography, politics and urban governance, agricultural economics, and global development.

For more information contact Professor David Schultz at the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences: david.schultz@manchester.ac.uk