News

New points of departure in transitioning disaster reduction and sustainability challenges

The conference will examine current advances and future research needs. It is aimed at all those engaged in dealing with disasters through research and allied areas of education, policy and practice.

Coming soon after the United Nations Global Platform for DRR in May 2019 and ahead of the next climate summit in September 2019, this event is to enlighten progressive research driven actions. The underlying area of inquiry will address new points of departure for science and technology, political will and behaviour change initiatives. It asks which systemic changes to the way people live with and take on disaster threats and sustainability challenges build momentum to survive and to thrive?

Some key dates

• Submit panel and paper proposals by 26 May 2019
• Early registration rate ends 04 June 2019
• Conference 17–19 July 2019

• Read more: short version | long version

• Conference web site http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/dwd2019

8th International conference on building resilience | 8th ICBR, 14–16 November 2018, Lisbon

Scope

The 8th International Conference on Building Resilience, with the theme “Risk and Resilience in practice: Vulnerabilities, Displaced People, Local Communities and Heritages”, will be held 14,–16 November, 2018, in the historical city of Lisbon, Portugal.

As with the previous editions of the ICBR series — most recent held in Bangkok, Thailand, in last November, with over 325 delegates — the 2018 Lisbon conference will bring together the full diversity of the science community, policy makers, practitioners and researchers from all geographical regions, at local, national, regional and international levels to share state of the art research, and discuss how the science community will best support the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030.

The 8th ICBR offer 25 conference subthemes and tracks for submission of oral or poster presentations. These tracks are grouped into four themes according to the Sendai priorities.

Submit an abstract

We invite you to submit an abstract through the Easy Chair submission platform at 2018.buildresilience.org (Easychair you will require you to set up an account first).

Important notes

1. Please don't miss to identify in the header of your abstract:
   1. the track and subtheme of your preference,
   2. whether you are submitting for ORAL or POSTER presentation,
   and do NOT put your details on the abstracts' body text field at the submision form nor on the PDF file to be submitted (name, affiliation, email, etc) as all abstracts will be subject to double-blinded peer review.
2. Submitted abstracts should be limited to 400–500 words, covering in a systematic way the following aspects: Background context; Justification of the research / research argument; Goals; Methods/ approach; Findings/results; Conclusions. After the paragraph of the abstract, keywords should be presented (up to 5).
3. Deadline: 15 April 2018: Abstract submission close
4. More info — conference tracks Further details of the conference (Special features, Associate partners&Fees reductions and publication opportunities) are available at: 2018.buildresilience.org. For any queries please contact the Organising Committee: icbr2018@buildresilience.org.

We look forward to receiving your submission. Get on board!

Are you interested in risk communication? The 2018 Understanding Risk Forum is hosting an intensive event in Mexico City, 14–18 May 2018, for interdisciplinary teams to test their innovative, creative, scientific and technological skills to co-develop risk communication solutions to real world challenges facing local decision makers. The Pressure cooker is aimed at young professionals and students (under 35) and mentors in relevant fields.

If you are interested in applying as a participant or as a mentor, please see the call for applications and apply by Friday, January 26. Some funding is available for travel. The event is organized by GFDRR, the Water Youth Network with financial support from the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and FM Global.

Please spread the word widely!

An invitation to contribute to the first Sustainability and Resilience conference: “Mitigating Disaster and Emergency Planning” on 13–14 May 2018 at the University of Bahrain in Bahrain.

Call for papers! Closing date for abstracts is 5th March. See call for papers flyer for more information.

Complex hazards / complex vulnerabilities

• Read all about our second annual conference on 27–28 March.
• The call for individual papers is open until 20 January 2018.
• Read the report of the UKADR 2017 Conference.

Date: 27–29 November 2017

Location: Bangkok, Thailand

Venue: Swissotel Le Concorde, Bangkok

Using scientific knowledge to inform policy and practice in disaster risk reduction and management

Key dates:

• 12 September 2016: Abstract submission open
• 10 January 2017: Abstract submission close
• 15 February 2017: Abstracts notification
• 31 May 2017: Final paper submissions close
• June 2017: Final paper notifications sent
• July 2017: Registration now open!
• 27–29 November 2017: Conference

The International Centre for Parliamentary Studies is delighted to invite you to join us on the Professional Certificate in Disaster Risk Reduction, which will take place in London, UK on November 20th–24th, 2017.

The recent catastrophic Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria have caught the attention of people all around the world. Willis Towers Watson invite you to an insightful afternoon with a range of prominent and respected speakers in the world of weather and climate risk, hosted by the Willis Research Network (WRN). The event will present the findings from some of the WRN’s latest scientific collaborations, alongside current analytical projects underway in Willis Re teams around the world, with an emphasis on the latest life-threatening weather conditions.

Date: 1st November 2017, 14:00–17:00.

Location: The Willis Building Auditorium, 51 Lime Street, London EC3M 7DQ.

