My research focuses on the resilience and wellbeing of local communities living in vulnerable and disaster-prone regions. It sits at the intersection of the fields of Social Sciences and Regional Planning, and it aims to advance scientific understanding of the social dimensions of risk and resilience in localities. I am also interested in Social Impact Assessment (SIA) and in the knowledge and governance strategies that are needed to achieve sustainable environmental governance and management, and integrate disaster risk reduction (DRR) and community resilience-building into recovery and development planning. More specifically, I focus on sustainable water governance and management, and on the role SIA can have in fostering community engagement and empowerment strategies to enhance sustainability transformation towards reducing disaster and climate risks in localities and across multiple sectors and governance levels.