The world is increasingly complex with risks and consequences becoming more systemic in nature. Our sector is rapidly evolving as we are exposed to these challenges. 

To help practitioners, policy makers, and researchers in navigating these issues, AIDR, in conjunction with the National Emergency Management Agency, is excited to launch the new Spotlight Series webinars. 

The purpose of this series is to provide a forum for conversations about emerging issues in disaster risk reduction and resilience, and to highlight topics of importance that receive little attention or focus. This series will support practitioners to be informed, build knowledge and skills, and to identify sound evidence to support effective planning and practice.

The webinars will be one hour long with a feature topic and time for discussion and questions at the end. Look out for new webinars as they are developed and added to the events calendar.

1pm-2pm AEDT, Wednesday 1 April 2026

Disasters can disrupt learning long after the immediate impacts have passed, with lasting consequences for individuals, communities and society.

This webinar explores how disasters and climate extremes affect education outcomes, and why this is an important but often overlooked consideration in disaster risk reduction, resilience and recovery.

Speakers from the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), the University of Melbourne and RMIT University will draw on evidence from bushfires, COVID‑19 and extreme heat to highlight the longer‑term and systemic impacts of disasters on learning.

The webinar will support practitioners to broaden how disaster impacts are understood and consider education outcomes as part of long‑term resilience and recovery planning.

Presenters:

Konstantina Vasilakopoulou
Vice Chancellor's Research Fellow, RMIT

Konstantina  is an architect with a Masters in Light and Lighting and a PhD in Chemical and Environmental Engineering. She has worked as an architect and sustainability expert for more than 15 years, and as a research‑focused academic at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens and at the School of the Built Environment, Faculty of Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney, where she led the Home Modification Information Clearinghouse and the Liveability Lab. She is currently a Vice‑Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at RMIT University.

Konstantina is passionate about sustainability and healthy environments and brings extensive industry knowledge on the impacts of the built environment on wellbeing, sustainable design, and architecture, with a strong focus on the inclusivity of vulnerable populations.

Professor Lisa Gibbs
Director of the Disaster, Climate and Adversity Unit in Melbourne School of Population and Global Health at the University of Melbourne

Lisa's research focuses on disaster recovery and resilience, including the experiences of children and school communities. She works in partnership with communities, educators, government agencies and disaster recovery workers to co-develop evidence-based resources that guide disaster recovery policies and service delivery in Australia and internationally.

Alisha Chand
Principle Partnership Manager - Disaster Resilience and Country, Queensland Kids Partnership

Alisha is based in Townsville and has a long history of leading partnership initiatives across health and social sectors. She brings deep, practice‑informed experience in co‑design, strategic project leadership, and place‑based learning. 

With broad experience working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and having lived and worked in rural, remote, and regional areas, Alisha’s collaborative approach is centred on listening to local insights to guide approaches that amplify impact for people and place.

Most recently, Alisha led the Commissioning Improvements Initiative at the Northern Queensland Public Health Network (PHN), and co‑developed human‑centred design curriculum for undergraduate allied health students at James Cook University.

Dr Sharleen Keleher
Early Childhood Education & Care Infant Mental Health Statewide Coordinator, Qld Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (QCPIMH), Children's Health Queensland

Sharleen leads the Birdie's Tree Early Learning Program, a disaster resilience and recovery initiative for early childhood education and care services. Sharleen holds a PhD in Education, with a focus on professional learning in early childhood disaster resilience, and brings extensive expertise in trauma-informed, strengths-based workforce development at the intersection of infant mental health, early childhood education, and disaster recovery. The Birdie's Tree program received the Resilient Australia National Award in 2020.

Sharleen's work spans research translation, cross-sector partnership, and national policy engagement, including membership on the National Infant and Child Disaster Advisory Committee and the Disaster Resilience Education Strategy Group.

Hosts:

John Richardson
Executive Director,
Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR)

Dr Mayeda Rashid
Manager Capability Development and Engagement,
Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR)