On 3 and 4 March, Funda Atun from the University of Twente will represent PARATUS at the EU-JAPAN Forum on Research and Innovation Communication in Support of Disaster Societal Resilience and Risk Governance in Kyoto, Japan.
ABOUT THE EVENT
Societal resilience to disasters and risk governance are embedded in international policies such as the UN Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and, in the European Union, the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), leading to recommendations that guide policy actions at national, regional and local levels. While EU policies mix coordination mechanisms of voluntary character in the civil protection sector (e.g. UCPM) and of legislation of binding character in other sectors (e.g. the Flood Directive), awareness of citizens and local authorities seems often far away from the policy framework. When speaking about EU research and innovation related to Disaster Risk Management (DRM), the situation is even worse, and there is a big valley between applied research results and their recognition at regional or local levels. Efforts to bring together key DRM actors, including policy-makers, scientists, practitioners, SME/industry and civil society representatives are on-going at international, national and regional levels to exchange best practices that take into account different views from sectors, disciplines, cultures, and exchanges among various research projects which have gradually improved the participation of societal actors and representatives of local authorities (including municipalities). In this respect, a range of projects developed partnerships with Japanese organisations (mainly universities) with a focus on societal resilience and technologies for first responders. The workshop aims to gather representatives from international cooperation research consortia in the DRR area, involving Japanese partners and exchanging about research outputs and the way they are communicated in respective countries. In particular, discussions will focus on the way scientific findings are communicated and implemented (or not!) by local, regional and national authorities in both the EU and Japan from both an academic as well as practitioners’ viewpoint. Discussions will include science to policy transfer at all levels, with an accent on education, awareness-raising and disaster preparedness in an “all-society approach”. The event is expected to provide insights on similarities and differences between Japan and EU countries, and deliver recommendations regarding disaster risk governance as the countries move towards improved territorial resilience.
DRAFT AGENDA OUTLINE
- COMMUNICATION WITH THE PUBLIC: Role and actions of citizen and spontaneous volunteers, national and international initiatives
- RETURN OF EXPERIENCES AND R&D FEEDBACK: Focus on disaster examples (flood, earthquake, major industrial accident) involving city representatives, first responders, scientists
- IMPROVED DISASTER RESILIENT SOCIETIES, RISK MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE: Challenges of disaster risks and disaster risk management for local / regional authorities, systemic risk assessment, mitigation / adaptation decision-making, technology developments
- SUPPORT TO THE SENDAI DRR FRAMEWORK – NEEDS FOR NETWORK OF NETWORKS: Role of IDRIM, current trends in networking with national networks and potentials for an international networking in support of Sendai FWA