Investing in disaster preparedness and effective recovery of school physical infrastructure

The importance of functioning education infrastructure for the post-disaster recovery of communities is well-acknowledged. Yet, recent natural-hazard events worldwide have highlighted that school facilities still face many post-disaster recovery-impeding challenges. A significant investment in resilience enhancement through appropriate disaster preparedness and post-disaster recovery management is needed to tackle such global challenges. This paper summarises a series of stakeholder engagements (through interviews and focus group discussions) aimed at providing evidence-based recommendations to foster a more rapid and effective post-disaster recovery of school physical infrastructure in disaster-prone marginalised communities. The case-study community is in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia – a region still recovering from the 2018 Central Sulawesi earthquake, tsunami, and liquefaction , which caused damage to over 1200 schools. The considered stakeholders have significant experience in post-disaster recovery management in Central Sulawesi. This paper identifies early-response funding mechanisms, genuine collaborations between stakeholders, and improved capacity for self-organisation as critical elements for an inclusive, sustainable, safer, and more resilient school physical infrastructure. Although the discussion in this paper focuses on Central Sulawesi, the project's outcomes are scalable to other regions in Indonesia, South-East Asia, and other disaster-prone developing nations.