ABSTRACT
Institutions are recognised to be more malleable than other determinants of the human-environment interface that contribute to global environmental change crisis and related issues. In keeping with this, over the past three decades, institutions have been a key focus of interventions at a global scale. However, policies and institutions pertaining to unconventional areas, like climate change and disaster risk reduction, often face hindrances of institutional foundations that are either strong and inflexible or weak and unsound. Research on institutional arrangements in disaster situations has been a priority since the beginning of the 21st century, but on the field, changes have been slow to develop. This chapter draws from old and new institutionalist theories to explore institutional emergence and change, and how the paradigm shift from relief to integrated risk management and resilience is reflected in the institutional arrangements beyond national-level regulatory bodies. It draws from the institutional leadership literature to focus not only on actors (institutional leaders) but also on structures of the institutions that they are embedded in, and the processes of institutional change and emergence that they influence and are influenced by.
