|
AUDMP
Asian Urban Disaster Mitigation News - October-November 2002
This month's issue includes
the following features:
Should you wish to receive
the News by e-mail please send a message to the AUDMP Information
and Networking Coordinator at ccapikul@ait.ac.th
Please
click here to go to AUDMP monthly activity highlights
Regional
Workshop on Best Practices in Disaster Mitigation broadens horizons
in disaster risk management
Bali, Indonesia - More than 150 people from 17 countries participated in the Regional Workshop on Best Practices in Disaster Mitigation held in the beautiful environment of pristine Bali island, Indonesia. The workshop was organized by ADPC in collaboration with CITYNET, Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), Indonesia’s National Coordinating Board for Disaster Management (BAKORNAS PBP), UNDP’s The Urban Governance Initiative (TUGI), UN’s International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Catalyzed by the increasing disaster vulnerability of Asia, the workshop aimed to share knowledge, experiences and lessons learned from the Asian Urban Disaster Mitigation Program (AUDMP) implemented under ADPC and showcase best practices of other disaster mitigation initiatives. It was an effort to promote such best practices in disaster risk management and motivate replication.
The workshop addressed eight themes that are fundamental to urban disaster mitigation, viz. Hazard Mapping and Risk Assessment; Mitigation Planning and Implementation; Policy, Legal and Institutional Arrangements; Public Awareness and Social Marketing; Capacity Building; Promoting Safer Building Construction; Community-Based Approaches to Disaster Mitigation; and Climate Applications and Preparedness. With eight theme sessions, the
workshop provided a forum for participants to share lessons and experiences, allowing extensive exchange of ideas. It also brought about dialogue on possible future collaboration for disaster risk management in the region.
The opening ceremony of the workshop was presided over by Mr. Prijono Tjiptoherijanto, Secretary of BAKORNAS PBP, along with other distinguished guests namely, Mr. Putu Widjanaya, Secretary of Bali Province; Mr. David Lillie, Disaster Operations Specialist, USAID; Dr. Suvit Yodmani, ADPC Executive Director; and Col. Brian Ward, ADPC Special Advisor and Director Emeritus. The workshop commenced with the plenary session on
Policy, Legal and Institutional Arrangements. Discussion focused on policy change as a long-term endeavor, which requires collaboration between government, NGOs and civil society. The session provided an overall picture of current policies and institutional framework for disaster risk management in the Asia region.
On the second day, theme sessions ran concurrently. The first parallel session was on
Hazard Mapping and Risk Assessment, and Capacity
Building. The Hazard Mapping and Risk Assessment session focused on potential consequences of natural hazard events on communities. The Capacity
Building session focused on programs to suit the internal environment and target audience. The sustainability of such capacity building efforts was
also discussed.
These were followed by theme sessions on Mitigation Planning and
Implementation, and Promoting Safer Building Construction. The Mitigation Planning and Implementation illustrated ways to prioritize mitigation measures and methodologies for comprehensive mitigation action planning. Discussions on Promoting Safer Building Construction brought forth use of traditional vs. modern materials, quality auditing, techniques for engineered and on-engineered buildings, and risk transfer initiatives.
The last day commenced with sessions on Climate Application and Preparedness and Community-Based Approaches to Disaster Mitigation. The session on Climate Application was facilitated by the Extreme Climate Events Program team from ADPC. It showcased experiences from Kuala Lumpur, Dhaka, Manila and Thailand. In the ensuing discussions, it was revealed that the use of climate information required strong local institutions, adequate processes for information dissemination, and the trust and motivation of end users.
The session on Community-Based Approaches to Disaster Mitigation presented various case studies from AUDMP country projects. These experiences
highlighted the importance of involving communities throughout the process of disaster mitigation.
The workshop ended with the last plenary session on Public Awareness and Social
Marketing. Presentation provided both theoretical and practical aspects of disaster risk communication. The lessons learned from AUDMP projects in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka highlighted several salient features
for effective awareness creation.
The workshop clearly revealed that these eight themes are inter-related and equally important within a holistic approach to disaster risk management. The
importance of leadership and political will; community participation and empowerment; creation of awareness and understanding; integration of disaster risk management into development processes; mitigation and preparedness as elements of vulnerability reduction; and the total risk management approach stood out as major elements running through all the themes.
|
Impression on the Regional Workshop
“Thank you for one of the most professional, energetic, and educational workshops I have ever attended. This was my first trip to Asia and an eye opener for me. We at the PDC desire to partner with the ADPC and other regional organizations to the benefit of your countries and programs,” Mr. Jim Buika, Pacific Disaster Center, Hawaii, USA.
“I must say that I have learned quite a lot from the workshop, not just listening to the various lectures, but also getting to talk to the people from the various disciplines involved in disaster mitigation and relief. As a meteorologist, this is the first time that I have attended a workshop of this nature. Admittedly, Malaysia is relatively disaster-free but recent spate of development has also increased the risk of urban disaster such as landslides, mudslides, flash floods, water shortage, etc. Hence, workshops like this enables one to network with others in the region and share experiences and to learn from it,” Ms. Hwang Yung Fong, Central Forecast Office, Malaysian Meteorological Service, Malaysia.
“I was very pleased with the way the conference was organized. I believe the set up of grouping the discussion time to one hour and not allowing questions after presentation was very good. Sometimes it was difficult to really get to discussions in stead of question-answer sessions, but that is what one can expect with such a large crowd. Only working group sessions could avoid that. Also, there was plenty of opportunity to meet with others during all the breaks. It was very good,” Dr. Luc Boerboom, International Institute for Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation, the Netherlands.
|
Next steps
for LUDMP identified at the workshop on Fire Prevention Planning
On 17 October 2002, 45 participants mainly from the headquarters of the Fire Department of Lao PDR and other stations in three provinces, namely Luang Prabang, Savanakhet and Champasak, attended a workshop on Fire Prevention Planning jointly organized by National Disaster Management Office, Urban Research Institute, Lao PDR Fire Brigade and ADPC. The workshop aimed to seek inputs from Lao PDR’s Fire Department to develop a strategy to improve the fire safety in Vientiane and other cities.
