Richard Haigh is a Professor and Co-Director of the Huddersfield Centre for Disaster Resilience at the University of Huddersfield. He is the Founding Editor-In-Chief of the International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment, Co-Chair of the 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2014 International Conferences on Building Resilience, Co-Chair of the 2014 CIB International Conference on Construction in a Changing World, and Co-Chair 2005-2007 International Postgraduate Research Conferences, held at Salford Quays, UK and Delft, the Netherlands.
Richard has secured sixteen research grants since 2005 in the areas of disaster resilience, construction management and education, covering issues such climate change adaptation, social impact of post-conflict reconstruction, gender, curricular development, knowledge management, capacity building for resilience, and education in the built environment. He was Principal Investigator of ANDROID (Academic Network for Disaster Resilience to Optimise Educational Development), a partnership of 67 institutions across 31 countries committed to promote co-operation and innovation to increase society’s resilience to disasters of human and natural origin. UNDRR was a key partner in the project. He was also Principal Investigator of Conflict Prevention through Infrastructure Reconstruction, a 12-month intervention to enhance the capacity of local stakeholders to deliver conflict sensitive infrastructure reconstruction programmes within the North and East of Sri Lanka, and thereby to help prevent future conflict in the region. The project was funded by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office through the British High Commission in Colombo. Most recently, Richard has been appointed as the UK lead organiser on developing resilient, connected communities to tackle coastal hazards, a British Council Newton Fund Researcher Links Workshop Grant to develop stronger links between the UK and Indonesia.
Richard has given over 50 invited speeches and keynote presentations for audiences in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Canada, Estonia, Lithuania, and South Africa. He has also published over 25 peer reviewed journal articles, 1 edited book, 7 book chapters, and 13 reports for a variety of stakeholders.
A full list of Richard’s publications, projects, and national and international activities can be found at www.richardhaigh.info.
Campaign Activities2016 Organising committee member of the 6th International Conference on Building Resilience, Auckland, New Zealand, September 2016.
2015-present Advocate of UNDRR, recognising my conbribution to the UN campaign on Making Cities Resilient since 2010
2015 Chair, Workshop on Development of disaster resilient coastal communities to enhance economic development and social welfare, British Council Researcher Links, Bandung, Indonesia, 27th October – 1st November 2015
2015 Organising committee member of the 5th International Conference on Building Resilience, Newcastle, Australia, 15th – 17th July 2015
2015 Organising committee member of E-Conference on Landside risk reduction - Model Policy frameworks, Standards and Guidelines on Landslide Disaster Reduction, organised by the World Centre of Excellence on Landslide Disaster Reduction, Central Engineering Consultancy Bureau and the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment in Sri Lanka
Lead, Editorial Board, Global Assessment Report, 2015, launched by the United Nations Sectary General at the 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, held from 14 to 18 March 2015 in Sendai, Japan.
2014-date Focal point for University of Huddersfield work as a partner of UNHABITAT’s HABITAT UNIVERSITIES initiative. This initiative was introduced as a means of promoting cooperation between UN-HABITAT and institutions of higher education, as well as facilitating exchange and cooperation among universities globally
2014 Co-Chair, Workshop on Tsunami Recovery in Sri Lanka: Ten Years On, 5th December 2014, Galle Face 6 Conference Hall, Galle Face Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka, organised by: SPARC, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka; Global Disaster Resilience Centre, University of Huddersfield, UK; University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
2014-date Member of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWS) - Enhancing Tsunami Risk Assessment and Management, Strengthening Policy Support and Developing Guidelines for Tsunami Exercises in Indian Ocean Countries. October 2014
2014 Co-Chair, 4th International Conference on Building Resilience, Incorporating the 3rd Annual International ANDROID Conference, Salford, UK, September 2014
2014 Co-Chair, CIB W55/65/89/92/96 International Conference on Construction in a Changing World, Heritance Kandalama, Sri Lanka, May 2014 (www.cib2014.org)
2013 Co-Chair, 2013 International Conference on Building Resilience, to be held at Heritance Ahungalla in September 2013 (www.buildresilience.org/2013)
2012 Convener, Inclusive development seminar, organised by Chamber of Construction Industry Sri Lanka, in Vavuniya Sri Lanka, March 2012.
2011 Chair, Conflict prevention through infrastructure reconstruction workshop, International Conference on Building Resilience, Heritance Kandalama, July 2011.
2011 Co-Chair, 2011 International Conference on Building Resilience, Heritance Kandalama, Sri Lanka, held in July 2011. The event welcomed 110 international and Sri Lankan academics, practitioners, professionals and policy makers concerned with interdisciplinary approaches to disaster risk reduction, and the development of sustainable communities and cities (www.buildresilience.org).