Beyond Bouncing Back: What Disasters Teach Us About Resilience | Dr. Prerna Singh | TEDxJGIS Youth

Disasters test more than infrastructure—they reveal how people, institutions and communities respond when familiar systems collapse. Drawing from her experience in disaster resilience, Dr. Prerna Singh challenges the idea that resilience simply means returning to the way things were. She explains why meaningful recovery requires preparedness, adaptability, collaboration and the courage to build better pathways for the future. Dr. Prerna Singh is an infrastructure resilience and climate adaptation specialist whose work bridges research, policy and real-world implementation. With an academic background in Civil Engineering, including a PhD and MS from Georgia Institute of Technology and a BTech from IIT Gandhinagar, she has worked across academia, international development and resilience-focused organisations. Her professional journey includes work connected with UNDP, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center and the Adaptation Research Alliance Infrastructure, along with leadership in climate-adaptation learning and research. Her expertise centres on strengthening infrastructure and communities against climate and disaster risks, locally led adaptation, systems thinking and long-term resilience. She is passionate about translating rigorous research into practical approaches that enable communities and institutions to navigate uncertainty and build more resilient futures. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx