The #NoNaturalDisasters Twitter and online campaign launched in 2017 and has since been working to move the discussion around the unnaturalness of disasters away from a limited audience within the field of disaster risk reduction and management, to a broader audience. Through the use of Twitter and other online platforms, the campaign has allowed for a complimentary discussion and engagement that has built on the decades of work carried out by academics and practitioners on the topic and has allowed for a more democratised positioning.
The campaign has always had the aim of politely engaging and questioning the use of “natural” to describe disasters by those in positions of power (politicians, government officials, journalists, businesses etc). Through individual tweets or posts highlighting the misleading use of “natural” to describe disasters, to specific guidance documents aimed at various sectors on how to change discourse and terminology, the campaign successes have been numerous.
To mark the 5th Anniversary of the campaign, the conference will provide space for discussions about the aims and the ways of achieving them as we move forward.
The full agenda can be found here
Conference Themes
Who's lobbying for the
status quo?
Using expert knowledge, presentations & discussion, we'll unpick why there's resistance to the campaign in certain sectors/organisations and discuss how to counter that resistance.
Researching the unnaturalness of disasters
We'll explore the research that's been carried out already and discuss areas in which further study is needed (framed within the Radix Manifesto & Accord)
Our work within the broader social & economic systems
How can we make the necessary changes to disaster policy, research and advocacy within the current social & economic systems that perpetuate the misnomer of a "natural disaster"?
Conference Registration & Tickets
