The University of Wollongong is on the look out for research projects that will make the Illawarra more resilient to disasters in the future.
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These projects also need to build a zero carbon economy that will help mitigate future disasters.
Up to 50 per cent of Global Challenges Program grants in 2020 have been set aside for research proposals that address aspects of disaster response in the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, South Coast and Southern Highlands.
Global Challenges executive director Professor Chris Gibson said the initiative stems from a strong belief that UOW has a civic responsibility to the communities in which it operates.
"Here at the University of Wollongong, we feel very passionately about our role in doing research and creating new knowledge to improve the world," Professor Gibson said.
"We also feel a responsibility to our own communities, to our own region, which is a part of the world that's seen terrible bushfires in the last few months.
"So we're announcing a call to action for research projects that bring together researchers from all sorts of different backgrounds to address the urgent needs of the communities in our region.
""It's a question of our systems...and also how we rebuild and how we recover."
The call to action is intended to bring together research teams with expertise on disasters or in relevant fields including mental health, land management, invasive species and ecology.
Fields of expertise in building and retrofitting, energy supply, tourism, financial planning/management, air and water quality and community preparedness and recovery, are also sought.
The projects supported through this initiative will partner with affected communities and/or services to develop appropriate responses to disaster.
Global Challenges also envisages that the successful projects will address a cross section of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), including those on good health and wellbeing, sustainable cities and communities, and life on land.