GADRIACTIONS
Spring 2022
Volume 1— Number 1

4th Open Discussion Forum of GADRI

1

Contents
Dear All,
We hope you are doing well and keeping fine.
The Spring 2022 newsletter gives a detailed highlight of the 4 th Open
Discussion Forum of GADRI held virtually from 21:00 to 23:00 JST on 15 th
March 2022. The discussion focused mainly on the newly established
Committees of GADRI. We invite you to look at the information provided undereach committee by the respective Chairs of the Committees. If you would liketo contribute to these committees, do not hesitate to get in touch with us. It
gives an opportunity for your institute to engage directly with the activities of
GADRI.
We took the opportunity of the 4th Open Discussion Forum of GADRI to say
goodbye to four valuable members of the Board of Directors of GADRI whoseterm of office ended as of 31st March 2022. We also welcomed five newmembers to the Board of Directors of GADRI from 1 st April 2022 for a period offour years.
Preparations are underway for the 6th Global Summit of GADRI. While we are
weaning out of remote work and trying to accustom ourselves to regular officelife once again, we remain optimistic to hold the 6th Global Summit of GADRI in
hybrid fashion. Hopefully we can have a face-to-face meeting of the summit at
DPRI, Uji Campus, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. The dates for the summit
are from 15th to 17th March 2023. The dates are set in consideration of theWorld Bosai Forum will be held in Sendai, Japan from 10 th to 13th March 2023.
Those of you who wish to attend the Bosai Forum can arrange to attend the
GADRI summit from 15th March 2023. Do block these days in your calendars.
We will be updating GADRI web page and sharing information through e-mailtoo.
We intend to publish the GADRI newsletter in a quarterly basis. Do send us
any information that you would like to share with the community of GADRI. For
example, reports on achievements, awards, disaster reports, publications, etc.
Stay safe and keep-up with your good work.

Hirokazu Tatano and the Secretariat of GADRI

Photos are from zoom meeting recording and Pixabay.com.
GADRI Actions is designed, formatted and edited by Hirokazu Tatano and Wilma James.

2• 4th Open Discussion

Forum of GADRI• Board of Directors of

GADRI• GADRI Contributions

to COP26 through
UKRI• New Members of

GADRI

4th Open Discussion Forum of GADRI
Achieving the Objectives of the Charter of GADRI
15 March 2022
From 21:00 to 23:00 Japan Standard Time3

In his welcome remarks, Prof. Paul Kovacs stated thatGADRI has been able to achieve internationalrecognition going forward from Sendai to Kyoto in2015 when GADRI was formally launched. The
alliance bringing together the leading disaster research
institutes all around the world to work cooperatively
and collectively to achieve the goals of disaster risk
reduction is an incredibly important opportunity. It has
been very exciting to be part of GADRI and noted how
the alliance have proceeded and all the potential thereis going forward.

the Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes(GADRI) was established.

The objective of the 4th Open Discussion Forum of
GADRI is to give an opportunity for all Members to
speak-up and share their thoughts and ideas on thefive newly established committees which areorganized around the important issues identified
during the time the Charter of GADRI was formulated.
Prof. Hirokazu Tatano, Secretary-General, GADRI
reported on the activities of GADRI. He started bysharing a bit of history which led up to theestablishment of GADRI. In November 2011, the same

The five objectives of GADRI are:•To establish a global research network that
promotes and engages disaster research.

•

To provide a research roadmap, with plans that
help facilitate the organization of disaster researchgroups.

•To promote capacity building and development ofdisaster research institutes and enhances
researcher and student exchange.

•

To promote exchange and sharing of data andinformation for scientific research across theglobe.

•To serve as an advocacy organization presenting
evidence-based
approaches
that
influence
decision-making processes.
GADRI continued to organize theglobal summit series once every two
years. The third Global Summit washeld in Kyoto, Japan in March 2017
and the fourth in Kyoto, Japan in March
2019. During each summit, GADRI
have been achieving important goals
especially contributing to the UNDRR
Science and Technology Roadmap forthe implementation of the Sendai
Framework.

year of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
happened, the Disaster Prevention Research Institutes(DPRI), Kyoto University was celebrating its 60th
anniversary and the Global Summit conference wasorganized to commemorate the occasion.
The occasion was memorable for two reasons: first thecelebration of the 60th Anniversary of the DPRI;
second the conference recommendation to established
an international forum of institutes engaged in disasterrisk research fostered by the DPRI, Kyoto University.
This recommendation was seconded during theSecond Global Summit of Research Institute forDisaster Risk Reduction organized by DPRI, Kyoto
University held in Kyoto, Japan in March 2015
immediately after the UN World Conference on
Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, Japan, and4With regard to The 5th Summit;
Engaging Sciences with Action, thiswas originally planned to be held at EC-JRC, Milan, Italy, sponsored by EC-JRC andsupported by the Northumbria University, UK and the
Mid Sweden University, Sweden. Unfortunately, due tothe corona virus pandemic, GADRI Secretariat had to
improvise and organise the summit online during thelast summer (31 August to 1 September 2022). With
the help of the regional alliances, all members of
GADRI and GADRI’s valuable partners, the summit
brought in 91 speakers from all over the world todiscuss, share their experiences and expertise indifferent disciplines of disaster risk research. Over 600
participants from 71 states logged in through zoom
meeting. Further details of the 5th Global Summit canbe found at the newsletter, GADRI Actions 15. With thehelp of the UK research and Innovation, GADRI
shared the 5th Global Summit of GADRI
recommendations on climate change and adaptation
at the COP26 held in the UK in November 2021.

