Preface and Acknowledgements

Each year, researchers, professors, and practitioners from the United States and around the world meet at the FEMA Higher Education Symposium in Emmitsburg, MD. This meeting, which occurs annually in the early part of June, has several purposes: to increase knowledge about emergency management, to improve instruction in related programs, and to foster networking and collaboration among other things.

As part of the conference in 2022, members of the International Special Interest Group (SIG) joined together in a special session to discuss mutual concerns about disasters and share ideas on how to increase resilience and improve humanitarian efforts world-wide. During the conversation, participants came up with an idea to write a book on the subject.

A grant was submitted to the FEMA Higher Education Program for the project and funding was approved in 2023 (for which much gratitude is expressed). A call for chapters was then issued in the FEMA higher education community and numerous scholars and practitioners shared abstracts in the early fall regarding potential chapters that could be considered for the edited volume. After providing the authors with approval and guidelines for individual contributions, the selected scholars and practitioners were given a timeline for the project. With the help of external reviewers, the editors received initial, revised and final drafts from the contributing authors from January 2024 through June 2024.

The chapters in this book therefore reflect the hard work of knowledgeable scholars and dedicated professional who understand the unique context of international disasters. These individuals have identified the rising risk we are facing and have warned about the limited capacity we currently possess to address it. Moreover, these impressive stakeholders have provided countless recommendations on how to enhance international disaster management and global humanitarian assistance. The editors consequently endorse the research of the authors in this book and highly recommend this work to those who are interested in making a difference in emergency management in all nations around the world.

Acknowledgements

The editors express gratitude to the FEMA Higher Education Program for their support of the International Special Interest Group (SIG) and for funding which has made this book, Current and Emerging Trends in the Management of International Disasters, possible. Special thanks is directed to Christine Spangler (the FEMA Higher Education Program Manager) and Sarah Nix (the FEMA Higher Education Management and Program Analyst) for their unwavering support, counsel, commitment and advice.

Appreciation is also warranted for the numerous authors who have sacrificed much to bring forth their wonderful chapters in this edited volume. Their knowledge and expertise are to be commended.

We would like to extend our appreciation to the members of the International SIG’s working group for this book. These individuals were instrumental in helping to develop the text’s initial concepts and parameters, preparing the grant submission and Call for Abstracts, recruiting chapter reviewers and supporting the initial stages of the book.

FEMA Higher Ed International SIG Working Group:

Katja Abegg

Ray Chang

David Etkin

Yuni Kim

Harvey McMurray

Diego Otegui

Fabrice Pierre

Wadud Sayeed

Christopher Sheach

Matthew Van

Numerous reviewers also served an important role in the development of this book. The authors acknowledge the many valuable suggestions of those who took their time to review initial manuscripts and share recommendations to make them better.

Chapter and Abstract Reviewers (an asterisk denotes reviewers of both):

Finally, the editors thank Jessica McClean, Megan Zara, and Joshua Fakuade at Mavs Open Press for their assistance in preparing the manuscript for publication.

While the editors and authors are ultimately responsible for the contents of this book, they express sincere thanks to all of those who have made this outcome possible.

Laura M. Phipps, DrPH, MPH, CPH, RS
David A. McEntire, PhD, SFHEA