On 6 October, the Assistant Director of International Relations at the UIC Barcelona School of Architecture, Carmen Mendoza-Arroyo, addressed the 3rd International Disaster and Resilience Congress 2021, organised jointly by the scientific journal Resilience Journal and the Turkish Ministry of the Interior. Now in its third edition, the congress was based around the theme of “Climate Change and Local Resilience” and took place in hybrid format. 

Carmen Mendoza-Arroyo took part in a panel on “Resilience experience under the climate change adaptation perspective” with a lecture entitled “The strategic value of spatial and cultural resources to reinforce local identity and community engagement for post-disaster reconstruction”. In her talk, she emphasised the strategic value of space and cultural resources to strengthen local identity and underlined community commitment to post-disaster reconstruction processes. 

“Communities play a key role in the prospects of urban reconstruction and adaptation to climate change. There is a need to implement and understand culture-based approaches that incorporate traditions and practices related to risk reduction. This perspective is necessary to raise awareness of disasters, since it is important to study community resilience linked to reconstruction as a complement that is necessary to achieve adaptability in built structures” she pointed out.  

The international congress was held from 5 to 7 October and was attended by researchers from around the world, as well as Turkish Minister of the Interior Süleyman Soylu himself.