The cities are emerging as the hotspots of natural hazard risks due to the factors ranging from higher population density to improper planning among others. The COVID-19 pandemic has reinforced this notion with all the major cities emerging as hotspots due to their interconnectedness domestically and internationally. Having said that, the cities are also the living labs for bringing in innovative solutions for making the cities resilient. The presentation will focus on the topic of Resilient Cities through Social Innovation. Inspiring cases of social innovations and how they are making the cities sustainable and resilient across the globe will be presented with special emphasis on the role of the private sector.

About Presenters:
Ranit Chatterjee is a PhD in Environmental Management from Kyoto University, Japan. Trained as an Architect, Ranit did his masters in Disaster Management from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. His work focuses mainly on disaster management while spanning across architecture and heritage, governance, private sector and ecosystem services. He has worked previously with the UN agencies, national and local Governments, NGOs, and the private sector in Asia.

Ranit is the co-founder of Resilience Innovation Knowledge Academy (RIKA), Social entrepreneur startup working on research and innovation in disaster management. He is also one of the founding members of UINSPIRE Alliance, a network of Youth and Young professionals in Asia with 14 national chapters and Confederation of Risk Reduction Professionals (CRRP). Ranit is a recipient of IRDR young scientist fellow and CEM member of IUCN. He has authored several academic publications and reports on the topic of Disaster Management.