Scoping Future Priorities for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the Global South

The Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) convened a diverse group of research actors and funding agency representatives from various UK and other global organizations, with a focus on development and disaster risk reduction (DRR) in January 2025.  Attendees included around 80 participants from the UK and other Global South countries, particularly from the research community and funding agencies.  The workshop focused on Southeast Asia (SEA) and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) regions.

This initiative aimed to foster collaboration, enhance research uptake, and align funding strategies to maximize impact. The event also explored the transferability of research, ensuring a shared understanding of the concept and recognizing organizations already engaged in this practice.

“It felt like a good balance of participants and participation across the different countries. There were different types of actors represented. The energy of the facilitators. Having the right mix of panels and interactive sessions." Participant, UKRI DRR Scoping Workshop

Purpose and Objectives 

The workshop was designed to celebrate, learn from, and build on recent DRR-related research and innovation programs and identify key knowledge gaps and future priority research challenges for DRR in Official Development Assistance (ODA) priority regions, primarily Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.  The event also aimed to enhance coherence across future DRR-related research programs and funding partners, in the UK and internationally, with an emphasis on strategies for engaging end-users and beneficiaries to drive research uptake and maximize impact.

The event's objectives included:

1. Identify key knowledge gaps and future priority research themes for DRR in SEA and beyond, informed by insights from past and current research programs.
   

2. Explore strategies to enhance research uptake and collaboration, leading to actionable recommendations for funders and researchers.
   

3. Encourage alignment and coordination among funding agencies to minimize duplication and optimize investment impact.

People Involved 

The workshop brought together researchers from the UK and international communities specializing in DRR, representatives from UK research funding organizations and international funding agencies, experts in interdisciplinary research, equitable partnerships, and research-to-policy translation and practitioners and end-users from regions affected by disaster risks, particularly from Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia..

Workshop Process 

The consultation process was structured in three main steps:

1. Pre-workshop Survey: To gather initial research priorities on disaster risk reduction and create research theme areas to organize our thinking at the workshop event.
   

2. 2-Day In-Person Workshop In Edinburgh, Scotland, gave the participants and opportunity to explore the research sub-challenges within the theme areas.  The workshop included expert panels in plenary, as well as a number of small groups interactive sessions allowing participants to deep dive into the various research areas. 
   

3. Converging on Priority Topics: Participants identified the priority research questions, and, working in small groups, outlined the impact of addressing these challenges in their recommendations

Outcome & Impact 

The workshop resulted in:

• A prioritized list of DRR research themes to inform future funding opportunities.

  
  

• Recommendations for funders and researchers on enhancing research uptake, equitable partnerships, and sustainable collaborations.

  
  

• A workshop report summarizing discussions and priority themes, to be shared with UK and international funding agencies.
  

• Strengthened relationships and improved awareness of shared interests among UK and SEA/SSA research funders, potentially leading to joint funding initiatives.

As a result, the outcome of this event will shape the future of DRR research funding, fostering meaningful partnerships, and ensuring research investments generate maximum impact in the Global South.