ADRC Highlights
Asian Disaster Reduction Center Monthly News
● Promoting Cooperation with Affiliated Institutions
Vol. 357
December
2022
TOPICS
Promoting Cooperationwith AffiliatedInstitutions¶ The JICA Knowledge
Co-Creation Program“Comprehensive Disaster
Risk Reduction for theAfrican Region”¶ The JICA Knowledge
Co-Creation Program“Comprehensive Disaster
Risk Reduction for Central
Asia and Caucasus”¶ The Fourth GLIDE
Steering Committee
Meeting

Participation inInternational
Conferences¶ 28th Session of the Asia
-Pacific Regional Space
Agency Forum¶ EPWG-Chile Workshop¶ 17th Integrated
Workshops of the Typhoon
Committee

The JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program “Comprehensive Disaster
Risk Reduction for the African Region”

The JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program “Comprehensive Disaster Risk
Reduction for the African Region” was conducted online from 22 August to 29
September 2022, with the cooperation of JICA Kansai.
It was attended by seven government officials from four countries: Democratic
Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Senegal, and Cabo Verde. This course focused onflood and sediment disasters. Participants studied disaster countermeasures fortheir target cities by attending lectures on each disaster and participating inexercises to formulate a draft local DRR plan. They all worked so hard during thiscourse, not only acquiring knowledge and skills, but also developing theirrelationships with one another. The Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC)
would like to express its sincerest gratitude to all the organizations and universities
that contributed to the success of this course.
The JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program “Comprehensive Disaster
Risk Reduction for Central Asia and Caucasus”

ADRC conducted a JICA Knowledge Co-Creation Program entitled“Comprehensive Disaster Management in Central Asia and Caucasus” from 10
November to 9 December 2022. This program was designed for disastermanagement administrators in the Central Asia and Caucasus region, with the aimof strengthening the capacity of government agencies primarily responsible fordisaster management so as to mitigate human impacts and economic damages
caused by natural disasters. With a particular focus on the formulation of priority
DRR measures, the program aims to deepen understanding of the importance ofsuch measures, to promote strategic DRR investments in each country, and topromote the implementation of DRR measures that reduce residual risks. Finally, itaims to help participants learn how to draft and implement local DRR plans.

Announcement
Asian Conference on
Disaster Reduction 2022

Asian DisasterReduction Center
Higashikan 5F, 1-5-2
Wakinohamakaigan-dori,Chuo-ku, Kobe
651-0073 Japan
Tel: 078-262-5540
Fax: 078-262-5546
editor@adrc.asia
https://www.adrc.asia

Rokko Sabo Office Site Visit© ADRC 2022

Due to the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, the training program was temporarily
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Vol. 357

Continued

suspended and subsequently conducted online, but in-person trainings resumed this year for the first time inthree years. A total of seven participants from Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, and Tajikistan took
part in the five-week program.
The training consisted of in-person and online lectures, visits to DRR facilities mainly in Hyogo
Prefecture but also in the Tokyo area, and a workshop on designing local DRR plans. Each participant
enthusiastically participated in the lectures and exercises, and presented a draft local DRR plan on the final
day to successfully complete the course. It is hoped that the knowledge, skills, and methodologies acquired
through this training will be applied to disaster risk management in the participants’ home countries.
We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all the supporting organizations and lecturers fortheir cooperation in conducting this training course.
The Fourth GLIDE Steering Committee Meeting

