Ayog Basnyat

Disaster risk management with disruptive technology for climate resilient infrastructure planning: Transboundary high mountainous region in Nepal

Resilient Infrastructure is at the very centre for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the 21st century. It is the key for enabling the three main pillars of sustainable development: economic, environmental and social. As the world suffers through the effects of climate change, Infrastructure systems all over the world are increasingly getting exposed to different natural hazards and disasters. This is a huge risk for building a climate resilient and sustainable future, let alone achieving the 2030 agenda for people, planet and prosperity. Science and technology have been long taken as driving forces in combating these risks, yet disparities such as the digital divide and uncertainties from the changing climate have slowed down the overall efforts and planning. Decades has passed resulting in the need for disruption and innovation. Coming from the perspective of planning infrastructure that are higher into exposed alpine valleys potentially dealing with disasters, this research explores how disaster and climate risk management with the use of existing disruptive technologies can result in robust infrastructure planning and disaster preparedness in the transboundary high mountainous regions of Nepal. Building resilient infrastructure and achieving sustainable development during this climate crisis requires quick and easy updates to existing solutions, which can be done through the introduction of emerging innovative disruptive technologies.