Co-creating Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction in Conflict Settings: Evidence from North-West Syria

This article examines the co-creation of a Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) framework in North-West Syria, a conflict-affected region increasingly exposed to seasonal flooding and the effects of climate change. In collaboration with the Syrian Civil Defence (White Helmets), the study combined mixed-methods risk and vulnerability analysis with a training programme for community responders between September 2024 and March 2025. Findings highlight the central role of civil society in bridging gaps between emergency response and longer-term risk reduction, particularly in contexts involving camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Key challenges include fragmented coordination, limited infrastructure capacity, and weak institutional memory, while opportunities emerge from strong informal early warning networks and community- level knowledge. The study contributes a scalable CBDRR framework tailored to conflict-affected settings, emphasizing early warning systems, adaptive coordination, and community-led risk governance.