This network builds upon current joint research projects between RDI and coventry university to facilitate knowledge exchange on community adaptive capacities and recovery from disaster, socio- economic factors in disaster preparedness, response and reconstruction, and unintended consequences of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) efforts; particularly those that are government-led. SEARCH combines social science and natural hazard research into an interdisciplinary community of practice for at-risk coastal communities, and facilitates collaboration between SEA and UK-based researchers on impact of the Palu, Central Sulawesi disaster that exhibit potential for creative lesson sharing with other coastal communities in the SEA region, including Padang and West Java coastal areas.

These lessons wil be centered around aspects pertinent to disaster resilience in coastal areas which includes adaptive community responses, suitable early warning mechanisms, education, and training. The activities of this research will look into socio-economic aspects of disaster risk in coastal areas and community involvement in collective decisions, and it will also look into unintended and counter-productive consequences of organisational and governmental interventions in at-risk areas. The research team will do so by integrating emerging literature on disaster capitalism theory with disaster preparedness and response, and community resilience and also explores commonalities in humanitarian interventions, DRM interventions, and SDGs. This research will also include capacity building and support to partners, especially ECRs to enhance regional know-how and evidence-based analysis and develop co-learning and co-teaching processes to capture fieldwork results in teaching and training, aimed at community members, local government, and humanitarian aid sector.

The SEARCH Network incorporates researchers and NGOs in SEA to enhance knowledge exchange and conceptualise future research plans on cutting-edge issues related to local level disaster recovery, how unintended and negative impacts of DRR initiatives can have adverse effect on communities resilience and levels of trust, government-citizen engagement, and survivor led initiatives. We prioritise highly vulnerable and previously unexposed socio-economically marginalised regions and groups in disaster prone countries, and where local communities may be suspicious of DRR initiatives and their perceived impacts on livelihoods. Our aim is to consolidate existing trans-disciplinary research and knowledge to create sustainable and equitable interventions to reduce vulnerability and social impacts of disaster in coastal communities. This knowledge exchange expands cross-border resilience research while retaining domestic contextualisation and specificities. SEARCH comprises a central repository hub for SEA partners collaboration for improved dissemination and sharing outputs, through joint seminars, conferences, joint data collection, expanded networking and disaster policy input, all of which will help strengthen the network's core partners and collaborators. Outputs will be disseminated in various mediums through workshops, exhibitions, social media, working papers, journal articles, newspaper editorials, and other forums. The result will be a challenge-led applied research network that feeds into government policy at national and regional level through our existing links with ASEAN, UNISDR and national governments.