Committee on Science and Technology Roadmap(To provide a research roadmap, with plans that help facilitate theorganization of disaster research groups)
Session Chair: Prof. Sumit Sen, Member, Board of Directors of GADRI,
IIT, Roorkee, India
The Science and Technology Roadmap is a very
popular topic. Many related discussions have takenplace at various forums and especially during the
Global Summits of GADRI. Extensive work has been
done in this area by the UNDRR Sendai Frameworkand the Science and Technology Roadmap. GADRI
Committee work in this may entail working on missing
research gaps and seeking opportunities for
improvement.

of foresight, facing a series of challenges for which thetime honoured tradition of using examples from thepast in order to plan the response to the future is notgoing to work. He mentioned that his comments
particularly refer to unplanned mass migrations,proliferating technological failures and the changing
magnitude and frequency of extreme events due toclimate change. He reiterated that GADRI can
promote techniques of foresight.

During the 2017 Global Summit of GADRI, it
conducted a voluntary evaluation of all institutions tofind out about the research gaps, opportunities andmost important research areas. And during the Global
Summit of GADRI in 2019, it directly contributed to thecontextualization of the Science and Technology
Roadmap. GADRI continue to engage its members invarious field exercise to maintain continuous
discussion among them.

The Chair, Prof. Paul Kovacs said that when launching
GADRI, it took several years of build-up time. One of
the key aims was to create an alliance that is making acontribution that could not have been done any otherway. He noted that each one of the members, as
individuals have opportunities to get involved in someof the global conversations and some of them aredoing it in various ways. A critical part for striking
GADRI is what it is collectively able to do that could
not be done without GADRI.

As mentioned in the Charter of GADRI, one of thecore things to be involved in is to be part of the global
determination of what the agenda is for issues being
dealt with from a science and technology point of view.
Would it be clear for those volunteering on thecommittee? What do you think they should be looking
into? How best can others participate in theCommittee?

Reflecting across all of the topics and certainly for the
4th Open Discussion Forum of GADRI, by setting theagenda, there is a knowledge shared within GADRI
that can really help with the determination of the
global science and technology agenda. Sometimes
through GADRI’s collective efforts, it is possible tobring a synthesis and bring a new perspective beyond
what everyone can do individually and having thedrive through committees is powerful.

A suggestion from Prof. Sumit Sen who was the Chair
for the session on Committee on S&T Roadmap, wasto promote management practices such as the soil
water index-based landslide early warning system,
which has been developed and implemented in Japan
quite successfully. Such instruments in otherdisciplines will be useful for communities who are
working in disaster risk research as they can take it
and implement. Such type of information anddeveloped practices can be taken up and can beshared.

Further he stated that the Committee on S&T
Roadmap, is trying to bring GADRI more structure.
There are many who have tried individually and within
the mechanisms of GADRI to work on this topic andhow to capture it means is a way forward.
During the 5th Global Summit of GADRI where
hundreds participated from all around the world, someof the recommendations on climate change wereshared at the UN Climate Change Conference of theParties (COP26) at the end of 2021 through UK
Research and Innovation.
The process ofcontributions is loosely happening and the committees
will formalize the process and help carry out the usefulcombinations on climate change.

Prof. David Alexander stated that there is aninsufficiency of foresight. Facing a time in history when
the past is no longer an adequate guide to the future
prediction, as Niels Bohr, the prize-winning physicist
said, is very difficult, especially when it is about the
future. Although it is very true, there is much moreneeds to be done to promote foresight and techniques

5Committee on Institutional Capacity Building(To promote capacity building and development of disaster Research Institutes and enhance research and student exchange.)
Session Chair: Dr. Indrajit Pal, Member, Board of Directors of GADRI, AIT, Thailand
Presenter: Prof. Wei-Sen Li, The Chair of the Committee, NCDR, Chinese Taipei

2. Build back better- trend & policy on post-disasterrecovery

The Chair of the Committee, Prof. Wei-Sen Li, NCDR,
Chinese Taipei shared his vision for the Committee on
Institutional Capacity Building.
He stated that
institutional capacity building should meet data,
information, knowledge, wisdom, plus action.

••

To understand required and necessary elements for
short-term, mid-term and long-term recovery (to learn
lessons from successes and failures)
Possible topics: reviews on large disasters,reconstructions plan, economy revitalization, livelihood
restoration, etc.

under the umbrella of GADRI, the Committee on
Institutional Capacity Building could host from
data, information to knowledge, wisdom, andaction.

3. Leadership and decision making on disastermanagement

through knowledge, scenario and risk andevaluation, by collecting some resources, it ispossible to divert knowledge and wisdom.

•

Through institutional capacity building, encourage
the decision making and application practices.

•

Action is needed to deliver a good ecology
environment for the disaster research.

To learn skills and the best practices for leading ateam of policy making, emergency response or onfield operations (to educate scientific disastermanager)
Possible
topics:risk
communication,
crisismanagement, principles of emergency operation, ICT& GIS tools of decision support, etc.

To move forward the work the institutional capacity
building, first some case study on evidence-based
disaster risk reduction and to it is important to connect
the last mile and initiate the first mile as stated by Prof.
Rajib Shaw.