Autumn Seminar Themes:

• Severe Convective Storms: Impact of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
• A global view of tropical cyclones: A new catalogue of wind footprints
• After the storm: Inland flooding from tropical cyclones

London South Bank University CIB Student Chapter invites you to celebrate the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on Friday 13 Oct 2017, 09:45 to 13:30, Room 101A, London Doctoral Academy, LSBU, London, UK.

With the great global losses caused by the 2017 Atlantic Hurricanes Harvey, Irama, Maria, our Workshop will discuss the key lessons learned and the role of building coherence with the 2015-2030 Sustainable Development Goals, to reduce disasters risk and raise awareness of prevention, mitigation and preparedness.

The Dealing with Disasters 2017 Conference will host key meetings of the UKADR. The conference theme is The Impact of Hazard, Risk and Disasters on Societies. This will take place at the Durham University main campus. Session proposals open 01 July 2016.

Confirmed plenary keynote speakers:

• Margareta Whalström, UN Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction 2008–2015
• Dr. Ciro Ugarte, Director, Emergency Preparedness & Disaster Relief, Pan American Health Organization
• Prof. Stuart Corbridge, Vice Chancellor Durham University
• Prof. Eelco Dykstra, 11th Brunel International Lecturer 2016–2018, Institution of Civil Engineers
• Amod Dixit, Executive Director, NSET

An international Workshop on "Community Resilience to Natural Hazards in Developing Countries" is organised in the framework of the EPSRC Global Challenges research project SAFER ("Seismic Risk and Resilience of Schools in Nepal"), presenting the latest developments in multi-hazard assessment and disaster risk mitigation in the developing world.

Venue: Pugsley Theatre, Queen's Building of Engineering, University of Bristol

Speakers: University of Bristol, University of Southampton, Arup International Development (UK), Save the Children (UK), University of Kathmandu (Nepal), Tribhuvan University (Nepal), NSET (Nepal), EISPD (Nepal), University of SUNY at Buffalo (USA), California Institute of Technology (USA), University of Roma-Tre (Italy), Fuzhou University (China)

There is growing recognition of the role that science and scientists can play in reducing disaster risk and building resilience to geohazards, especially when working with people from other research disciplines and various stakeholders, including communities at risk. This often needs new ways of working, potentially in complex settings and difficult environments, to achieve positive and sustainable change.

This two-day meeting at the Geological Society aims to capture the increasing activity in this area and provide a platform for the discussion of new results from major multi-disciplinary programmes involving researchers who are taking up the challenge to understand geohazards, manage risk and increase resilience in the face of uncertainty in the hazards and vulnerabilities. It will bring together the physical and social scientists and other experts to address the role that geoscience and geoscientists can play in building resilient communities and informed policymaking, into the future.

One of the most valuable aspects of these programmes has been the collaboration with overseas partners so if you happen to be planning project meetings around this time, please consider asking if they would like to participate in the conference.

This symposium, which will be framed around the principles and objectives underpinning the Sendai Framework, is a unique opportunity to discuss, debate, inform and progress the development of law, policy and practice governing DRR and disasters at the national, regional and international levels.

• Symposium flyer
• More about the Disaster risk reduction and international law symposium

UKADR members are invited to the UK shelter forum, Friday 26 May at Oxford Brookes, hosted by CENDEP.

For UKADR members attending the UNISDR Global Platform in Cancun this May, you are invited to a UKADR drinks reception. This will be held on 23 May, 6.30–8.30 in Krystal Grand Hotel, Blcd. Kukulcan Km 8.5, 77500 Cancun. The reception is an opportunity for the UK based science and policy communities to interact and to meet. The reception will be held jointly with the science committee meeting of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk programme, supported by ICSU, ISSC and UNISDR.

The European Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction (EFDRR) will take place in Istanbul, Turkey from 26 to 28 March 2017.

The EFDRR is a multi-stakeholder forum for the disaster risk community in Europe. The event brings together Governments, the UN, parliamentarians, mayors, intergovernmental organizations, scientific and academic institutions, private businesses, NGOs, community based organizations and others.

The 2017 meeting, chaired by the Government of Turkey, aims to reinforce political commitment, generate solutions and partnership, and address the carrying out of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. View the full agenda.

• Further information about the 2017 EFDRR Open Forum

Please note that English, French, Turkish and Russian simultaneous translation will be offered throughout the entire meeting and translation to international sign language will be available. The meeting is also accessible for persons with disabilities.

The EFDRR is supported by a secretariat formed by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the European Commission and the Council of Europe.

Robert Glasser will hold a seminar on the UN Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR), its workings through science and technology research and some examples of implementation.

• View the flyer for Robert Glasser's seminar

Aim: The UKADR Annual Conference aims to provide a space for conversation, networking and defining frontiers of knowledge for leaders from UK-based research, policy and practice institutions engaged in DRR/M and climate change adaptation in low- and middle-income countries and fragile states.