The 9th session of IIASA-DPRI International Forum on Integrated Risk Governance co-hosted by Japan Kyoto University (KU) and International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Luxemburg, Austria (IIASA) and co-organized by multiple organizations is held in Kyoto University from October 13th to 16th, 2009. Approximately 200 people from 31 countries and regions including the USA, GB, Japan, China and EU, etc. attend the forum. The China delegation team consists of 16 people (including representatives from Hong Kong and Taiwan), which is only smaller than the Japan delegation team.
The conference theme of this year is “Scientific Challenges in Implementing Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRiM) in a Changing World”, under which there are four Keynote lectures, namely, The Challenges of Extreme Events and System Risks made by Dr. Detlof Von Winterfeldt, president of IIASA; Integrated Disaster Risk Management(IDRiM):From Retrospect to Prospect made by Professor Norio Okada, director of the Research Institute of Disaster Prevention, Kyoto University; Chinese Paradigm for Integrated Large Scale Disaster Risk Governance given by Professor Shi Peijun, director of the State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University; and Entrepreneur Approach to Disaster Risk Management and Regional Learning made by Professor Kiyoshi Kobayashi, Graduate School of Management, Kyoto University.
Before the commencement of the forum, DRH Consortium International Workshop toward . Implementing Science for Disaster Risk Reduction was held to discuss on the methods and actions to reduce disaster risks.
In the forum, scholars conduct in-depth and detailed discussion and analysis on various topics such as Removing Obstacles to the implementation of Disaster Risk Management, Modeling Integrated Disaster Risk Management, Synergies Between Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adoption: Rural Versus Urban Hotspots, Novel Insurance Option for Disaster Reduction, Insurance and Industry in a Changing Climate, Business Continuity and Disaster Loss Reduction, Natechs: Experiences from Asia and Beyond, Natural Hazard Threats to Industry and Critical Infrastrucure, Using the Disaster Reduction Hyperbase for Disseminating Technology and Knowledge for Disaster Risk Management.
In the morning of October 13th, Associate Professor Wang Ming from ESPRE presides over the panel session on Lessons Learned From Wenchuan Earthquake, in which, Professor Shi Peijun and researcher Han Guoyi respectively give their reports, namely, The Integrated Risk Governance/Management of Large, and Wenchuan and Tangshan Great Earthquakes in China: Disaster as Opportunity for Learning and Development. In the afternoon of October 14th, Professor Shi also gives a keynote lecturest titled Chinese Paradigm for Integrated Large Scale Disaster Risk Governance, in which he, based on the definition of catastrophe, focuses on the review of China’s experiences and lessons in disaster response mechanism which are gained from the snow disaster in early 2008 and the Wenchuan Earthquake on May 12th, 2008, and thereout discusses the formation and evaluation of disaster risk, and further raises his comments and suggestions on prevention of disaster risks, i.e., firstly, combination of top-down and bottom-up response mechanisms; secondly, combination of hardware engineering and software engineering; and thirdly, combination of disaster transfer and disaster insurance. He also sums up the Chinese Paradigm for Integrated Large Scale Disaster Risk Governance. The report is highly appraised by the experts and representatives attending the forum.
On October 16th, the Young Scientists Session on integrated disaster risk governance is held. Doctor students He Fei and Du Juan, and master students Liu Baoyin and Zhou Meiqin from ESPRE attend the Session, in which, they present their latest research findings. Student Ye Tao, representative of BNU who has just received his doctor’s degree in Kyoto University, is awarded with the Gold Prize of Excellent Report Award.
In this conference, Implementing Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRiM) Society is launched. Professor Shi Peijun is among the 6 founders of the organization. At the same time, the official publication of the society is created, namely Integrated Disaster Risk Governance (English Version), and Professor Shi Peijun is engaged as the vice editor-in-chief of the magazine.
In the afternoon of October 12th, Professor Shi Peijun, as representative and in the name of the MCA & MOE Academy of Disaster Reduction and Emergency Management (ADREM) of Beijing Normal University, signs the second agreement on academic exchange with Professor Norio Okada, representative of the Research Institute of Disaster Prevention, Kyoto University. Through the execution of the agreement, both parties are about to promote their cooperation of research and education in the field of natural disasters and natural resources, including academic exchanges between researchers and graduate students of both parties, exchange of academic information and publications, co-hosting of seminars, lectures and forums, cooperative researches and sharing relative research findings, and other matters mutually agreed by both parties. The agreement will remain valid for five years. The execution of the agreement indicates the deepening of the cooperation between both parties, which will effectively promote the discipline construction, talent cultivation, and scientific research of both parties.