4. Role of NGO, NPO & business by public-private
partnership
To explore contributions on DRR by private sector andpolicy to engage them at different phases of disastermanagement. (To channel DRR knowledge to
stakeholders.)

Directions to work together on DRR - throughInstitutional Capacity Building:Possible topics: community-based disaster risk
management, business continuity plan, risk perfection,etc.

1. Case studies on evidence-based disaster risk
reduction

5. Regional and global mechanisms and resources
for DRR, CCA and SDGs

To study policies and implementations on applying
science and technology for DRR through finding gaps
and needs (to connect the last mile and initiate firstmile – Rajib Shaw)

To understand frameworks, trend, policy guidelines,
operations, projects, and funding agency at regionaland global levels (to leverage resources by better
networks)

Possible topics: individual nation plans in sciencedevelopment, land-use planning, early warning, risk
maps, etc.

Possible partners: UN organizations, APEC, ASEAN,GADRI, IRDR, ICoEs, Future Earth, etc.

6The Committee will initiate in two parts:•

First to maintain a good life cycle to improvedisaster risk reduction.

•

Second part is to build back better training policy
on disaster recovery to learn lessons fromsuccesses and failures.

•

On leadership, decision making and disastermanagement: to educate scientific disastermanagers to improve their capabilities to connect
better with the scientific community.

•

On understanding is to know the role of NGOs,
NPOs, business by private sector and to channel
disaster risk reduction knowledge to various
stakeholders.

•

On direction by the regional and global mechanics
and resources for disaster risk reduction, climatechange adaptation, sustainable development
goals: to use existing resources by better network.

The Committee hope to have a global partnershipleveraging different stakeholders in the channel. The
disaster reduction knowledge are with key stakeholder
in the society.

Comments:•

There is a strong focus on capacity development ofhigher education. Specifically innovative curricularapproaches which combine research and educationin multinational teams could be a great platform tobuild on for GADRI.

•

Capacity building and capacity assessment are both
extremely important and absolutely valid. But what
we are going to see in the future is substantial
destruction of capacity. Therefore, there is a need tolook at as well is redundancy. Redundancy has two
sides. It has the intellectual side. Other ways of
doing things that has the physical side. For example,
other forms of equipment and so on.

•

Prof. Tatano stated how many young researchersand practitioners of DPRI benefitted through cuttingedge knowledge and training received during theInternational Training courses offered by NCDR.

•

Encourage implementable mechanisms throughevidence sheets as examples to show themethodology•

Collection of country level evidence sheets on
various capacity building initiatives•

On the topic of capacity – there are countries with
sufficient capacity and others with capacity problems
ranging to all fields. GADRI could enhance capacity •through its network.

••

Case studies that show positive examples of how
capacity is being built affectively and moving
forward.
•Another dimension is for the committee to bring to
GADRI a definition of capacity. There are various
different understandings of what does it mean to nothave complete capacity and need to have greater
capacity. In what way?

7

Look into case studies that make comparison
between countries. For instance, in Chile, they try tohelp from disaster risk management arena bydealing with the sanitary problem.
Lessons from disaster management, where it isused, or useful or not in dealing with the pandemic.
For example, the op-ed done by GADRI on disasterrisk management and the pandemic.

The Committee on Data and Information Sharing(To promote exchange and sharing of data and information for
scientific research across the globe.)
Session Chair: Dr. Rodrigo Cienfuegos, Member, Board of Directors of GADRI,CIGIDEN, Chile
Presenter: Prof. Andrew Collins, The Chair of the Committee on Data andInformation Sharing, DDN, Northumbria University, UK
The Chair of the Committee on Data and Information
Sharing, Prof. Andrew Collins, DDN, Northumbria
University, UK stated that the Committee will serve theneeds of data informed in an action orientatedframing, action orientated knowledge partnerships
and more actionable, impactful and responsive to thehigh demands in particular areas.

•

It would be astute to work from the existing work of
UNDRR for a number of reasons:

There are multiple influences where the current
initiative seems to be emerging are from:•the UNDRR Science and Technology Advisory
Group Data Working Group, which brought
together different initiatives for consultation andcome up with clear guidelines which is summed up
as action data.

•

The GADRI Summit 2021, the European
subsection hosted part of the event focused ondata and bridging gaps to knowledge sharing.

•

The DPRI funded project on GADRI Database of
Collection of World Disaster Research Databases

The current vision is evolved along the lines of anaction based, dynamic, multi-voice data information
system.
••need to make better use of existing data for
information and data for disaster reduction isreflective learning, practice and conjecture for
improved engagement with current and futurerisks.
It is narrative data, it is visual data, and of course
numeric data as well.

•

the global research community is only as effective
as the usefulness and applications of its data; andbridging the knowledge gap was a key challenge
and theme that need to take forward.

•

bridging knowledge gaps through a whole ofsociety objective – it will be very inclusive andbroad based to be able to do that.

•

one of the main reasons is this is a good fit withwhat the Committee is trying to do. Also, the
UNDRR is able to call on consultations. The
UNDRR Working Group on Data was an entirely
voluntary activity of many people to come up with,ideas and direction and an amalgamation of work.
They do not have the capacity to implement it.
Consequently, the working group folded at the endof 2020 with the clear endorsement and message
from UNDRR. It was now time to take this forwardwith appropriate institutions.

