INTEGRATED RESEARCH ON DISASTER RISK (IRDR)
addressing the challenge of natural and human-induced environmental hazards
Communicated by Kuniyochi Takeuchi
First Meeting of the Scientific Committee
12-13 May 2009 – Bergen, Norway
Draft Agenda
Tuesday 12 May
8.00 1. Opening of meeting (GM) and individual introductions by all participants
8.15 2. Brief statements of welcome by Deliang Chen (ICSU Executive Director) and Heide Hackmann (ISSC Secretary-General)
8.25 3. Presentation on work to date by Planning Group, and introduction to main features of Report (GM plus selected former members of Group, e.g. Steve Sparks, Dick Eiser, Bill Hooke)
9.30 4. Free discussion on IRDR programme and its likely evolution
11:00-13:00 ISSC Session with Dr. Pachauli (Rescheduled)
13.00 Lunch
14.00 5. Examination of Terms of Reference of IRDR-SC
14.45 6. Updating on IRDR co-sponsorship (HM)
15.00 7. Relationship between IRDR and existing and overlapping programmes – Need for detailed mapping? Establishment of Consultative Forum
15.30 8. Financing IRDR
16.00 9. Establishment of IRDR International Programme Office – Results of the call for offers. Structure, location, host institution and likely initial staffing needs. Appointment of IPO staff, and especially IRDR Executive Director - recruitment procedure and timing. Conditions of employment – monitoring of performance. (HM)
Draft Agenda (contd.)
17.30 10. Programme of IRDR for first three years – Case studies exercise – Creation of action plan – Establishment of working groups/sub-committees? (GM)
18.00 Session closes
Wednesday 13 May
08.30 10 contd. Programme of IRDR for first three years – Case studies exercise – Creation of action plan – Establishment of working groups/sub-committees? (GM)
09.30 11. Capacity building in disaster risk reduction within IRDR – the START model (GM)
10.00 12. Data legacy of IRDR (GM)
10.15 13. Programmes of ICSU Regional Offices and their interaction with IRDR (HM)
10.30 14. Relationship with UN Global Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction (GM and Reid Basher, ISDR)
11.00 15. Development and establishment of National Committees for IRDR (HM)
11.15 16. Elaboration of IRDR logo (HM)
12.00 17. Date and place of next meeting (GM)
Report on the IRDR 1st Science Committee (KT: 09/05/15)
Held on 12-13 May at University of Bergen
Participants: 18 members and 4 observers as attached.
Agenda as attached. 8:00-11:00 & 14:00-18:00 on 12 May and 8:30-12:00 on 13 May.
The first SC meeting was held in Bergen and made a good start of discussion. The official minutes will be ready soon. I had the following impressions.
- The main achievements of the meeting were to have got together and started knowing each other including his/her views.
- Unfortunately the time was too short compared with long list of agenda, not enough discussion was made.
-
In particular, the committee could not discuss enough about the relation with existing and preceding programs. Members were assigned to look into and report on in the next meeting what kind of relation may be possible with the programs. Assignment was based on familiarity with the program or geographical distribution.
- I was assigned to see the relation with International Flood Initiative (IFI) and GeoRisk Commission. Leonard Barrie of WMO on WMO programs.
- Also I was assigned to look into the activities of ROAP. Coleen Vogel of South Africa for ROA and Omar Cardona of Colombia and Allan Lavell of Costa Rica for ROLAC.
- I strongly proposed to identify what IRDR could do for promoting the existing programs. But only mentioned was catalytic role to integrate with social scientists and decision making or implementation sectors. “How” was not discussed.
- Three WGs were formed on data, vulnerability and decision making. It seems that SC members are going to form research teams. No open invitation to the wider research community was discussed.
- Proposals for Case studies and Forensic analyses were requested. I am allocated here to look into Tokyo case. I proposed to analyze the Cyclone Sidr and Nargis as success and failure case.
- For IPO selection, it was decided to send an investigation team (probably, Gordon, Daliang and Reid Basher) to examine Beijing and Taipei offers. It is expected to be no earlier than July.
- The next meeting is considered in September or October. The place depends on the progress in selection procedure of IPO.
