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Vol. 8, No. 4 October-December 2002
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More than 150 people from 17 countries participated in the Regional Workshop on Best Practices in Disaster Mitigation held in Bali, Indonesia. The workshop was organized by ADPC in partnership with CITYNET, Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB), National Coordinating Board for Disaster Management (BAKORNAS PBP), UNDP’s The Urban Governance Initiative (TUGI), the UN’s International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Among other distinguished guests at the opening ceremony were Mr David Lillie, Disaster Operations Specialist, USAID; Dr Suvit Yodmani, ADPC Executive Director; Col Brian Ward, ADPC Special Advisor and Director Emeritus; Mr Prijono Tjiptoherijanto, Secretary of BAKORNAS PBP and Mr Putu Widjanaya, Secretary of Bali Province. Driven by increased disaster vulnerability in Asia, the workshop aimed to share knowledge, experiences and lessons learned from the Asian Urban Disaster Mitigation Program (AUDMP) and showcase best practices of other disaster mitigation initiatives. The workshop was structured around eight themes: 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. It was clear throughout the workshop that the eight themes were interrelated and equally important in a holistic approach to disaster risk management. Some major recurring threads were 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.
Training Course on Disaster Risk Communication (DRC) Conceptualized AUDMP is developing its fifth training course on Disaster Risk Communication (DRC), using the “Social Marketing” concept as a tool to promote public awareness in disaster risk management. The first brainstorming meeting between the ADPC management team and the AUDMP consultant, Prof Jyotika Ramaprasad from Southern Illinois University, USA, was conducted on 4 October 2002. The meeting’s objective was to consider the justification for applying Social Marketing in disaster management and planning directions for developing the DRC course. Following its significantly successful application in the field of health education and other social causes, the concept of Social Marketing was first introduced in disaster mitigation and management as the theme of the 7th AUDMP Working Group Meeting held in March. This was because of the realization that disaster mitigation and management involve complex and interrelated issues, and solutions need to be developed in light of specific socio-economic, historical, religious and cultural frameworks. Therefore, creative and innovative approaches to disseminate disaster messages are required to ultimately bring about attitude and behavior changes. Social Marketing will provide a platform to explore effective strategies for awareness promotion and its sustainability, though within different contexts, in a systematic fashion. The intended clientele of the DRC course will be members of NGOs and other organizations who work on communication in development projects, including government officials, policy-makers, community workers and educators. The course will provide hands-on experience through actual case studies and desktop simulations of communication campaigns. The generic course outline will be completed by the 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 June 2003. For more details, please write to buddhiwe@ait.ac.th or audmp@ait.ac.th
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