Editors:

Gonzalo Lizarralde
Rohit Jigyasu
Rabindra Vasavada
Susane Havelka
Jennifer Duyne Barenstein

Published online with the support of:

L’Observatoire universitaire de la vulnérabilité, la résilience et la reconstruction durable (Oeuvre durable), a research program funded by Fonds de recherche du Québec, Société et culture (FQRSC), Canada.

In 2012, the Observatoire universitaire de la vulnérabilité et la reconstruction durable, a research program funded by the fonds de la recherche du Québec, Société et culture (FQRSC) assumed the publication of the conference proceedings. About thirty articles were considered for the publication but a selection of thirteen papers was finally made. Even though a series of practitioner and academic presentations were conducted during the conference, this publication contains only what the selection committee considered to be the most scientifically relevant contributions.

The process of publication included a blind peer-review of both abstracts and final papers and an editorial revision conducted in 2012. Only the papers that responded to these standards were published. We hope that this publication will contribute to the dissemination of knowledge in the field and that it will help bridge the existing gap between research and practice in post-disaster reconstruction.

Themes addressed:

• Participatory approaches for design and building in rural and urban contexts
• Innovative design and technologies for post-disaster reconstruction
• Role of traditional knowledge for sustainable post-disaster reconstruction
• Sustainability of interventions from a long-term perspective
• Design and planning approaches for recovery and rehabilitation of towns and cities
• Securing cultural heritage during post-disaster reconstruction
• Role of communities in developing appropriate interventions
• Role of various professionals in developing appropriate interventions
• Role of aid agencies and non-governmental organisations in developing appropriate interventions.