What is the relationship between education and natural disasters? Can education play a role in ameliorating and mitigating them, preparing people in how to respond, and even helping to prevent them? If so, how?

Drawing on research carried out in a number of different countries, including Australia, China, India, Japan, the UK and the USA, the contributors consider the role of education in relation to natural disasters. The case studies expand conceptual and empirical understandings of the understudied relationship between education and natural disasters and uncover the potential and the limitations of education for mitigating, responding to, and potentially preventing, natural disasters. The contributors also consider the extent to which so-called natural disasters, such as mudslides caused by deforestation and flooding areas built on known flood plains, are linked to human behaviour and how education can impact on these.

David Smawfield is a Senior International Educational Consultant, based in the UK. He has had a long career in international education and development, including project and programme implementation, design and evaluation and strategic policy guidance.