October 14, 2025
On October 14, 2025, Research Scientist Larisa Ovalles and architect and urban developer with the Kathmandu-based Lumanti Support Group for Shelter, Yatra Sharma joined the World Peace Foundation’s Disrupting Peace Podcast for an episode titled “Can Emergency Response Increase Peace & Resilience? Lessons from Nepal.” The conversation explored the links between disaster response, community resilience, and peacebuilding, drawing on the MIT Urban Risk Lab’s work in Nepal following the 2015 earthquakes.
Ovalles and Sharma discussed the PREPHub project, an initiative developed by the Urban Risk Lab to create multi-use community infrastructure that supports residents in both everyday and emergency situations. They highlighted how the collaboration with the Nepalese organization Lumanti demonstrated the importance of accessible, community-managed infrastructure such as open spaces, safe drinking water, and power during crises.
The discussion is perminent now as the Urban Risk lab is currently applying lessons learned and adapting the PREPhub framework to ongoing efforts in Chile, in collaboration with Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María. The new project, based in Viña del Mar, focuses on disaster risk reduction through participatory design and artistic expression. Following the city’s devastating 2024 wildfire, the initiative seeks to strengthen both social and physical resilience through community engagement and creative collaboration.
For more information on these projects, check out our webpages for the Nepal PREPHub and Chile Tsunami Resilience projects.