RDR celebrating UCL200: Playful approaches to disaster preparedness with Chika Watanabe
A book talk and interdisciplinary panel discussion with author Chika Watanabe and UCL Risk & Disaster Reduction colleagues. Discover how playful, creative methods can transform disaster preparedness.
RDR celebrating UCL200: Playful approaches to disaster preparedness with Chika Watanabe
Join us for this UCL RDR monthly event celebrating UCL’s Bicentenary, featuring a talk by Dr Chika Watanabe on playful approaches to disaster preparedness.
Drawing on seven years of ethnographic research in Japan and Chile, her work explores how communities, officials and NGOs use games, imagination and creative methods to help people engage with uncertainty. And how communities can prepare for high‑impact disasters along the Ring of Fire.
Following the talk, an interdisciplinary panel from UCL Risk & Disaster Reduction — including experts in anthropology, history and earthquake geology — will discuss how creativity, culture and future‑thinking can reshape preparedness education and public engagement with risk.
This event is designed for students, researchers, practitioners. And is for anyone interested in disaster risk reduction, resilience, social sciences or innovative approaches to preparedness.
Celebrating UCL200
2026 marks 200 years since UCL’s establishment as the first university in London. This UCL Risk & Disaster Reduction event celebrates this milestone, showcasing UCL’s excellence and impact. The UCL bicentennial celebrations begin in February 2026 and continue throughout the year.
Panellist bios
Chika Watanabe
Speaker
Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology, University of Manchester
Chika's research focuses on disaster preparedness, international cooperation and futurity. She is co‑lead of the Patchwork Ethnography project, which explores more inclusive approaches to ethnographic research.
Her forthcoming books include Play to Survive: Disaster Preparedness Along the Ring of Fire (Stanford University Press) and Patchwork Ethnography: A Methodological Guide (University of Chicago Press).
Megnaa Mehtta
Chair
Lecturer (Teaching) in Social Anthropology, UCL Risk & Disaster Reduction
Megnaa is an environmental anthropologist whose research explores how communities in the Sundarbans navigate intersecting crises of conservation, climate change and overconsumption, with a focus on gendered care, vulnerability and environmental futures.
Joanna Faure Walker
Panellist
Head of Department, UCL Risk & Disaster Reduction
Joanna is an earthquake geologist whose research examines faults, seismic hazard and the physical processes that shape where and how earthquakes occur, alongside wider interests in disaster resilience, risk perception and decision‑making.
Dan Haines
Panellist
Associate Professor in the History of Risk and Disaster, UCL Risk & Disaster Reduction
Dan is an environmental historian of South Asia, focusing on the politics and culture of natural hazards in India, Pakistan and Nepal, including work on the 1935 Quetta earthquake and the Indus River system.
Aeron O'Connor
Panellist
Lecturer (teaching) in Social Anthropology & Humanitarianism, UCL Risk & Disaster Reduction
Aeron is a social anthropologist whose research explores how social groups and urban communities endure political upheaval and ecological change, with a focus on migration, urban histories and the transmission of ways of life across generations.
Find out more about UCL200
Discover what's happening for UCL's bicentennial celebrations in 2026!
Browse UCL200 eventsFurther information
Ticketing
Pre-booking essential
Cost
Free
Open to
All
Availability
Yes