•

It is a great opportunity for GADRI to be a lead in
implementing what the UNDRR would implement if
it had that role in that capacity. It knows it doesn't.
But it very much supports this.

To finalize and next steps:

comprehensive
anddisaggregateddata
harnessed across time and space is crucial toeffectively define exposure and vulnerability.

•

Ultimately, activating data and information for not
utilized knowledge, knowledge which is used, andlearning how GADRI institutions use their disaster
research data processes to have more impact indisaster risk reduction.

•

a committee opening meeting•

a consultation and consolidation of the conceptual
framework.

•

there are many potentially but need somethingthat will be recognized by the participants of thisinitiative.

The Chair of Committee Prof. Collins stated that thecommittee will try to do something innovative to crossthe divide between the database of database concept
and something of all encompassing. It will be locale
grounded, actionable, information sharing withinitiatives that are really taking on the challenge toinclude the full range of data types. It will be
responding to a real demand where there is potential
for impact at the same time not replicating, butinevitably seeing what is the real response to demand
and also what is used for what works.

8Comments:

work among the same objective of disaster risk
reduction.

•

to collect data from across the membership and toarticulate what information would really allow to do
more than what is done and what is most needed.

•

Instead of generating more data, to turn the massof information that is available into actionableknowledge that can truly inform and move
forward.

•Dr. Genta Nakano shared information on the
DPRI/GADRI initiative on the Database Collectionof World Disaster Risk Reduction Databases.

•

The project will be a collection of various
databases in different disciplines to promote
understanding toward how different disciplines

9•

Another important point is about the dynamism of
the multi voice of the data. To hear voices ofvarious stakeholders including local communities,
governments, NGOs, etc and share their
viewpoints,
andtounderstanddifferent
perspectives.

•

Prof. Lori Peek shared information on the National
Science Foundation funded CONVERGE facility.
There are programs that actually trains
researchers to publish their data as well as theirresearch instruments and protocols, to increase
not just data sharing but also the sharing of
instruments and protocols and to try to enhanceresearch replication across field sites.

Committee on Advocacy:(To serve as an advocacy organization presenting evidence-based
approaches that influence decision making processes.)
Session Chair: Prof. Paul Kovacs, Chair of the Board of Directors of GADRI, ICLR,
Western University, Ontario, Canada
The Chair of the Committee, Prof. Rajib Shaw prepared the PPT which waspresented by Prof. Hirokazu Tatano
The Chair of the Committee, Prof. Rajib Shaw
prepared the PPT which was presented by Prof.
Hirokazu Tatano in his absence.

•

gap identification - There is a need to change
one’s mindset to understand the gaps, both at thepolicies as well as grassroot levels.

The GADRI platform provides the space tomanaging disaster risk reduction as effectively as
possible. It gives the link to collaboration and work
together with governments. Understanding nature of
the message collectively to be delivered is very
important. GADRI community can bring in anenormous value to better managing risks.

•last and first mile - The researchers are put as themile zero and the community are the last mile.
The “last mile” needs to be the “first mile” where
researchers start from the needs and priorities
both at the policy and practice level.

•

youth led innovation - this is another dimension
Generation Z - who have been born with Internet has a different mindset for innovation which needs
to be explored.

One of the importance of disaster research is toallow for the best public outcomes. From time totime, it may be necessary for GADRI to issue astatement on global issues to the outside of theacademic world especially for decision making
processes.
In his presentation, Prof. Shaw addressed thefollowing issues:

Fulfilling thepartnership:bypromoting•bringing private sector throughinnovation, knowledge to policy

research,•need more entities to bring research, andinnovation into DRR, climate change, sustainable
development.

•

Need to promote sci-preneurship = scientist+entrepreneur

Where is the gap in advocacy?
•balancing interest and demand. Advocacy basedon researcher’s interest

10

institutional

voice

Global-regional-national- local thematic.

Youth involvement is needed.

••

GADRI needs to have its specific youth brigade
for research and innovation.

•

can collaborate with existing youth-led initiative
like U-inspire•

provide innovation ecosystem
participation and leadership•regional democracy: While global advocacy isimportant, the actual advocacy actions happen inregional and national level: focus on regional
GADRI like SAADRI (south Asia) as well as otherregional nodes
As was emphasized from the beginning, disaster
is, in some sense, a local phenomenon as mostof disasters happens in a particular location.
Definitely the first responders are the local
institutes and their inputs are actually very
important. They have critical roles to play in thelocal context and understand many of the local
difficulties. If there is a mechanism to share theknowledge, technologies or data, then otherinstitutes can input or support local institutes. As
the problem happens on the ground, definitely
regional, national level source advocacy is very
important.

•National advocacy: Strengthening national nodes
through knowledge and evidence resources•

Thematic advocacy: need to be specific onthematic issues like: water management, urban
resilience, eco-DRR, blue-green infra, critical infra
etc.: need to prioritize some specific areas

Comments:•

GADRI moves forward with its advocacy role on
behalf of its members. It will be incredibly
powerful if GADRI could establish a conversation
to regularly remind others of the huge value ofthe research that is being conducted. Action notbased on science can be dangerous andunhelpful. To talk about the importance of
behavior based on science and based on realexperience on work is incredibly important.

•

Internationally the disaster risk reduction area
has been under-resourced and to build somevery powerful messages about why having moreinvestment in disaster research would be ofgreat value to society is some of the broad
messages to start the conversation.

