The Institute of Hazard Risk and Resilience (Durham University) along with the After Disasters Network and the UK Resilience Academy are hosting a Day of Discussion on the 10th of July 2026

So, what will be we looking at?

The Question

Resilience policy often focuses on structures and plans designed for the moment of crisis. We want to test a different premise: What if resilience is not built during an emergency, but simply revealed by it? If resilience is actually found in the quality of everyday relationships between people and institutions, then our current approach to policy and planning may be missing the most critical layer of the system.

The Work

This is a one-day working session for policy makers, emergency planners, and academics to explore the "relational lens." We are looking to bridge the gap between what policy intends, what systems can deliver, and what people actually experience.

Through four specific sessions, we will move from "ordinary life" through to the "long tail of recovery" to see where the current system holds and where it fractures.

The Schedule

• 09:30 Welcome: The relational lens.
• 09:45 Ordinary Lives: How people connect outside of formal systems.
• 11:00 During Emergencies: Why behaviour diverges from system expectations.
• 12:55 After the Emergency: Trust, access, and the "long tail" of recovery.
• 14:10 What Happens Next: Identifying the gaps in policy and research.
• 15:20 Closing: Reframing the frontline/backline relationship.

The Outcome

We are not looking for a neat model or a checklist. The goal of the day is to surface the "hidden infrastructure" of relationships that act as safety nets under strain.

By bringing together practitioners and researchers, we aim to identify the specific gaps in our current thinking and ask sharper questions about how cohesion, crisis, and recovery are interconnected.