Staff Profile

Dr Hanna Ruszczyk
Contact Dr Hanna Ruszczyk (email at h.a.ruszczyk@durham.ac.uk)
Research
My research is concerned with urban risk and resilience governance strategies and frameworks in cities of the global South. I investigate which portfolio of risks different scales of government are concerned with and which they govern for. Exploring how residents manage their interpretation of risk and how residents interact with local authorities is also a key area of my research. Understanding how the international aid community, different scales of government, and urban residents interact to make regional cities resilient and liveable is an additional element of my research.
I have spent most of my career living and working in countries that are rapidly changing and urbanising. My international development work, primarily with United Nations agencies (International Labour Organisation and United Nations Development Programme), has focused on livelihoods and local economic development in several countries. One of my professional strengths is my ability to build relationships with a wide range of stakeholders in different fields and to collaborate for a common purpose. I am particularly keen to ensure my research is of relevance to practitioners, policy makers and governments.
Selected Publications
Edited book
- Bracken, L.J., Ruszczyk, H.A. & Robinson, T. (2018). Evolving narratives of hazard and risk: The Gorkha earthquake, Nepal, 2015. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
Chapter in book
- Dixit, Amod Mani, Shrestha, Surya Narayan, Guragain, Ramesh, Jimee, Ganesh, Dhungel, Ranjan, Pradhan, Suman, Shrestha, Nisha, Acharya, Surya Prasad, Adhikari, Sujan Raj, Bhattarai, Kapil & Ruszczyk, Hanna A. (2018). Earthquake Risk Reduction Efforts in Nepal: NSET’s Experience. In Evolving Narratives of Hazard and Risk. Bracken, L.J., Ruszczyk, H.A. & Robinson, T. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. 15-43.
- Ruszczyk, H.A. & Robinson, T. (2018). Introduction to the Gorkha Earthquake. In Evolving narratives of hazard and risk: The Gorkha earthquake, Nepal, 2015. Bracken, L.J., Ruszczyk, H.A. & Robinson, T. Palgrave Macmillan. 3 - 13.
- Robinson, T., Ruszczyk, H.A. & Bracken, L.J. (2018). Looking and Moving Forward. In Evolving narratives of hazard and risk: The Gorkha earthquake, Nepal, 2015. Bracken, L.J., Ruszczyk, H.A. & Robinson, T. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. 183-192.
- Ruszczyk, Hanna A. (2018). Reflecting on the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, tread carefully. In The Routledge Handbook of Green Social Work. Dominelli, Lena Abingdon, Oxon New York, NY: Routledge. 500-510.
- Ruszczyk, Hanna A. (2018). The Earthquake and Ideas Lying Around. In Evolving Narratives of Hazard and Risk, The Gorkha Earthquake, Nepal, 2015. Bracken, Louise A., Ruszczyk, Hanna & Robinson, Tom Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. 125-139.
Journal Article
- Ruszczyk, Hanna A. & Price, Martin (2020). Aspirations in grey space: Neighbourhood governance in Nepal and Jordan. Area 52(1): 156-163.
- Ruszczyk, Hanna (2020). DE-densifying knowledge of cityness. Urban Geography
- Ruszczyk, H.A., Upadhyay, B.K., Kwong, Y.M., Khanal, O., Bracken, L.J., Pandit, S. & Bastola, R. (2020). Empowering Women through Participatory Action Research in Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction Efforts. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 51: 101763.
- Halligey, A., Ahmed, I., Rahman, M.F., Ruszczyk, H.A. & Sudha, S. (2020). Ethics as Negotiated and Emergent in a Study of Liveability in Small Cities. Sentio Journal (2: Theory and Practice in Research Ethics): 91-93.
- Ruszczyk, Hanna A. (2020). Newly urban Nepal. Urban Geography
- Ruszczyk, H.A. (2019). Ambivalence towards discourse of disaster resilience. Disasters 43(4): 818-839.
- Ruszczyk, Hanna A. (2018). A continuum of perceived urban risk – from the Gorkha earthquake to economic insecurity. Environment and Urbanization 30(1): 317-332.
Doctoral Thesis
- Ruszczyk, H.A. (2017). The everyday and events: Understanding risk perceptions and resilience in urban Nepal. PhD.
Masters Thesis
- Ruszczyk, H.A. (2014). Local understandings of community resilience in earthquake prone Nepal. Masters.
Other (Digital/Visual Media)
- Ruszczyk H.A. & Banerjee R. (2020). Transitioning From Hope to Optimism and Back Again.