•

GADRI communications will be of a global
nature.
Perhaps dealing with other globalorganizations such as the United Nations anddifferent international organizations, GADRI willcertainly have news that would help them.

11

for

youth

Media and communication•needs to provide a specific kind of advocacy
message for policy and practice•co-designthecommunication•

work closely with different types of media andgenerate media and advocacy strategy.

messagewithscience•

As the committee figures out how to
operationalize and where some of theconversation goes, it would be worthwhile toencourage them to find a voice to be helpful for
an international or global conversation. In
particular to be helpful for informing some of the
global entities about how GADRI community canbe useful and can be helpful to them.

•

The science committees in the world had been
making statements to the UN or governments, or
national
governments.
Perhaps,GADRI
Committee could follow them. For example, like
The Tokyo Statement initiated by Prof. Toshio
Koike, ICHARM.

Committee on Networking:(To establish a global research network that promotes and engages
disaster research)
Session Chair: Prof. Ortwin Renn, Member, Board of Directors of GADRI, IASS, Potsdam, Germany
Presenter: Prof. Charles Scawthorn, The Chair of the Committee on Networking, PEER, University ofCalifornia, Berkeley, USA
The Chair of the Committee on Networking, Prof.
Charles Scawthorn, PEER, University of California,
Berkeley, USA, started by stating that the dictionary
defines networking as the action or process ofinteracting with others to exchange information anddevelop professional or social contacts. But in thecontext of GADRI, “fostering that is mechanisms andactions for communication and exchanges to promotedisaster research”. That is the working definition of
networking.
Networking should be both within GADRI and in to
the larger world. It is important to put in context the
networking committee within the activities of the othercommittees as networking activities overlaps withactivities of all the other four committees.
Each of the committees will be networking withinthemselves and within GADRI. Networking is required
for the activities of all of the committees. For
example, networking that would occur for data
information sharing, it might be personal exchanges.
Institutional capacity building, it might be bringing
people together. For advocacy, it might beestablishing into determining what positions areneeded and would require a large consensus activity
or networking. For the S&T Roadmap, it would mean
bringing the mappers together and what data to shareand so on.
The networking committee will
actually, in a sense be trying to bringthe other committees and GADRI into
all these activities at the same time. In
other words, to form teams so each ofthese committees can interact. These
activities will also occur externally,
where with the advocacy committeeor the scientific and technology

12roadmap committee or the other committees want toreach out. They will need to network in that regard.
The Committee on Networking is:•Just formed, no specific activities as yet•

Possible activities being considered:•

Foster some sort of blog on disaster research(time intensive, need a natural blogger)•

Or, aggregate other blogs related to disaster
research (ditto)•

Develop and promote a template for personnel
exchanges (for example formation of “GADRI
Scholars”) for example, someone in one of themember institutes would spend a few months ormore at another GADRI institute. (funding isneeded for this initiative) –•Create a scholarly journal of disaster research(what is GADRI already doing?) GADRI does not
yet have an official journal. Several people werevery active in GADRI or editors of journals thatmight be, appropriate for GADRI. For example, Dr.
Walter Amman. Chairs, the Journal of International
Disaster Research. Or is one of the editors of that,
Dr. David Alexander is lead editor. Or a newjournal, the Annuals of Disaster Research. That•

Better utilize social media - GADRI has a
Facebook page, but it is not really being
reaching its potential. The younger
generation are more familiar with social
media and its potentials. There is a need insome way see how social media can bebetter employed for bringing for networking,for the disaster research community.
•

Currently the GADRI website is adirectory of member institutes. In
networking, it is necessary to talk to
people and this cannot be done throughdirectory of member institutes. Therefore,
it is proposed to create a global directoryof disaster researchers. This can be done
by circulating to all of the member institutes aninvitation for all of their researchers to register
online into a directory. They fill out their names,
their filiation and so on. Check off thelanguages that they are fluent in, provide their
ID for example, and check off their interests,
whatever it might be. Earthquake or analyticalmodels or statistical empirical models and soon and so forth. The interests would be
structured according to a disaster taxonomy orseveral out there.

would explore that topic that interests them. But all
this is fostered by simply having a directory where
one can quickly identify like minded people. This issomething that GADRI can easily create andmaintain at relatively low cost and would be very
valuable.
In conclusion:•committee on networking, like the othercommittees, is just a nascent and is now
ramping up•

need to collaborate with the other committees
because networking is one of the fundamental
tools by which we all advance.

•

The first activity might be a global disaster
research directory (GDRD). Would like yourthoughts on that and the discussion here.

•

And of course, collecting all this information,
the following must be concerned with:•First of all, the registration would be opt-in,•coordinated with the member institutes.

•

GADRI Secretariat would provide suitablesafeguards against hacking or other kinds ofabuse.

•

If the directory is to go ahead, support from the
GADRI Secretariat is needed.

It would be a voluntary registration of people.

•

AS the committee go forward, the committee
may spawn larger activities, such as a GADRI
scholar program but that would need added
funding to be determined.

•

Given the several hundred member institutes of
GDRI, this directory would quickly grow to 1000 or
more, disaster researchers around the world. This
would be a very valuable directory. For example,
someone is interested in the intersection ofearthquake and fire and field data collection. They
input those people, check off their interests. Thenthey go to the directory and check off those interestsand find all the other researchers that are interested
and have the same interests. With that they can
begin networking with those people. That networking
may take the form of a blog on the narrow topic, or it
may take the form of some kind of a symposia,
colloquium, or other kinds of meetings where they13

The Chair of the session reiterated that the Committee
on Networking will be focused on communicating withpeople than with institutions. He also confirmed two main
proposals that came out of the presentation, i.e toestablish a directory of researchers of GADRI members;
and the formation of GADRI scholars programme whichof course may need funding to be implemented.