The workshop was presided over by Pol. Col. Khampha Sengdara, Director General of Police Department, Lao PDR. The key resource person was
Mr. Mark Swiney, Senior Station Officer from Melbourne Fire Brigade (MFB), Australia, who, in 1999, conducted a fire safety assessment in Vientiane for AUDMP.
Four selected areas for the project implementation were identified and prioritized by the participants. They included Regulatory Development, Community Education/Outreach, Fire Service Equipment, and Training and Exchange Program.
The specific activities under these areas will be finalized later among the project partners. However, some ideas have been formed and discussed.
Possible future activities identified included public awareness program through mass media and school education, training and staff exchange program as
well as future collaboration between MFB, Thai Fire Brigade and the Fire Department of Lao PDR.
Following the workshop, a session on community fire risk mapping was conducted to carry out a fire risk assessment at the community level during
24-28 October 2002.
SLUMDMP
pursues the plan for academic integration of Urban Disaster
Mitigation (UDM)
SLUMDMP has been working closely with two academic institutes, namely University of Moratuwa and University of Ruhuna, in an attempt to have the subject of Urban Disaster Mitigation (UDM) integrated into the curricula of the respective university courses. To pursue this initiative, a workshop to present curricula of proposed disaster mitigation modules of university course was organized on 10 September 2002 with objectives to provide an opportunity for the universities to present the draft curricula proposed for the respective courses and to create awareness among other universities to take a similar action.
The workshop was attended by 15 participants representing University of Moratuwa, University of Ruhuna and University of Sabaragamuwa. The
presented draft curricula covered overall program for integration indicating the undergraduate and postgraduate courses; module on Natural and Built
Environment II (of University of Moratuwa) and Natural Hazard Management (of University of Ruhuna) indicating credit rating, number of hours, course objectives, outline syllabus and indicative references; assessment method and marking system; and modules summary/outline.
In the discussion session, there were questions raised about the structural aspects of mitigation and how those could be accommodated in the curriculum.
According to the plan of SLUMDMP, the subject is expected to be included in three programs of University of Moratuwa, namely M.Sc. in Town Planning and Architecture, PG Diploma in Housing Development and Urban Development and B.Sc. in Town Planning, Build Environment and Building Economics, to different extents as appropriate.
Experts joins
hands to enhance EVRC curriculum
ADPC organized an evaluation workshop for the Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction for Cities (EVRC) training course on 27 September 2002, following the Regional Workshop in Bali, Indonesia.
Present at the workshop were four key actors in shaping up the EVRC-1. They included Ms. Shirley Mattingly, Urban Risk Management Advisor; Dr. Fouad
Bendimerad, Chairman of the Earthquake and Megacities Initiatives (EMI); Mr. Amod Dixit, General Secretary of the National Society for Earthquake Technology-Nepal (NSETNepal) and Dr. Buddhi Weerasinghe, Curriculum Materials Development Manager of AUDMP.
It was agreed that the current curriculum and materials need to be improved to ensure a good quality materials for the EVRC-3. Case studies relevant to EVRC will be identified and incorporated into existing materials.
Another exciting recommendation to improve the course curriculum is the inclusion of a demonstration session on Geographic Information Systems (GIS). However, it was agreed that the main focus of the course should be kept on RADIUS tool as in EVRC-1.
The first delivery of EVRC was held in May 2002 in Kathmandu, Nepal. The EVRC-2 was offered in November 2002, also in Kathmandu, as a pre-symposium training course at the 4th General Assembly of the Asian Seismological Commission. It was jointly organized by the National Society for Earthquake Technology Nepal; International Institute for
Geoinformation Science and Earth Observation, the Netherlands; the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, Nepal and ADPC. The EVRC-3 is scheduled for June 2003 in Dhaka, Bangladesh. For more information about the EVRC-3, please contact Buddhi Weerasinghe at
buddhiwe@ait.ac.th
A training
course on Disaster Risk Communication (DRC) conceptualized
AUDMP is developing its 5th training course on Disaster Risk Communication (DRC), using Social Marketing as a tool to promote public awareness in disaster risk management. The first brainstorming meeting facilitated by the AUDMP consultant, Prof. Jyotika Ramaprasad from Southern Illinois University, USA. was conducted on 4 October 2002.
The meeting’s objective was to provide a forum for brainstorming the application of Social Marketing for disaster management and planning direction for
developing the course on Disaster Risk Communication.
Following its successful application in the field of health education and other social causes, the concept of Social Marketing was introduced to AUDMP partners at the 7th AUDMP’s Working Group Meeting held in March as the theme of the meeting. This was because of the realization that disaster management is a complex and interrelated issue and solutions need to be developed in light of the specific socio-economic, historical, religious,
and cultural framework. Therefore, creative and innovative approaches to disseminate the message of disaster mitigation that could ultimately bring about
attitude and behavior changes are required. Social Marketing concept will provide a platform to explore the effective strategies for awareness promotion and its sustainability in a systematic fashion, though within different context.
The target clientele of the DRC course would be media personnels, members of NGOs and other organizations who work on the communication aspects of development projects, government officials, policy makers, community workers, educationists, etc.
The generic course outline will be completed by end of November 2002, followed by the development of course contents and materials by identified experts and scholars. The pilot run of DRC-1 is scheduled for mid 2003.
|