I felt myself in rather a big temperature difference from other members including Gordon. I have already translated the Science Plan into Japanese and wrote a promotion essay in a journal. I talked with Prof. Kuroda and quite many other members of Science Council of Japan and the Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) people. They all showed quite a supportive reaction. I was stressing the niche of IRDR is to look into decision making processes and work with municipalities for practical implementation methodology. This is not an ordinary research program at all but much more like a social experiment. Otherwise this is just an addition of many other programs/projects already going.
In fact we have many advanced programs which are already in an implementation stage rather than a research stage.
Well, my enthusiasm may be understood in the Committee but no discussion followed to such direction. I cited the sentences in Sub-objective 3.1: Vulnerability assessment (page 26) as below, but Gordon just said “Here the important words are “could” and “would” which is not decided but up to the Committee”. I got really disappointed the Committee not following the discussion on this direction. I hope it is only due to shortage of time and next time we have enough discussion on where this program should go.
“This part of the programme could, at local and regional levels, bring public and private sector experts and leaders together with hazards researchers to develop vulnerability assessments and coping strategies (both pre-event mitigation plans and emergency response plans) and to provide input to establish government initiatives to evaluate and strengthen community resiliency nationwide. The programme would serve to mobilize within countries government agencies and external donors and international programmes to provide the resources needed for such community-based efforts (hazard maps, forecasts and outlooks, inventories of vulnerable structures, best engineering practices, templates for developing hazard plans, and other forms of information, and in some cases, some level of cost-sharing to cover the costs of implementation, etc.).”
I was especially disappointed that the Committee did not discuss about the relation between ICSU Regional office hazard programs. I repeatedly said that they are waiting for what IRDR can do to promote their projects. I said funding is most important, for which national committee would be the key. But Gordon said NC may be important in Japan but not in Canada and many other countries. Well, it may be true.
Well, it would take some time to determine where IRDR will go. I think I have to be patient to wait and see the development. My promotion activity in Japan may have to be as well.
Integrated research with decision making and implementation practices may be difficult with the members of the current Committee. Here representation of the developing countries practice oriented members is nearly none. All members are intellectuals from developed countries. I am not sure what can such biased Committee can solve the very practical question: “Why, despite advances in the natural and social science of hazards and disasters, do losses continue to increase?”
List of Participants
1st Meeting of the IRDR Scientific Committee
Bergen, Norway
12 & 13 May 2009
Omar Darío Cardona
Professor of Integrated Disaster Risk Management,
Institute of Environmental Studies, National
University of Colombia
Manizales
Colombia
Emails. odcardona@hotmail.com, dario@cimne.upc.edu
Deliang Chen
Executive Director, ICSU
5 rue Auguste Vacquerie
75116 Paris
France
Tel. (33 1) 45 25 03 29, Fax. (33 1) 42 88 94 31
Email. deliang.chen@icsu.org
Raymond Chen
Head, Geotechnical Engineering Office, 15/F
Civil Engineering and Development Building
101, Princess Margaret Road
Homantin, Kowloon
Hong Kong, China
Tel. (85 2) 2762 5010
Email. raymondkschan@cedd.gov.hk
Richard Eiser
Department of Psychology
University of Sheffield
Western Bank
Sheffield S10 2TP
UK
Tel. (44 114) 222 6622, Fax. (44 114) 276 6515