Comments:•

The GADRI directory idea is remarkable and it issomething the Committee on Networking could
focus initially.

•

GADRI Secretariat organizes the Global Summitof GADRI every biennium to promote
networking. But the work of the Committee on
Networking will be outside of the meetingsorganized by the GADRI Secretariat•

the committee’s purpose is to foster and tocreate and help to strengthen mechanisms forexchange of information. The Committee will bealert to opportunities to foster, strengthen,
networking when there is a global summit or any
other kind of GADRI activity.

The 4th Open Discussion Forum was closed by the
Chair of the Board of Directors of GADRI, Prof. Paul
Kovacs; and the Secretary-General of GADRI, Prof.
Hirokazu Tatano. They thanked all participants fortaking time off from their busy schedules to join the
4th Open Discussion Forum and for their thoughts

14•

It is recommended to strengthen existing tools
for social media.

•

The Chair of the Committee stressed that thebiggest contribution to make would be to try tocreate mechanisms for networking that do notalready exist. For example, the directory could
take on a life of its own. Another the concept of
GADRI scholar program, although this may
require funding. Member institutes can help withthis by getting funding from their nationalsources to foster a program of GADRI scholars
and exchange between institutes. This could bea vibrant activity.

and ideas. They reiterated that it is through working
together that it is possible to better serve society,better advance many of the personal goals, andachieve GADRI goals for a better world which
realize disaster risk reduction in the reality.

15

New Members of the Board of Directors of GADRI
Farewells and Welcome

Through the end 2021 to early 2022, GADRISecretariat conducted a election process among themembers of GADRI to elect new members to fill the
positions of the outgoing members of the Board of
Directors of GADRI. There was a very good
response from the community of GADRI and we
thank everyone who supported and participated in
the process.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank themembers of the Board of Directors of GADRI whoseterm of office ended as of 31st March 2022. They
serve the community of GADRI for four full years
since 1 April 2018.

• Prof. Ortwin Renn, Institute for Advanced
Sustainability Studies (IASS), Potsdam, Germany• Prof. Mahua Mukherjee and Prof. Sumit Sen, IIT,
Roorkee, India• Dr. Indrajit Pal, Disaster Preparedness, Mitigationand Management (DPMM) at Asian Institute ofTechnology (AIT), Thailand• Dr. Rodrigo Cienfuegos, CIGIDEN, Chile

Although they will be missed by the Board of
Directors of GADRI, it is comforting to note that they
will be actively involved in the Committees of GADRI
and other initiatives to support the work of GADRI.
On behalf of the members of the Board of Directorsof GADRI and the community of GADRI, we thankall of them for the generous contributions during thepast four years.

While we let go of the above members from theBoard of Directors of GADRI, we welcomed thefollowing five members to the Board:• Dr. Kaulsahl Keraniyage, Research Centre forDisaster Resilience, University of Salford, UK• Prof. Yuichi Ono, International Research Instituteof Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University,
Japan• Dr. Sunil Prakash and Dr. Bill Ho, Asian Disaster
Preparedness Center (ADPC), Thailand• Dr. James Kendra, Disaster Research Center,
University of Delaware, USA• Dr. Lina Ospina, National Unit for Disaster Risk
Management, Colombia

They brought in their valuable voluntary services tothe Board of Directors of GADRi:• experiences and expertise in their respective
fields of science to share in with the communityof GADRI. To mention a few:
• Contributions to the Global Summits of GADRI
held in March 2019 and August 2021
• Contributions to the GADRI Open Discussion
Forum held in 2018, 2020, and March 2022
• Representing GADRI at various conferences• Making time to participate in meetings of theBoard of Directors of GADRI

16

They will serve the community of GADRI during theperiod of 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2026. The
members of Board of Directors of GADRI andcommunity of GADRI look forward to working withthem and benefitting from their expertise to attainthe visions and objectives of GADRI.

Current Membersof the Board of Directors of GADRI
1 April 202 to 31 March 2026
Americas covering North and South America

Prof. Paul Kovacs

Dr. Lina Marlene Dorado González

Chair, GADRI Board of Directors; andDeputy Director, Unidad Nacional para laGestión del Riesgo de Desastres de Colombia-UNGRD) - National Unit for Disaster Risk
Management in Colombia

founder and Executive Director of the Institutefor Catastrophic Loss Reduction at Western
University, Canada

Prof. James Kendra

Dr. John van de Lindt

Professor, Biden School of Public Policy and
Administration; Director, Disaster ResearchCenter Disaster Research Center, Universityof Delaware, USA

Professor, Harold H. Short Endowed Chair, CoDirector, Center for Risk-Based Community
Resilience Planning, Colorado State University,
USA

Asia and Oceania

Prof. Gretchen Kalonji

Prof. Toshio Koike

Dean, Institute for Disaster Management andReconstruction (IDMR), Sichuan University,
China

International Centre for Water Hazard and
Risk Management (ICHARM) under the
auspices of UNESCO, Japan

