A cohesive society is not only characterised by the availability of basic services and facilities, but also promotes economic equality and inclusion, democracy, and social solidarity. Forced displacement due to disasters and conflict constantly disrupt the path to a sustainable and cohesive society. Displaced communities often struggle with a lack of access to livelihood and a lack of financial independence and social and family stability. With these challenges, a lack of provision of basic services and facilities will create a competition for housing, health, and education between the displaced and host communities. Additionally, the economic competition for jobs and the role of international aid in terms of fairness create social tension between the displaced and the host. Likewise, multiple aspects weaken the social cohesion between displaced and host communities. Within this context, we investigated approaches to enhance social cohesion following disaster-induced and conflict-induced displacement. With the identification of this research need, the research team of the project titled REGARD (REbuild-inG AfteR Displacement) conducted 47 in-depth interviews in four partner countries (U.K., Sweden, Estonia, and Sri Lanka) with community representatives, social support networks, agency networks, officials, etc. Moreover, focus group discussions were conducted with community members in Sri Lanka. The collected data were analysed through a qualitative data analysis procedure. The findings present eight approaches to strengthen the social cohesion between displaced and host communities. These eight approaches include the adequate provision of basic services and facilities without limiting the capacity of the host, support services aimed at local integration, economic integration between the displaced and host, and social cohesion through the built environment.

Purpose: Although, a number of initiatives have been taken after the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami to institutionalise disaster risk reduction (DRR), gaps still exist in the Sri Lankan local government sector. Even after ten years, local governments are still struggling to overcome a number of challenges in relation to making resilience in the built environment. DRR has not yet been properly integrated into the local government system and, as a result, poses a significant challenge. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to discover the hindrances for local governments in creating disaster resilient built environment within cities and to propose ways of overcoming the identified limitations.Design/methodology/approach: In total, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted among experts from Sri Lanka who are involved in disaster management, local governments and built environment fields of study. The interviews were conducted with the intention of gaining expert knowledge pertaining to this field of study. The interviews were mainly designed to capture the current practices for instigating DRR initiatives within Sri Lanka, the role of local governments in creating a disaster resilient built environment and the associated challenges, and ways of overcoming such challenges to ensure an effective contribution to city resilience.Findings: Primary data discovered 36 challenges along with some associated sub-challenges. The challenges were categorised under eight main themes: legal framework; lack of adequate tools, techniques and guidelines; human resource constraints; funding constraints; weaknesses in the internal systems and processes; weaknesses in the external systems; community engagement; and other challenges. The paper analyses these challenges in detail and proposes a set of recommendations to overcome the challenges in order to create disaster resilient built environments within cities.Research limitations/implications: The paper provides a descriptive analysis of how the Sri Lankan local government sector could overcome the underpinning challenges of contributing to disaster resilience in the built environment and no comparative studies were conducted with in other tsunami affected regions. Furthermore, the paper analyses partial findings of a broader research, which was aimed at developing a framework to empower local governments in creating a disaster resilient built environment.Originality/value: The paper provides an extensive analysis of the challenges faced by local governments in contributing to the resilience of their built environment and proposes how these challenges could be overcome while making a worthwhile contribution to both theory and practice. Accordingly, the paper recommends major changes in policy and practice with respect to bringing local governments into DRR.

The paper aims to elaborate the research methodology adopted for a doctoral research study aimed at developing a framework to empower local governments to make cities resilient to disasters in the built environment context. Based on the constructionism epistemological undertaking and the theoretical perspective of being interpretivistic in nature, the research falls under the category of qualitative research. Therefore, qualitative strategies were best suited for conducting the study. Various research strategies exist for qualitative research such as case studies, ethnography, grounded theory and phenomenological research. The research seeks to investigate how local governments can be empowered to make cities resilient to disasters in the built environment context and, out of the available qualitative research strategies, case studies were identified as the most appropriate research strategy for the research discussed in this paper. The paper compares and contrasts the available research strategies and puts forward the suitability of the case study research strategy in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the research. In doing so, the paper outlines the inherent components of the methodology namely, research philosophy, approach, strategy, choice, time horizon and techniques while justifying the suitability of the selected methodology through various research methodology literature.

