This project brings disaster planning closer to where disaster risk is managed, within the individual departments responsible for preventing, preparing for, responding to, recovering and Building Back Better from disasters. Supported by the Government of Uttar Pradesh and UNDP, STS has developed department-specific Disaster Management Plans (DMPs) and finance-ready Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) for five departments with critical responsibilities across disaster risk management: Irrigation & Water Resources, Public Works (Roads), the Provincial Armed Constabulary (Flood) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Fire & Emergency Services, and the Auxiliary Forces (Civil Defence, Home Guard, and NCC). Each plan has been developed collaboratively with the respective department, ensuring it reflects its unique mandate, functions, and operational responsibilities across the disaster management cycle. The plans are practical and implementation ready, supported by clear Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), impact-based trigger thresholds, and digital Management Information System (MIS) integration, allowing them to remain dynamic and regularly updated by the departments themselves. Each plan also adopts a "Leave No One Behind" approach, integrating inclusive disaster risk reduction principles while linking priority interventions to finance-ready DPRs, enabling mitigation and preparedness measures to move from planning to implementation.

Jaipur's historic urban fabric embodies generations of climate-responsive design. Narrow lanes channel airflow, traditional building materials help regulate indoor temperatures, and historic water management systems were designed to accommodate seasonal rainfall patterns.

However, the city now faces evolving risks associated with extreme weather events, urbanisation, and changing patterns of exposure. The dense built environment can constrain emergency access, heritage structures require context-sensitive approaches to risk reduction, and conventional interventions are often unsuitable within protected precincts.

In collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of India, Nagar Nigam Jaipur, and PDCOR Ltd., STS is developing a Disaster Management Plan for Jaipur's Walled City. The plan integrates risk assessment with heritage conservation principles, drawing on local knowledge, traditional practices, and the unique characteristics of the historic built environment.

In partnership with the Government of Uttarakhand and GIZ, and ICARS, IIT Roorkee, we are developing a state-wide climate vulnerability and risk assessment atlas for one of the Himalaya's most climatically sensitive states. Uttarakhand faces a widening range of extreme events, from floods, landslides, and glacial lake outburst floods to forest fires, drought, and heat stress, each amplified by rising temperatures, shifting monsoons, and glacier retreat.

Building on the high-resolution climate projections developed by IIT Roorkee under the CAFRI II initiative, our work translates this science into actionable, block-level insight: quantifying how hazards are likely to behave, assessing the physical, social, and economic vulnerability of key sectors under growth scenarios reaching fifty years ahead, and mapping where these pressures intersect.

The result is a Climate Vulnerability Atlas, paired with location-specific adaptation and mitigation measures, designed to help the state anticipate risk rather than respond to loss, and to plan for the people and ecosystems that depend on the mountain.

The Safer Communities Innovation Lab, part of a DFID-Start Network and CDAC supported Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme (DEPP) Labs programme co-established by STS, identified and supported community-led innovations to reduce disaster risk. Based in Korail, Bangladesh’s largest informal settlement, the initiative moved beyond innovation buzzwords to empower vulnerable communities. It provided small grants and a supportive ecosystem, co-creating a vital community space that served as a hub for collaboration. The lab helped develop and refine hyper-local solutions such as green walls for cooling, mobile-based community radio, and a network of emergency-trained pharmacists. Through iterative mentoring, these community-led ideas matured into practical, scalable innovations. STS connected innovators with government and development organisations to sustain and scale impact, strengthening broader resilience ecosystems through complementary research and capacity building. The project was led in partnership with Dhaka Community Health Trust (DCH), University of New South Wales (UNSW), Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) at the University of Louvain, and the Asian NGO network ADRRN.

In collaboration with Selco Foundation, we assessed climate vulnerabilities and livelihood risks for low-income communities in Puri, Odisha. Using a mix of GIS mapping, literature review, and on-the-ground surveys, the study identified how cyclones, floods, and heatwaves threaten lives, homes, and incomes. A participatory methodology spotlighted five highly vulnerable communities, integrating gender, age, and disability dimensions. Local voices gathered through focus groups informed an inclusive, evidence-based adaptation strategy, emphasising community empowerment and policy reform to safeguard Puri's most at-risk residents.

For the Hyperlocal Mapping of Air Pollution project with UNDP (Climate & Energy Lacuna Fund), we deployed IoT sensors and AI-driven predictive modelling to generate precise, actionable data. This intelligence supported the development of use-case scenarios for implementing targeted regulatory actions and cost-effective pollution management strategies for State Pollution Control Boards and Development Authorities in Bihar and Gurugram, Haryana.

Our partnership with the InterGlobe Foundation (IGF) is co-creating a 10-year strategic roadmap to guide its CSR investments toward sustained, high-impact outcomes. Anchored in procedural humility, the process centres on deep listening to communities and local stakeholders to surface priorities that reflect lived realities. This co-creation ensures interventions are contextually grounded and community-led. The roadmap identifies areas where patient, long-term capital can unlock transformative social impact across themes like heritage conservation, environmental stewardship, and livelihood resilience.

In Indonesia’s disaster-prone Mount Merapi region, we supported Yakkum Emergency Unit (YEU) and CIQAL to develop an inclusive disaster preparedness model. This innovation directly addressed the exclusion of persons with disabilities (PWDs) by creating a real-time database, a community-owned evacuation SOP, and a local advocacy group. Unique for its leadership by PWDs, the system ensured solutions reflected lived experience. With CLIP mentoring, the project explored scaling pathways—from integration into local governance to replication in neighbouring villages—anchored in procedural humility and sustainable community ownership.

Working with district authorities supported by UNDP, we developed comprehensive District Departmental Disaster Management Plans (DDDMPs) for 16 departments across Pune and Raigad. These data-driven plans address unique multi-hazard risks—from industrial accidents to flash floods—through an inclusive lens. A core commitment to "leave no one behind" integrated the specific needs of women, children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, LGBTQIA+, and tribal communities. Through risk mapping and simulation exercises, we empowered officials to test protocols and strengthen inter-departmental coordination, creating replicable models for resilient local governance.

In this project, we assisted the Delhi Government in conducting its first ever Green House Gas inventory and setting a clear pathway to a net zero goal. We also worked on a robust adaption plan for unavoidable, increasing climate impacts and disaster risks. The processes focused on detailed studies and extensive stakeholder consultations to arrive at an actionable strategy.

Climate change is adversely impacting livelihoods across sectors and geographies. An overview of climate impacts, key sector insights, and nuances of how communities face downstream effects was synthesized to help identify priorities for resource allocation. This was done for vulnerable districts to inform our client's social impact investment priorities.