What's New in Knowledge | April 2026
Australia celebrated Harmony Week this month. In recognition of this, we kick off What’s New in Knowledge with this fantastic webinar by the Scanlon Foundation, focusing on multiculturalism and what belonging means for migrants in Australia.
We also marked National Close the Gap Day. This resource summary, compiled by AIDR and the National Indigenous Disaster Resilience program at Monash University, shares some great resources for Closing the Gap in emergency management, including this NIDR Closing the Gap in Emergency Management Explainer.
In understanding consequence and recovery, the 57th Session of the United Nations Statistical Commission has endorsed the Global Disaster-Related Statistics Framework, marking the first time a comprehensive global statistical framework has been agreed to strengthen how disaster-related statistics are defined, compiled, and used within national statistical systems.
A new, multidisciplinary edited book on Resilience and Recovery in Disaster and Emergency Management is also now available for purchase. It explores the theoretical foundations of resilience and recovery as well as sharing practical applications and real-world case studies.
In Australia, Queensland-based research was prevalent for this theme this month. One Queensland study analysed 262 newspapers to examine the role of social memory in building community resilience against flood risk. It highlights the need to address the implications of ‘memory baggage’ and rebuild trust over time. A second Queensland article shares lessons on smarter messaging to curb panic buying, which focuses on ‘reassurance, normalising responsible behaviour, and appealing to people’s sense of responsibility to their community’. Meanwhile, the report of Queenslander Annabelle Johnstone’s Churchill Fellowship is now available, sharing her learnings and recommendations on human and social impacts of disasters on aged care facilities and their residents.
Focusing on systemic risk, 3 ABC News articles demonstrate the compounding supply chain shock triggered by the Middle East war that exposes Australia’s dependence on fuel-intensive and import-reliant systems. Disruption to oil shipping routes has driven fuel shortages and higher prices, which then cascade across health, food, and resource sectors. Meanwhile, an international research team has combined historical displacement records with environmental, demographic, and socioeconomic indicators to uncover overlooked compound risks in conflict areas and links between environmental stress and instability.
In disaster risk reduction, 2 new knowledge and resource platforms were launched this month. First, the UNESCO Digital Innovation Hub brings together disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation tools, services and expertise on one, global platform. Second, the Humanitarian Library has launched a new Anticipatory Action collection. It brings together practical, policy, and evidence-based resources that support humanitarian actors to act earlier, smarter, and more effectively before crises escalate.
Continuing on with disaster risk reduction, this recent Prevention Web article provides an overview of the Climate Resilience Measure for Communities framework and tool built by the Zurich Climate Resilience Alliance. It emphasises that measuring community resilience in a holistic, locally adaptable way enables more effective, locally-led disaster risk reduction by revealing strengths, gaps, and priorities that top‑down approaches routinely miss. Closer to home, this Hazard Note from Natural Hazards Research Australia summarises research by the University of Sydney that examined barriers to and opportunities for more coordinated community risk assessment. The team also developed a guideline to inform revision, modification, or creation of community risk assessment practice.
Turning to animals in disasters, this fascinating Conversation article shares evidence that some animals change their behaviour in response to environmental changes preceding major earthquakes. These signals are not yet reliable or precise enough to serve as a practical earthquake prediction system.
Research on equity and inequity in disasters was strong this month. The publication repository for the person-centred emergency preparedness program, led by Professor Michelle Villeneuve, has now been updated with all 2025 publications. The Victorian Council of Social Services also launched its report on spatial injustice and the 2022 Victorian floods this month. Based on analysis by Dr Ang Li and Mathew Toll from the University of Melbourne, the report finds that ‘Victorians experiencing poverty and disadvantage were more likely to live in the hardest hit areas, and this inequity was exacerbated after the floods’. It includes 7 recommendations to reduce the risk that disasters will further entrench inequality, poverty, and disadvantage across Victoria.
On the theme of addressing disproportionate impacts of disasters on Indigenous communities, 2 new summary articles draw on research in Australia and Canada. This Conservation Australia article brings attention to inappropriate planning and unsuitable interventions during crises and shares some key actions and frameworks to better support disaster-prone Australian Indigenous communities. This Conversation Canada article (accessible here in English) uses Canadian research to highlight how governments can help Indigenous communities that are disproportionately impacted by wildfires.
On the theme of weather and climate change, this research paper shares key findings from a collaborative, international, multidisciplinary research project that uses ‘warning chain thinking’ to bridge the gap between weather information providers, emergency managers, and humanitarian organisations globally. You can find more from this project here. A new research paper by Australian researcher Dr Lisa Ewenson argues that social work is uniquely placed to influence disaster governance, climate justice policy, and supported community outcomes if we prioritise labour, knowledge, and ethical commitments to just climate futures.
There has been quite a focus on many different hazards this month, including the Digital Atlas of Australia publishing the National Seismic Risk Assessment which can be accessed on this website. On a similar note to seismic risk, in Nova Scotia, Canada, a case study has been released on hurricane risk and impacts on coastal infrastructure.
Focusing on extreme heat, the Sweltering Cities report on its summer heat survey shows how millions were forced to ration cooling during record heatwaves across the country. Read more about the impact of heat on postcodes across the country here.
Meanwhile, this research article provides a probabilistic-based framework for heat vulnerability and risk assessment of buildings.
In health, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released a toolkit on community mapping in health emergencies with a focus on strengthening preparedness, response, and resilience.
This month, a modernised Global Early Warning System (GLEWS+) platform and public website were also launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, WHO, and the World Organisation for Animal Health. GLEWS+ supports early warning, joint risk assessment, and coordinated responses to emerging health threats at the human-animal-ecosystem interface. Read more here.
Looking at governance, leadership, and capacity building, this article from the Australian National University on disasters and democratic resilience suggests the need for a long-term community approach and new monitoring systems. In building capacity, a research article examines connecting perceived flood risk and resilience in Auckland, New Zealand in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle and anniversary of the 2023 Auckland floods weekend. This is an interesting cross-category analysis of high impact low occurrence disasters. An interesting study on enablers of community- led action in Australian climate disasters recognises the role of pre-existing social foundations and importance of local knowledges. It includes examples from disaster impacted communities in NSW in the wake of the 2019-2020 bushfires.
Examining the frontiers in technology, the ASRA network has published an article on rethinking how poor fiscal choices can amplify AI driven instability. On a slightly different note, this article asks whether talking to a random human peer is better than talking to a highly supportive chatbot in reducing loneliness over time. Also questioning AI ability is an article on the increasing number of AI chatbots ignoring human instruction.
In positive AI and technology news, here is how digital technologies are reshaping emergency collaboration and allowing for a new model of multi-actor governance. In other good news, technology is assisting in measuring spatial urban recovery and expansion in tsunami affected areas by satellite remote sensing and machine learning.
Looking at knowledge development and translation, here is a study that examines mental health risks and potentially traumatizing experiences of wildfire researchers working in disaster-affected communities and landscapes. It includes reflections and a call to action. Along with the earlier mention of the Digital Atlas of Australia and their release of the national seismic risk assessment, the Digital Atlas of Australia has also released updated data to better understand Australian communities including information on the environment and the economy, all of which is available here.
The November 2025 update to Data by region from the Australian Bureau of Statistics brings together the latest information on people, jobs, education, and more. It helps support a place-based understanding of how different aspects of life come together in regions across Australia.
WNIK TV
This month, the ASRA Network has released a new episode in their YouTube series, the latest one covering co-creation, fear, and systemic risk. The full video is available to watch here.