The CRHNet is a not-for-profit organization whose creation was first considered in 1999 and then established in 2003 in response to a growing demand to promote and strengthen disaster risk reduction and emergency management in Canada. We create an environment in which the hazards research, education and emergency management practitioner communities can effectively share knowledge and innovative approaches that reduce disaster vulnerability.
Our mandate of Reducing Risk through Partnerships calls attention to the need for creating partnerships among academics, the hazards research education, and emergency management practitioner communities, across all sectors. CRHNet seeks to enhance the understanding of, and provide tools for, the development of comprehensive programs to mitigate, prepare for, respond to and recover from all types of disasters – natural, technological or human-induced.
For over a decade a small number of Canadian scholars and practitioners had been attending the Annual Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop in Boulder, Colorado. It was a vibrant network with hundreds of participants, mostly from the United States but also with speakers and attendees from Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Europe. While there were some excellent conferences on disaster and emergency preparedness in Canada, they were aimed at mostly first responders and practitioners and there were few, if any, researchers as participants or speakers. What made the Natural Hazards Workshop different was that research-based findings were shared and participants were able to benefit from learning what worked, what didn’t work, and what could work based on independent research.
“Why can’t we do this in Canada?” was an often posed question. In July 2003, after the first day of the workshop, the Canadians got together in Larry and Laurie Pearce’s hotel room and hammered out how to make it happen. Most of those in attendance at that time have continued their passion for disaster and emergency management for over 20 years: Dave Etkin, Michel Doré, Emdad Haque, Lianne Bellisario, Grace Koshida, and Valerie Hwacha. Shortly after this meeting, CRHNet was set up as a non-profit society and Emdad kindly agreed to host the first symposium in Winnipeg in the fall of 2004, and the rest is history!
The first issue of HazNet was produced in the summer of 2009.
Since 2004, CRHNet has been uplifting disaster risk reduction across Canada by promoting professional development, sharing of best practice and networking through the CRHNet Symposium. Download the full listing of Conference dates, locations and themes. 
