The papers in this e-book were prepared for a panel of the 5th EuroSEAS conference held in Naples, Italy, between 12 and 15 September 2007. These include contributions from the academe as well as from the practitioner realm, notably NGOs, from Europe and Southeast Asia. The papers encompass case studies from rural and urban settings in Southeast Asia as well as conceptual reflections. All of the papers presented in this special e-book of DPM lie within the Hyogo Framework of Action (HFA), 2005 - 2015. The aim of the issue is to increase understanding of the social dimension of disasters in Southeast Asia, and provide the basis for future studies to address how to enhance disaster risk reduction in the region.