2021. 3.1

Japan Society of Civil Engineers
International Activities Center

IAC News No.101
TC21 Webinar:“Transdisciplinary Approach (TDA) for Building Societal
Resilience to Disasters Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic”
TC21, the 21st Technical Committee of the Asian Civil Engineering Coordinating Council (ACECC), has been
sharing and practicing the concept of a transdisciplinary approach (TDA) with the aim of building societal
resilience to disasters through a transdisciplinary approach (TDA). This is a report on the webinar held inparallel with the ACECC Executive Committee Meeting in October 2020.
Disaster Mitigation Measures amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
During the 2020 Kyushu floods, which caused great damage along the Kumagawa River, the novel coronavirus(COVID-19) had a significant impact on evacuation activities. Although disaster mitigation measures are
becoming an issue in various parts of the world as social distance protocols must be maintained due to the global
COVID-19 pandemic, the sharing of information on a global scale is limited. This webinar (Table 1) was held
to facilitate the sharing of such information.
Table 1: Webinar Program
TimeContentSpeaker

21:00 - 21:05

Opening Speech

Dr. Erdsan Rene S. Suero, PICE National President

21:05 - 21:10

Keynote Lecture

Hon. Congressman Romeo S. Momo (TC21 Co-chair)

21:15 - 21:30

Transdisciplinary Approach to Resilience Planning

Dr. Diocel Harold Aquino, Assistant Professor,

Amid the Covid-19 Pandemic

Institute of Civil Engineering, University of thePhilippines, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

21:30 - 21:45

Improving the disaster response capabilities of local

Dr. Miho Ohara, Senior Researcher, ICHARM,

governments by utilizing a collection of case

Adjunct Associate Professor, National Graduate

studies of critical situations during emergency

Institute of Policy Studies

responses to floods
21:45 - 21:55

Q&A Session

21:55 - 22:00

Closing Speech

Dr. Mikio Ishiwatari, The University of Tokyo/JICA(TC21 Co-chair)

Civil Engineers’ Responsibilities and Transdisciplinary Approach (TDA)
PICE President Dr. Erdsan Rene S. Suero gave an opening speech where he introduced the idea that theresponsibility of civil engineers to build societal resilience to disasters remains the same even amid the COVID-1

19 pandemic, and for this reason, TC21 is being used to promote case studies and popularize the concept ofTDA. He then went on to say that decision-making based on scientific knowledge by way of TDA is very
essential.
Next,

TC21Co-chair

RomeoS.

Momo(Congressman in the House of Representatives,Philippines Congress) gave a keynote lecture. Mr.
Momo stated that in the Philippines, COVID-19 ishaving a serious impact on the lives of those who live
there as well as the country’s economic activities, andthat the construction industry has contributed
significantly to the country's development under thegovernment’sflagship“Build,infrastructuredevelopment

Build,program,

Keynote Lecture by TC21 Co-chair Romeo S. Momo

Build”
however,efforts to mitigate the negative impact of COVID-19 are required. He also emphasized the importance of TDA
in collaboration with private companies, academia, citizens, and NGOs, as well as governments.
TDA amid the COVID-19 Pandemic
Under the theme of “Transdisciplinary Approach to Resilience Planning Amid the Covid-19 Pandemic,” Dr.
Diocel Harold Aquino of the University of the Philippines gave a lecture on the research of disaster-related risk
and earthquake vulnerability of structures in Metro Manila, which is being implemented under movement
restrictions. In Dr. Aquino’s lecture, he introduced the fact that digital technologies such as online information,
aerial photography, and online meetings are being used to avoid coming together in closed spaces to maintainsocial distancing protocols. Meanwhile, he stated that while local residents verifying information is important
to improve its reliability, it is difficult to convey one’s exact intentions when communicating through a meansthat is not face-to-face. Therefore, to solve this problem, civil engineers and social scientists are currently
working together on an initiative across fields to extract what the residents truly mean.

Streamed Live on Facebook for Those Who Could Not Participate in theZoom Webinar Facebook

Examples of Critical Situations and Lessons Learned
Next, Dr. Ohara of the International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM) gave a lecture
entitled “Enhancing Preparedness of Local Governments by Using a Collection of Critical Situations during