On 13 December 2022, the fourth GLIDE Steering Committee Meeting was held online from 21:00-22:30(JST). A total of 14 participants attended the meeting from SC member organizations including ADRC,
CRED, EU/JRC, IDMC, IFRC, Tohoku University, UNDP and WMO. After sharing the outcomes of recent
international events related to disaster data as well as recent developments in GLIDE system functions,participants actively discussed ways to promote improvements in the connectivity of databases using GLIDE.
The conclusion was that each member will continue to promote linkages via GLIDE.
● Participation in International Conferences
28th Session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency ForumThe 28th Session of the Asia-Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum (APRSAF-28) was held from 15 to 18
November 2022 in Hanoi, Vietnam. It was co-organized by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (MEXT), the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and the Vietnam
Academy of Science and Technology (VAST). APRSAF was established in 1993 to enhance space activities
in the Asia-Pacific region. Attended by space agencies, governments, and international organizations suchas the United Nations as well as companies, universities and research institutes, this forum is the largest
space-related conference in the Asia Pacific region. APRSAF has four Working Groups: the (1) Space
Applications Working Group (SAWG), (2) Space Technology Working Group (STWG), (3) Space
Environment Utilization Working Group (SEUWG), and the (4) Space Education Working Group (SEWG).
APRSAF participants share information about their activities and future plans for their countries and regionsin each working group. APRSAF also supports international projects designed to find solutions to common
issues such as disaster management and environmental protection.
ADRC participated in the working session of the SAWG and gave the first presentation on Sentinel Asia
emergency observation requests (EOR) and future action plans. The Sentinel Asia initiative involves the useof space-based information in the form of satellite images for disaster management. ADRC has been tasked
with the responsibility of receiving emergency observation requests from ADRC member countries andJoint Project Team (JPT) members. ADRC gave the second presentation on our activities for the“Demonstration Experiment using MICHIBIKI (Quasi-Zenith Satellite System: QZSS).” This activity,
which mainly targets the Asia-Pacific region, is to develop early warnings to encourage residents to takeprompt evacuation actions.
ADRC will continue to actively participate in activities related to the utilization of space technology inthe field of disaster prevention.
EPWG-Chile WorkshopMr SUZUKI Koji (Project Director of ADRC and co-Chair of APEC-EPWG) and Dr Gerry Potutan (SeniorResearcher, ADRC) participated in the “Workshop to Strengthen Fire Prevention Capacities in WildlandUrban Interface (WUI)” held 28 November - 1 December 2022. The online workshop was organized by
EPWG-Chile to contribute to capacity building in the APEC economies. It focused on fire management inwildland-urban interface areas through the use of techniques and strategies focused on generating a culture
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Continuedof prevention that reduces territorial vulnerabilityand exposure to risk.
On the third day of the workshop, Dr Gerry
Potutan gave a presentation highlighting thecontribution of climate change impact projections
to inform plans, strategies, and policies on climatechange adaptation. While climate change does notdirectly cause wildfires, it greatly contributes tothe creation of conditions that allow wildfires tostart and spread easily, with extremely devastating
impacts. One of the projected climate change
scenarios indicates that global temperatures will
become much warmer if human activities continue
emitting greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbonand methane. This will create conditions for the“tinderbox effect,” whereby summers become
EPWG-Chili Workshop
hotter and drier – making it possible for wildfires
to more easily start and spread quickly. As a resultof the workshop, the participants from the 21
APEC member economies and the government officials from Chile gained insights on applying climatechange impact projections to the development of mitigation and adaption strategies for fire prevention in
wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas.

17th Integrated Workshops of the Typhoon Committee

ADRC participates annually in theIntegrated Workshops (IWS) of theTyphoon Committee, where year-end
reports are presented by the four working
groups: the Working Group onMeteorology (WGM), the Working Groupon Hydrology (WGH), the Working Groupon Disaster Risk Reduction (WGDRR), andthe Training and Research Coordination
Group (TRCG). This year, the Typhoon
Committee Secretariat (TCS) held the 17th
IWS online on 29-30 November 2022 withthe theme “Tropical cyclone planning,
forecasting, and response services for early
warning and early action.”
One of the keynote presentations wasfrom the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism (MLIT) of Japan,
which talked about the “Use of Satellite
IWS of the Typhoon Committee
Data for Flood Simulation and Risk
Evaluation.” As reported, various Japaneseagencies (e.g., JAXA), with which ADRC also works closely, provide satellite data and create climatechange impact projections to simulate floods and assess risk impacts. Satellite data is especially valuable as
it informs mitigation measures and also facilitates early action. Other keynote presentations at the 17th IWS
were given by presenters from Vietnam, China, South Korea, and the Asia-Pacific Typhoon Collaborative
Research Centre.
The 18th IWS in 2023 will be hosted at ESCAP in Bangkok, Thailand.
3ADRC Highlights

Vol. 357● Announcement
Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction 2022

ADRC will host the Asian Conference on Disaster Reduction 2022 (ACDR2022) “WHAT IS NEXT? Learning from the Past, Preparing for the Future” from 10-12 March 2023 in Sendai, Japan (meeting on 10March is for member and advisor countries only; the main sessions starts on 11 March). The conference will
be conducted in a hybrid format (in-person and online).
In addition to a special session on the Great Kanto Earthquake, the conference will include sessions on“Large-Scale Disasters and Countermeasures,” “Broaden Our Horizons for Disaster Data Linkage in SFDRR
Implementation: Application of GLIDE (GLobal IDEntifier Number)” and “The Provision of Information via
Satellite for Disaster and Crisis Management."
Details of the conference will be made available on the ACDR2022 website in due course. Further details
on this conference will be provided in the next issue.

ACDR2022 website: https://acdr.adrc.asia/meeting/home/acdr2022

ACDR2022 website: https://acdr.adrc.asia/meeting/home/acdr2022

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