Resilience starts with how we think - our mindset shapes the choices we make as individuals, communities, and organisations. Disasters are not simply the result of natural events; they occur when hazards intersect with people and places. The ways we live, build, and prepare can turn hazards into disasters, or help us avoid them. Shifting our mindset from inevitability to responsibility is the first step in reducing risk and building just resilience.

At ADRC26, we invite you to reimagine resilience through both mindset and action. This year’s theme is about looking ahead, challenging us to move beyond focusing only on hazards, and instead examine the deeper, systemic causes of risk, such as inequity, exclusion, and the far-reaching impacts of our decisions in an increasingly uncertain world.

We welcome everyone: community groups, volunteers, academics, emergency management professionals, governments, and those from health, education, business, and creative sectors to question assumptions, share new perspectives, and challenge the status quo in our practices and organisations. The conference is shaped by the experiences and insights of the diversity of our population. By centring a diversity of lived experiences, we aim to co-create pathways that are inclusive, equitable, and transformative for all.

Together we’ll explore:

• What mindsets do we need across policy, practice, and partnerships to lead with empathy, equity, and courage?
• What does it mean to truly centre communities in resilience planning?
• How can we shift from reactive responses to proactive, collaborative strategies?

Let’s question, share, and co-create futures, and a mindset, where resilience is inclusive, connected, and transformative.

Recommended reading:

• For more on how our choices shape disasters and resilience, see: Kelman, I. (2020). Disaster by choice: How our actions turn natural hazards into catastrophes. Oxford University Press.
• You might also find this Conversation article, which relates to our focus on mindset, practical action, and learning from experience, interesting:
  We rarely hear about the disasters that were avoided but there's a lot we can learn from them 

Sub-themes

These sub‑themes invite us to dive deeper into the ADRC26 theme.