Disaster induced displacement is one of the most frequent phenomena occurring in the contemporary world and has been aggravated by factors such as climate change. With the systematic interpretation of disaster risks, planned relocation has been recognized as a durable solution for post-disaster reconstruction and disaster mitigation. Planned relocation initiatives that have been executed as post-disaster reconstruction initiatives in Sri Lanka have mainly followed donor driven and owner driven approaches. This study is a comparative analysis of the status quo of owner driven relocation options that were implemented after the landslide which took place in 2016 in the X District of Sri Lanka. Two research fields were selected based on the two owner driven options as part of the selected case study: Government Resettlement Sites and Individual Resettlement Sites. This exploratory study utilizes both secondary and primary data. A purposive sample of ten households was selected from each setting to conduct in-depth interviews. Furthermore, five structured interviews with key informants were conducted using an expert sample. Secondary data were collected based on the concepts of relocation and satisfaction of housing. The findings suggest that the respondents were satisfied with the housing units in both settings despite concerns in relation to the suggested plans of the housing units. Furthermore, common concerns were raised in terms of delays and issues in fund management in construction of houses. However, there was a drastic disparity in terms of other infrastructural, public, and neighborhood facilities in the two settings. Hence, this study suggests the need for an overall management and monitoring strategy for all owner driven relocation options.

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) education endorses educational initiatives that advocate for reducing existing disaster risks. The COVID-19 pandemic challenged the social order around the world, including the education sector. The rise of the pandemic paved the way to significantly convert the education sector towards online/distant learning via digital platforms. Online distance learning was a challenging emergency shift for many who had to change their teaching and learning strategies. This study is an investigation of the significant challenges associated with online learning in DRR education. The objectives of the study were to consider the online learning strategies used in formal DRR education at the tertiary level and to identify the associated challenges faced by the learners. This study presents the findings of an online survey conducted as part of a research collaboration titled INCLUsive Disaster Education (INCLUDE). INCLUDE is a collaborative research project co-funded by the EU Erasmus+ program aimed to reimagine online distance learning education. The survey was conducted in the country contexts of the research partners, which include Lithuania, Japan, Sweden, and the UK, with DRR learners who are engaged in online learning. The findings suggest that Learning Management Systems, synchronous learning, and flipped classrooms are the dominant learning strategies that engage learners. The findings further suggest that challenges in online DRR education lie in inadequate ICT infrastructure and digital literacy, health-related disturbances, and professional and personal commitments that lead into learning discontinuity. Hence, the study concludes that in order to enhance the inclusivity of online DRR education, the overall social and vulnerability contexts of the learners should be considered.

Urbanisation and climate change are intensifying heat risks in cities worldwide through the combined effects of global warming and the urban heat island (UHI) phenomenon. Elevated urban temperatures threaten human health, strain infrastructure, increase energy demand and exacerbate socio-spatial inequalities. While architectural and urban design decisions are central to the formation and mitigation of UHI, moving from UHI mitigation to heat-resilient cities requires linking physical interventions with governance capacity, equity, and adaptive learning over time. This paper, therefore, develops a conceptual framework for resilient and sustainable urban environments that embeds built-environment strategies within a broader resilience-oriented governance context. The study combines a narrative review of UHI mechanisms, impacts and mitigation approaches with a systematic review of local-government strategies implemented between 2015 and 2025. Following preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines and a population, intervention, comparison, and outcome (PICO)-based search strategy, 100 studies were selected from Scopus and Web of Science and analysed thematically. The review identifies four main domains of local action: green infrastructure; cool and permeable materials; water-based and blue–green infrastructure; and policy, governance and technology. Within these domains, the paper highlights architectural and design-relevant interventions, including shade-oriented streetscapes, climate-responsive building envelopes, ventilation-sensitive urban form, and blue–green corridors, while also examining institutional, financial and social factors that shape implementation and effectiveness. The findings show that combinations of green infrastructure, cool materials and blue–green systems can reduce surface and near-surface air temperatures and improve thermal comfort, with co-benefits for public health, energy efficiency, biodiversity and liveability. However, implementation is frequently constrained by limited financial and technical capacity, fragmented institutions, context-specific trade-offs, and insufficient attention to equity. Building on these insights, the paper proposes a conceptual framework comprising ten components that connect context and drivers; assessment and diagnosis; intervention strategies; implementation mechanisms; enablers; barriers; equity operationalisation; outcomes and effectiveness; monitoring and evaluation; and feedback and iteration. The paper concludes that advancing from urban heat islands to resilient cities requires design innovation supported by enabling governance, equity-centred prioritisation, and iterative monitoring and learning.