
Can Emergency Response Increase Peace & Resilience? Lessons from Nepal
From Disrupting Peace by World Peace Foundation
October 14, 2025 · 39 min · Season 3 · Episode 6
About this episode
This episode explores the connections between emergency response, peace, and resilience through the lens of a collaboration in Nepal.
In our last episode of the season, we see what we can learn from Nepal about the connections between emergency response, peace, and resilience. Staying at the micro level, we closely examine a collaboration between the Nepalese organization Lumanti and the MIT based Urban Risk Lab. One note on this episode: Bridget references "Aceh province" during the opening quiz. To clarify, Aceh province is in Indonesia and was the epicenter of an earthquake and tsunami in 2004. Yatra Sharma worked as an architect and urban developer with the Kathmandu-based Lumanti Support Group for Shelter. The nonprofit works to improve housing for the urban poor in Nepal. Today she is a yoga teacher. Learn more at https://lumanti.org.np and check out the videos Yatra referenced at https://youtu.be/KL51C4j1Vt0?si=8w6Kn19uqNmSr3vp and https://www.instagram.com/tv/CMERBfGBB8_/?igsh=aHBtNGJ0em91ZTMz Larisa Ovalles is a Research Scientist at MIT’s Urban Risk Lab. She develops processes to increase emergency planning and preparedness at local and community levels. This includes developing alternative post-disaster housing solutions for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). And she was on the…
People in this episode
Hosts: Bridget Conley, Emily Shaw
Guests: Yatra Sharma, Larisa Ovalles
Topics covered
- emergency response
- peace
- resilience
- Nepal
- urban development
- disaster management
Keywords
- emergency response
- peace
- resilience
- Nepal
- urban risk
- disaster housing
- Lumanti
- MIT
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Lumanti Support Group for Shelter, MIT’s Urban Risk Lab, Federal Emergency Management Agency
Places: Nepal, Aceh province, Indonesia
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