The ‘Learning from Crisis’ Humanitarian Formula: Bridging Disaster and Normality: Summary Report

The UCLP was established on the assumption that the humanitarian sector can learn from responses to previous crises, assimilate this learning, and improve the way it responds in future. This paper by Estella Carpi of UCL questions this assumption. It challenges us to articulate what we mean by ‘learning’, and to examine the conditions necessary for change if learning is to take place. Importantly, it also draws our attention to the limits of what can be learned from urban crises. Drawing on recent crises in Haiti – as well as the structure and culture of the international humanitarian system – Carpi outlines reasons why the sector is poorly structured to learn from crises in an effective manner.