Email. j.r.eiser@shef.ac.uk
William Hooke
American Meteorological Society
1120 G. Street, NW, Ste. 800
Washington DC 20005-3826
USA
Tel. (1 202) 737 9006, Fax. (1 202) 737 9050
Email. hooke@ametsoc.org
David Johnston
Director, Joint Centre for Disaster Research
School of Psychology, Massey University
GNS Science, PO Box 30368
Lower Hutt
New Zealand
Tel. (64 4) 570 1444, Fax. (64 4) 570 4679
Email. david.johnston@gns.cri.nz
Michel Lang
Head, Unit of Hydrological and Hydraulic Research,
CEMAGREF
3bis, quai Chauveau
69336 Lyon Cedex 09
France
Tel. (33 4) 72 20 8798, Fax. (33 4) 78 47 7875
Email. michel.lang@cemagref.fr
Allan Lavell
Latin American Social Science Faculty (FLACSO), Coordinator, Programme for the Social Study of Risk and Disaster, De McDonalds de Curridabat
200 sur, 25 este, Curridabat
San Jose, 5429-1000
Costa Rica
Tel. (506) 253 0082, Fax. (506) 234 6696
Emails. riesgo@flacso.org, allan_lavell@yahoo.com
Gordon McBean (Chair)
Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction
University of Western Ontario
149 Richmond Street
London, Ontario, N6G 2MI
Canada
Tel. (1 519) 661 4274, Fax. (1 519) 661 4273
Email. gmcbean@uwo.ca
Maria Patek
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry,
Environment and Water Management
Marxergasse 2
1030 Wien
Austria
Tel. (43 1) 711 007 335
Email. maria.patek@lebensministerium.at
Ortwin Renn
Institut fuer Sozialwissenschaften
Universitat Stuttgart, Abteilung fuer Technik- und
Umweltsoziologie
Seidenstr. 36
D-70174 Stuttgart
Germany
Tel. (49 711) 685 83970 or 685 84295
Fax. (49 711) 685 82487
Email. ortwin.renn@sowi.uni-stuttgart.de
Steven Sparks
Department of Earth Sciences
University of Bristol
Wills Memorial Building
Queens Road
Bristol, BS8 1RJ
UK
Tel. (44 117) 925 3385, Fax. (44 117) 925 3385
Email. steve.sparks@bristol.ac.uk
Astri Suhrke
Senior Research Fellow
Chr. Michelsen Institute
PO Box 6033 Postterminalen
5892 Bergen
Norway
Tel.. (47) 5557 4377 or 5557 4000
Email. astri.suhrke@cmi.no
Kuniyoshi Takeuchi
Director, Int. Centre for Water Hazard and Risk
Management (ICHARM)
Minamihara 1-6
Tsukuba 305
Japan
Tel. (81 2) 9879 0854, Fax. (81 2) 9879 6709
Email. kuni.t@pwri.go.jp
Coleen Vogel
School of Geography, Archaeology and
Environmental Studies
University of Witswatersrand
Private Bag 3
Witwatersrand 2050
South Africa
Tel. (27 11) 717 6510, Fax (27 11) 403 7281
Email. coleen.vogel@wits.ac.za
Angelika Wirtz
Head of NatCatSERVICE
Geo Risks Research/Corporate Climate Centre
Münchener Rückversicherungs-Gesellschaft AG
Aktiengesellschaft in München Königinstraße 107
80802 München
Germany
Tel. (49 89) 3891 3453, Fax. (49 89) 3891 73453
Email: awirtz@munichre.com
Ex-Officio
Heide Hackmann
Secretary General, International Social Science
Council (ISSC), UNESCO House
1 rue Miollis
75732 Paris Cedex 15
France
Tel. (33 1) 4568 4860
Fax. (33 1) 4566 7603
Email. issc@unesco.org
Howard Moore
International Council for Science (ICSU)
5, rue Auguste Vacquerie
FR-75016 Paris
France
Tel. (33 1) 45 25 03 29, Fax. (33 1) 42 88 94 31
Email. howard.moore@icsu.org
Observers
Leonard A. Barrie
Co-Director WMO Research Department
Director of Atmospheric Research and Environment
Branch World Meteorological Organization
7 bis, Avenue de la Paix BP2300, 1211 Geneva 2
Switzerland
Tel. (41 22) 730 82 40
Fax. (41 22) 730 80 49
Email: Lbarrie@wmo.int
Reid Basher
Senior Coordinator, Interagency and Policy
Coordination Unit, ISDR secretariat
UN/ISDR, lais des Nations
CH 1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Tel. (41 22) 917 2788
Fax. (4 22)9170563
Email reid.basher@un.org
Badaoui Rouhban
Chief, Section for Disaster Reduction
Natural Sciences Sector
UNESCO
1, rue Miollis
75732 Paris Cedex 15
France
Tel. (331 ) 45 68 41 20, Fax. (33 1) 45 68 58 21
Email. b.rouhban@unesco.org
Ester Sztein
Program Officer
Board on International Scientific Organizations
The National Academies
500 5th Street, NW 504
Washington, DC 20001
Tel. (1 202)334 3049, Fax. (1 202) 334 2231
Email. esztein@nas.edu
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