Ripin Kalra has been working since 1992 on initiatives for mainstreaming well-being, safety and resilience within urban and regional investment. He has worked with global institutions such as World Bank, ADB, UNOPS, WSP, Mott MacDonald, Arup. He has first-hand experience in 25+ countries across Latin America & Caribbean, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa/ Indian Ocean Islands and East Asia/ Pacific regions.

Ripin co-authored the 400m USD multi-sector ‘Climate Resilience Investment Plan – CRIP’ in Belize with the World Bank in 2013-14. In 2016-17 Ripin led the review of the new capital masterplan of Amravati to highlight ways of making the city more accessible and liveable for the elderly and those with disabilities. He worked with selected Smart Cities in India (DFID, 2016-17) to enhance their procurement of critical services during disasters. He was senior risk reduction advisor to the DFID funded ‘Nigeria Urban Infrastructure Facility’ and Team Leader for ‘Assessment of Insurance Instruments for Climate Risk in Sub-Saharan Africa’ (World Bank, 2012). He was the team leader for ‘World Bank guidelines for mainstreaming resilience within urban investment in East Asia and Pacific’(2010-11) and lead climate adaptation and disaster risk consultant on DFID funded ‘Support Programme for Urban Reform’ (SPUR) in Bihar (India) which counts amongst the worlds’ most vulnerable regions for multiple hazards.

He leads the course module on ‘Environmental Assessment, Policy and Climate Change’ and ‘Urban Risk and Resilience’ at the University of Westminster where he also does research on accessible built-environment. He works with the British Standards Institute SDS/2 on Smart Cities and Sustainable Communities and is a Trustee of the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council (CHEC), Commonwealth Housing Trust (CHT).