21st Century Challenges

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Professor David Sanderson
Director, Centre for Development and Emergency Practice (CENDEP)
Oxford Brookes University

David's professional experience lies in urban poverty, disaster risk reduction and livelihoods. He has undertaken work for the UK Government's Department for International Development (DFID), Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), European Commission (DiPECHO, EC), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Bank (EDI Section), United Nations (UNDP/UNDESA), Action by Churches Together (ACT), British Council, Christian Aid, Tear Fund and the Mott Foundation.

What is the purpose of CENDEP?

CENDEP's award-winning Masters degree in Development and Emergency Practice is known and respected for its practice base and strong culture of student and practitioner collaboration. Since its founding in 1991 the Masters degree has established an international reputation for excellence. In that time well over 500 students have attended the programme from all around the world, with many going on to hold wide-ranging positions in community based groups, NGOs, UN and donor bodies, governments and the military.

The programme is above all multi-disciplinary: each year students come from all kinds of backgrounds and walks of life. While many have extensive experience working within aid agencies and are looking to make sense of their experience, others may be wanting to become engaged in issues of poverty, development, conflict and disaster. Others still may have found themselves caught up in emergencies and are now looking to refocus their careers.

Centre for Development and Emergency Practice

How does vulnerability relate to natural disasters?

"when vulnerable people are exposed to a natural phenomenon that's when you get a natural disaster. You can't have one without the other"

How can better building and design standards help communities vulnerable to natural hazards?

"After disasters, the pressure to rebuild is quick. Most countries in the world have building codes, the issue is enacting them."

What role do local communities have in building capacity to cope with natural disasters?

"To reduce vulnerability and the scale of a disaster the key relates to community cohesion, community knowledge, skills and the education of girls. The stuff of development."

What are the challenges facing rapidly growing urban areas that are vulnerable to natural disasters?

"...as we find cities get denser and people are living stacked on top of one another and getting denser and denser, the issue is land. This problem comes to the fore following a disaster. It's a real problem and one the aid agencies are really grappling with.