Dr. Sandeeka Mannakkara is the newly appointed Lecturer in Climate Engineering at the University of Auckland’s (UoA) Civil and Environmental Engineering Department.
Prior to this role, Sandeeka worked as a Research Fellow in the department for a number of years working on MBIE Natural Hazards Research Platform and National Science Challenge funded projects looking at resilience and post-disaster reconstruction and recovery.
Sandeeka’s research to date has focused primarily on the concept of “Building Back Better”, which is a holistic approach to improving the resilience of cities, communities and sectors addressing disaster risk reduction, social and economic well-being, and strategies for effective implementation.
Sandeeka developed the Build Back Better (BBB) Framework and BBB Indicators and is currently leading a research project to develop a BBB Tool for stakeholders to assist in the adoption of BBB practices for better disaster preparedness and post-disaster recovery.
The BBB Framework and Indicators have been used to evaluate international case studies in the Asia-Pacific region to provide preparedness and recovery recommendations for disaster and climate risks. Her work was also adopted by the World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GDRR) in developing its Disaster Recovery Framework Guide.
Sandeeka is the main author of the book “Resilient Post Disaster Recovery through Building Back Better” along with a list of publications on the subject found on the BBB website.
Sandeeka’s current research interests include looking at developing the concept of BBB to include and address climate change risks and identifying climate adaptation solutions that drive net zero emissions socio-economic behavioural changes in society.
Projects
Theuns Henning
Team Leader
Dr. Theuns Henning leads the establishment of the Climate Adaptation Platform, formed in response to the challenge of climate adaptation around the world.
Ross Waugh
Co-Team Leader
Ross Waugh co-leads with Theuns in building the Platform, progressing the promotion of climate adaptation and infrastructure resiliency in the Asia-Pacific.
Roger Fairclough
Chair of Participants Group
Roger Fairclough is the founder of Neo Leaf Global offering international advice on infrastructure policy and climate adaptation.
Claire-Louise Bode
Geospatial Climatologist
Claire-Louise has combined an interest in geospatial sciences and climate to understand and reveal data in visual platforms.
Sandeeka Mannakkara
Climate Adaptation Engineer
Dr. Sandeeka Mannakkara shares her Building Back Better knowledge, integrating it with climate change adaptation solutions.
Annisa Hasanah
Young & Emerging Minds Initiatives Manager
Annisa manages CAP's Young and Emerging Minds Initiative to disseminate content from and to tertiary education and academic research.
Jewel Castillon
Researcher
Jewel Castillon looks for materials and coordinates with the team in creating the stream of blog posts and articles on climate adaptation and other related topics.