Prof. Yuichi Ono
Professor, Practical Research and Collaboration
Division, International Research Institute ofDisaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University,
Japan

Dr. Bill Ho
Director, Asian Disaster Prevention Center(ADPC), Bangkok, Thailand

17Dr. Sunil Prashar
Project Officer, Asian Disaster Preparedness
Center (ADPC), Thailand

Europe and Africa

Dr. Sebesvari, Zita

Prof. Peter Sammonds
Institute Director and Head of Department,
Institute for Risk and Disaster Research(IRDR), University College London (UCL),
United Kingdom

Institute for Environment and Human Security,
United Nations University (UNU-EHS),
Germany

Prof David Alexander
Professor of Risk and Disaster Reduction, Instfor Risk & Disaster Reduction, Faculty ofMaths & Physical Sciences, University
College London (UCL), United Kingdom

Dr. Kaushal Keraminiyage
Centre for Disaster Resilience, University ofSalford, Manchester, United Kingdom

GADRI Secretariat

Prof. Hirokazu Tatano
Secretary-General, GADRI; Professor andHead, Social Systems for Disaster Risk Governance, Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University, Japan18

Dr. Dilanthi Amaratunga, Professor of Disaster
Risk Reduction and Management; Head, Global
Disaster Resilience Centre, School of Applied
Sciences, University of Huddersfield, UK shared
information on the “International Research andInnovation Symposium on Dengue amidst the
pandemic: Improving preparedness and response
for multi-hazard scenarios - 2022 which was heldfrom 16-17 March 2022, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The ongoing COVID-19 outbreak is an
unprecedented event in modern human history.
The impact of the pandemic also reflects what theinternational scientific community has recognisedfor years: that in an increasingly interdependentworld, our lifestyles, our choices mean that hazards
are spread throughout communities, societies andeconomies in complex ways that lead to systemic
and cascading risks.
With this backdrop, this high-level, international
symposium will debate and discuss:•

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic and othercommunicable diseases, such as dengue andmalaria, and their role as part of overall multihazard scenarios, integrating both natural
biological hazards•

Opportunities for pandemic preparedness andresponse to make better use of the existing
infrastructure, including other hazards’ early
warning protocols•

Multi-stakeholder approaches to collectively
examine impacts, coordinate fiscal, monetary,and social measures, share practices and tolearn lessons

19

The symposium is being organised by:•

Project consortium of the UKRI/EPSRC funded
research collaboration: Improving COVID-19
and pandemic preparedness and response
through the downstream of multi-hazard early
warning systems, led by University of
Huddersfield, UK•

Ministry of Health Sri Lanka (National Dengue
Control Unit, Anti Malaria Campaign, Disaster
Preparedness & Response Division)•

National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka

The symposium will take place via a hybrid
modality that includes on-site and online
participation. The on-site venue is Waters Edge, Sri
Lanka(https://www.watersedge.lk).
Thesearrangements are subject to change based on any
COVID related restrictions.
For further details on symposium themes, key
dates, and special features, please visit the
symposium web site at: http://pandemic-mhew.org/
index.php/symposium-2022.”

GADRI Recommendations
UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties(COP26)
Glasgow, UK, November 2021
The international community is called to take action
on climate change, and encourage communities tohelp in the effort to maintain the temperatures at
1.5C degrees in order to maintain a healthierenvironment, and health. The 5th Global Summit of
GADRI: Engaging Sciences with Action held virtuallyand intercontinentally 31st August to 1st September
2021, focused specifically to contribute to the UN
Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26)
held in Glasgow, UK in November 2021. The
conference programme focused on topics related toclimate change and requested the group discussion
sessions to share recommendation to be submitted
to COP26. Prof. Andrew Collins, former Chair of theBoard of Directors of GADRI and a member instituteof GADRI, coordinated with the United Kingdom
Research and Innovation (UKRI) to submit therecommendations of the 5th Global Summit of GADRI
to COP26. Following are the “Priority research
themes arising from discussions of the Global
Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes (GADRI) for
COP26 in collaboration with United Kingdom
Research and Innovation1.

infrastructure and societal preparedness•

Multidisciplinary research that develops
comprehensive models of physical, social, andeconomic infrastructure at local level, with local
engagement from the very beginning for
grounded understanding of strengths andvulnerabilities•

Science in action for residents, governments,
practitioners, and researchers. National andlocal DRR policy feeds boosted by dealing withmulti-hazards and new risk landscapes thatengages multi-stakeholder and inter-sector
corporations in win-win relationship.

•

Boosted international collaboration throughfunding mechanisms rooted in research into
action. Bridge risk reduction and adaptation gaps
through shared understanding and improved
communication of science for populations,researchers, policy makers and economic actors.

•

Greater understanding and proactive engagementwith the criticality of eco-systems-based
disaster risk reduction and nature-based
solutions in climate change adaptation andresilience. Understanding of the role ofheterogeneity and biodiversity within mixed
narratives providing context for evidence.

•

Intergenerational equity and justice in
confronting climate induced disaster risk bymaking sure young people have a seat at thetable. Enroot a “culture of protection” andengagement through ongoing practice guidelines
for Disaster Risk Management education, as
normal to education systems for all age groups,
and those beyond formal education - include the
UN in endorsements.”

