It is only recently that the importance of integrating local knowledge and practices into development and conservation projects has started to receive real recognition, but the approach is still far from being mainstream. This book is one of a set of three prepared to help increase awareness and understanding, particularly among implementing organisations, of local knowledge, practices, and contexts related to disaster preparedness, so that they can be used in disaster management activities. The first book summarises the results of a cross-disciplinary literature review, and presents a framework that can be used to help understand local knowledge on disaster preparedness. This book provides examples from a case study in Chitral in Pakistan. The book is an outcome of the project ‘Living with risk – sharing knowledge on disaster preparedness’ funded by the European Commission through their Humanitarian Aid department (DG ECHO) as part of the Disaster Preparedness ECHO programme (DIPECHO) in South Asia, and by ICIMOD.