Nilgün Okay's publications focus on reducing vulnerability and disaster risk to build local resilience.  She has published extensively on this topic.  In these articles, she discusses disaster resilience strategies that enhance coping capacities.  Considering the relationship with the United Nations Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDG) and the Sendai Framework Document for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015, several comprehensive disaster preparedness and risk reduction projects were carried out for Istanbul district municipalities based on local data.  For example, ecological risks and vulnerabilities have been assessed with geological, geomorphological characteristics of the city (SDG 11).  These studies focused on the unequal impact of disasters on socially disadvantaged groups (e.g. women, people with disabilities, the elderly) and on identifying trends in different models of resilience policies and practices (SDG 5).  These contributions are having a significant impact on scientific knowledge, as well as on increasing disaster resilience through active planning and preparation by local community disaster management arrangements as volunteers.