Honored to participate in CRETE 2025 – The 8th International Conference on Industrial and Hazardous Waste Management, held from 27 to 31 May 2025 in Chania, Crete, Greece 🇬🇷 This internationally recognized conference brought together researchers, professionals, and policy stakeholders to tackle key issues in industrial and hazardous waste management, disaster risk, and environmental resilience—through scientific exchange, dialogue, and collaboration. I had the opportunity to present our joint research: “Enhancing Resilience and Addressing Vulnerability through Risk Communication in Waste Management: Tackling Landfill Fires and Disaster Risks in Serbia” Presented during Session 18: Catastrophes – Natural or Not and later discussed in the roundtable on Disaster Risk and Waste Management with colleagues from Austria, Greece, and South Korea. 🔍 The study examines residents’ perceptions of environmental and disaster risks near the “Duboko” regional landfill in Serbia, focusing on trust in institutions and factors that shape community resilience. Data were collected from 1,180 respondents across nine municipalities in Western Serbia. 📊 Key findings: Gender, education level, settlement type, property ownership, and household size were significant predictors of risk perception and trust. The model on risk perception and environmental impact explained 5.6% of variance. The model on institutional trust and transparency explained 7.4% of variance. 🇦🇹 This research was conducted within the Safety and Disaster Studies (SDS) group at the Technical University of Leoben (Austria) — committed to applied, interdisciplinary research on disaster risk, public safety, and sustainability. Authors and affiliations: 🔹 Prof. Dr. Vladimir M. Cvetković – University of Belgrade, Serbia, and Technical University of Leoben, Austria, 🔹 Dr. Renate Renner – Technical University of Leoben, Austria 🔹 Dr. Neda Nikolić – Technical Faculty in Čačak, University of Kragujevac, Serbia 🔹 Prof. Dr. Harald Raupenstrauch – Technical University of Leoben, Austria 🙏 Sincere thanks to the conference organizers: Technical University of Crete, Greece.