UNDERSTANDING RISK FIELD LABS
The Understanding Risk (UR) Field Labs are collaborative, unstructured, un-conferences that bring together people to produce creative approaches to address today's most pressing climate and disaster risk management issues.
The Field Lab experience
Over four weeks, participants from around the world co-design a schedule and form working groups to develop projects, ranging from art to research.
Why The Field Lab?
We need to develop new and effective ways for working with climate data, while also working to create a more equitable and pluralistic disaster risk management.
GLOBAL LOCATIONS
The Field Lab is held in locations around the world that are on the frontlines of climate and disaster risk
FEATURED OUTPUTS
A selection of featured projects, papers, and videos from across all Field Labs.
For a full list of outputs from past field labs click here:
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Featured photos from Tom White, Kathmandu 2024 Field Lab Alumni
Exit Survey 2024
Results of the anonymous exit survey from the 2024 Kathmandu Field Lab participants, to which 50 people responded.
Connections
64% of participants came away from the Field Lab with new friendships and/or collaborations
Impact on Career
80% of participants said the Field Lab had a positive impact on their career
Field Lab Experience
85% of participants rated their experience highly
Progress During the Field Lab
90% of participants made progress on projects during the Field Lab
Where are they Now?
Quotes from the alumni of the 2019 Chiang Mai Field Lab on Urban Flooding.
This microsite, exit poll surveys and participation in the UR Forum Himeji were made possible with the support of
The UR Field Labs were financed, supported and co-organized by:
COLLABORATIONS & CONNECTIONS
The major strength of the field lab is the opportunity for a diverse community of experts, professionals, students, artists and practitioners to come together and spend time working together on self-led activities. The networks and friendships that are built over the course of what may be a few days, or a few weeks, are a testament to the success of this format.
Learning (And Unlearning) As We Go
The Field Labs have been part of the broader umbrella of the Understanding Risk (UR) community, an initiative of the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery of the World Bank. UR & GFDRR have supported the field labs financially, technically but also philosophically - as the field labs have been a tangible manifestation of the ethos and principles set forth by UR: radical and disruptive re-imagining of disaster risk management that pivots on a grassroots, demand-driven, participatory approach.
Thanks to the Tokyo DRM Hub we were able to bring the experience of the Kathmandu and Chiang Mai Field Labs to the Understanding Risk Global Forum in Himeji in June 2024. This support allowed us to confront ourselves with the broader UR community, and invest in learning from our past events to improve future ones.