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Flood Emergency Response under COVID19.” This collection of case studies waspublished by ICHARM to improve thedisaster

response

capabilitiesofdepartments in charge of disaster mitigation
at local governments. Dr. Ohara definedexamples in which staff are “troubled, act
hastily, confused, hesitate, and worry” as“criticalsituations

duringemergency

responses to flooding,” introduced lessons

Dr. Ohara Introduces a Collection of Critical Situations

learned from such situations with examples,and explained that a separate volume highlighting the response amid the COVID-19 pandemic was also released.
Dr. Ohara also explained that this initiative is the outcome of TDA, such as cooperation between research
institutes and local governments and bringing together knowledge on safety engineering and disaster mitigation.
Role of ACECC TC21
In the Q&A session, in response to a participant’s question about what Japan and the Philippines can share witheach other, both Dr. Aquino and Dr. Ohara answered that both countries have the fact that they experience many
natural disasters in common, and that sharing case studies and lessons learned could contribute to building astronger society in regards to disaster mitigation.
As the closing speech of this webinar, TC21 Co-Chair
Dr. Ishiwatari said that it is important to build societal
resilience to disasters based on scientific knowledge
and to learn lessons from each country. He also statedthat it is the role of TC21 to investigate, analyze, andshare case studies from around the world. He went on
to request continued support for the efforts of TC21 andclosed by thanking the stakeholders and participants ofthis webinar including PICE.
Closing Speech by TC21 Co-chair Dr. Ishiwatari

Conclusion
This year, the efforts of TC21 were also severely

restricted due to the impact of COVID-19. On this occasion, by using the digital technology of holding a webinar,
it was possible for people and regions that normally have difficulty in participating in such seminars to join in.
We were able to discuss the popularizing of the concept of TDA promoted by TC21 and the new theme ofbuilding societal resilience to disasters in this age of a “new normal.”TC21’s achievements are viewed on the following websites: http://www.acecc-world.org/TC21/【Reported by Yoshihiro Katsuhama, Secretariat,
ACECC TC21 Support Committee (Nippon Koei Co. Ltd.)】3

Structure to Bridge Creation Hubs during the Pandemic
COVID-19 pandemic forced the world to follow social-distancing guidelines, which
made it difficult to collaborate and progress overall. However, from our experience ofpast pandemics, we know that the world not only successfully preserved civilization andits creators during such challenges, but also moved forward. In 1889, Paris experienced
the Asiatic flu pandemic, and yet the Eiffel Tower was built and inaugurated in the sameyear. The flu reached British India in 1890, just as planning for the Hardinge Bridge overthe Padma had started, but it didn’t deter the engineers to stop their work. Then in 1918, A.F.M. Saiful Amin
despite the Spanish Flu, the Seikan Tunnel in Japan was conceived. This just proves that (Chair,
Bangladesh Group ofeven in the past, pandemics couldn’t act as long-term deterrents. Despite the current IABSE,
Professor of Civil
social-distancing impositions, small, cohesive entities have bonded strongly and offered Engineering,
Bangladesh University ofsustainable solutions. We have also noticed that innovations in information technology Engineering andTechnology)

is progressing fast, and the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) is advancing more quickly
than ever. Nevertheless, the importance of safe and reliable infrastructures cannot bereplaced. This is where, IABSE with its worldwide members plays a pivotal role. IABSE not only connects
engineers worldwide but also provides a collaborative platform for discussions, and advancement of theprofession.
On August 26‐27, 2020, the Bangladesh Group of IABSE co-organized an online event with the Japan Societyof Civil Engineers (JSCE) at the International Conference on Advances in Bridge Engineering-IV: Definitive
Outcomes for the People. 700 participants from six continents with up to 19 hours of time difference joined thevirtual event, and presented in real-time, despite the pandemic. The quality assurance in engineering education
symposium, co-hosted within the virtual conference organized by us, exposed the importance of bridge
engineering to other engineering disciplines‐and “bridge” emerged as a metaphor! The strong support fromfourteen international, and national entities was vital for this event. In true alignment with IABSE’s mission, weachieved in providing a global platform for information exchange. Over the past 15 years, our National Grouphas organized several international events jointly with JSCE. By publicly celebrating the centenary of theHardinge Bridge in 2015, we communicated the importance of bridge engineering to the common people—amilestone achievement. This pandemic-time success is well founded on our past efforts.
With the rise of Asian economies, improved access through land-transportation infrastructure is a must, but isoften a challenge specially in Bangladesh-which is crisscrossed by hundreds of rivers, resulting in soft soil andground dynamics. Building enough bridges to create a fixed network of surface roads and rail is necessary tomeet not only our steadily growing domestic needs but also to meet emerging regional surface-connectivity
demands. National and international stakeholders having solidarity can together bridge this gap by stimulating
creativity. Young generations of engineers can also strive to develop new capacities, with the support ofexperienced structural engineers to execute complex designs, constructions and maintenances. IABSE Fellows’Young Engineers Program does exactly that. The Bangladesh Group of IABSE for the last 15 years has strived
to spread IABSE’s message and bring together national as well as international experts towards to advancementof the profession. We shall keep working towards this goal, and hopefully together we shall soon emerge in a4

post-pandemic world in 2021!
Source: Structural Engineering International, Volume 31, 2021, Issue 1(https://doi.org/10.1080/10168664.2021.1863652)【Reported by A.F.M. Saiful Amin, Chair, Bangladesh Group of IABSE, Professor of Civil Engineering,Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology】

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