Solidarity in disaster scholarship.

Disaster scholarship purportedly promotes disaster risk reduction and resists disaster risk creation, thereby deeply engaging with transboundary existential risks, justice, and political power. It is thus a commitment to humanity, and for it to become truly equitable and just, solidarity must lie at its heart. In this paper we connect solidarity with knowledge production and assess the implications of disaster scholarship and the relationships on which it is built.

In the arena: contesting disaster creation in cities.

Space is a feature of all disasters, and it is through decisions on how space is developed, used, and reproduced that disasters manifest themselves. Critical urban theory sees urban space-cities-as an arena of contestation expressed through the relationship between people, power, and the built environment. Cities allow for an unpacking of this process of contestation through the interpretation of various temporal, spatial, social, and physical elements that together create complex issues and 'wicked problems'.

From pity to fear: security as a mechanism for (re)production of vulnerability.

Vulnerability is not only a shared basic condition, but also a condition of potential. In the context of disasters and crises, the concept of vulnerability is frequently used to portray individuals and groups as 'weak', 'threatened', and 'in need of help'. Occasionally, though, a shift occurs and the 'threatened'-and therefore usually the pitied-become those who are feared and hated, that is, they become a 'threat'.

The office of the future: Operational energy consumption in the post-pandemic era.

As a result of COVID-19 and in order to combat the spread of the virus, work-from-home and remote working has become a widely accepted practice in professional settings globally. It is widely known that we are currently experiencing a highly transient period in terms of how we define work. Office work is progressively becoming more collaborative, modern workforce more mobile, and office occupancy more dynamic.

'Building back better' is neoliberal post-disaster reconstruction.

'Building back better' (BBB) has become one of the most common expressions in disaster risk reduction. Disasters offer an opportunity to encourage improvements not only in the structural safety of buildings and infrastructure, but also in addressing structural inequalities and injustice. Consequently, they are an opportunity to make things 'better'.

Developing disaster risk reduction skills among informal construction workers in Nepal.

Capacity development has become an embedded component of the aid package offered by international organisations responding to humanitarian crises. The effectiveness of capacity development is, however, rarely monitored or examined. What is more, the local context and the learning preferences of trainees appear often to be overlooked.