The “Resilience Economics and Sustainable Transitions” Centre at the Department of Economics of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) has been officially designated as a new International Centre of Excellence (ICoE) of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Programme (IRDR) cosponsored by the International Science Council and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and supported by the China Association for Science and Technology. The International Programme Office of IRDR (IRDR IPO) is hosted by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and its Aerospace Information Research Institute.

The designation follows a highly competitive international evaluation process, with the proposal ranked in the highest excellence tier, confirming its strong scientific quality, international relevance, and policy impact. The new Centre joins IRDR’s global network of International Centres of Excellence, which serve as leading hubs for research, capacity building, and science-policy engagement in disaster risk reduction.

Associate Professor Stella Tsani, led the proposal submission and will serve as the scientific lead of the Centre. The Centre aims to be a regional hub for risk-informed economic analysis and resilience strategies, complementing existing ICoEs by focusing explicitly on the economic and governance dimensions of disaster risk. The vision is to:

• Lead innovative research on how economic systems respond to, and recover from, disasters and systemic shocks.
• Provide an integrated platform for cross-sectoral collaboration across economics, engineering, environmental sciences, and social policy.
• Act as a Mediterranean focal point within the IRDR network, sharing lessons globally while addressing regional vulnerabilities.
• Enhance IRDR’s visibility in Europe by embedding disaster risk reduction in economic policy, sustainability transitions, and governance frameworks.

By aligning with IRDR’s mission, the ICoE will contribute to building resilient societies and economies, while producing globally relevant insights.

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens looks forward to collaborating with academic institutions, international organisations, and policy actors to support risk-informed, climate-resilient, and just development pathways. The establishment of the IRDR ICoE further enhances NKUA’s international presence and leadership in sustainability science, disaster risk research, and policy-relevant economic analysis, while fostering collaboration with academic institutions, international organisations, and policy actors worldwide.

The official IRDR announcement can be found here.