Priority research themes:•

An integrated approach for Disaster Risk
Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change
Adaptation (CCA) that is timely in the contextsof speeded up climate emergency•

Data and knowledge sharing both at national
and international level, including transboundary
collaboration and evidence from observations
spanning in-situ and remotely sensed
observations of weather and climate andassociated levels of exposure•

Impact-based forecasting, early warning andrapid information dissemination in theinterestsofachievingmore
resilient1

GADRI is an alliance of 209 disaster research institutions, centres and groups from 53 economies that also works alongside five world
regional alliances and engages with global, regional, national and local level policy and practice. The 5 th Global Summit of GADRI in 2021
was attentive to regional alliances, including UK Alliance for Disaster Research (UKADR) and a collaboration with UK Research andInnovation (UKRI) on Adaptation and Resilience, to bring disasters research to bare on the outcomes of UN COP26.

20

5th Global Summit of
GADRI and COP26

The United Kingdom Research and Innovation(UKRI)’s COP26 Series on Adaptation and Resilienceran a ‘finale event’ twice on the 15th December, to be
active in two time zones and include participation ofmany of the countries that hosted the series. As
GADRI is one of the partners and linked into thisprocess through its Global Summit output, that was
taken into the COP26 display, they requested GADRI
participation in the panel in the finale event on the 15 th
December 2021.
GADRI was represented by:•Prof. Paul Kovacs, Chair, Board of Directors of
GADRI, GADRI; and•Prof. Mahua Mukherjee, Member, Board of
Directors of GADRI, GADRI; and•Prof. Andrew Collins, Co-chair, UKADR; andMember, GADRI; Disaster and Development
Network, Northumbria University, UK

The report on UKRI’s COP26 Adaptation andResilience Series for which GADRI served as apartner was prepared and shared by Dr. SarahBlackburn,
HeadofInternational,
NaturalEnvironment
Research
Council,UK
sharedinformation by the “UKRI and partners report of the
COP26 Adaptation and Resilience Events Series,

21

which was published on the UKRI website on 16
March 2022: UKRI report outlines key priorities forclimate change adaptation – UKRI”.
Dr. Blackburn wrote that “the report summarises thefindings of an international events series hosted by
UKRI last year in the run up to the COP26 climatechange conference in Glasgow. The events brought
together a range of stakeholders to showcase
collaborative, locally-led and globally relevant
research aligned to the UK COP26 presidency’s
adaptation loss and damage theme. Discussions
focussed on how we can respond to and prepare forthe impacts of climate change in a wide range oflocations across the globe and identified sharedresearch interests and core principles forincorporating within future climate adaptation research
initiatives. Watch the compilation video for thehighlights!”.
(compilation video compilation video“Please feel free to share the report with any
interested colleagues. A huge thank you to all of our
UK and international co-host partners and speakers
for contributing to the events series, we look forward
to working together again in future and continuing tosupport cross-stakeholder dialogue around key
climate adaptation and resilience issues.”

New Members of GADRI
Nord University, Bodo, Norway

Nord university preparedness management lab(NORDLAB) provides an arena for situationalawareness and risk assessments with a special
focus on cold-climate areas, as well as
education, research, exercises and tests withincrisis management related to sea, land and airbased emergency response. NORDLAB is thelead partner of the UArctic thematic network on
safety and security and also holds a chair onSocietal Safety and Se UArctic - UArctic University of the Arctic.

Our research projects increase knowledge about
preparedness management in cold climate areas.
Research Interests:•

Crisis management•

Preparedness•

Disaster response•High impact low probability incidents•

Multi-agency partnership and collaboration

NORDLAB provides computer-based simulation
capacities integrated with crisis management
decision-support tools and command and control
support systems.

•

Crisis management training and exercises•

Cold climate challenges•

Education within crisis management

In cooperation with world-leading suppliers of
emergency preparedness software, modellingand simulation systems as well as decision
making support solutions we offer an advanced
training and test arena within emergency
management for students and professionals.

•

Community resilience and human factors

Comparative advantage/contribution to GADRI
Activities:NORDLAB is doing research on managerial roles,
preparedness
organization
andcollaboration, •resilience, and crisis management competencedevelopment.
•
NORDLAB participates actively in research anddevelopment (R&D) related to different areas of•crises, such as maritime disasters and hybrid threats.
NORDLABemphasis
researchon
disaster
preparedness
andmanagement,
including •emergency preparedness system analysis, decisionmaking support tools and leadership. At NORDLAB
we also participate in innovation projects related to•nextgenerations’cloud-based
simulator
systems. The research has a focus on testing
different simulation approaches including computerbased simulation and full-scale,field exercises.
•
NORDLAB offer counseling and competent advisors •within the field of emergency preparedness. Ourcompetence encompasses public and private sectors,
as well as preparedness management and –leadership in private sector and in the communities.

22

Contribute to joint education and training
concepts within emergency management.
Focus on preparedness and crisis management
in large scale disasters.
Adapting
simulator
platforms
management training and exercisesforcrisisRisk reduction and disaster resilience throughimproving disaster response as well as continuity
management.
Enhancing disaster preparedness throughincreased collaboration at different managementlevelsBroaden the network towards the cold climate
issues and maritime disaster issues.
Contribute to international research groups toinvestigate current and past global disasters andimprove crisis management education andtraining

Natural Disasters Research Institute (NDRI), I.R. of IranIn the aftermath of the disastrous Gilan and Zanjan
earthquake in 1990 in Iran, the Technical Capacity
Mobilization Office of Iran was established for thereconstruction of the affected areas in cooperation
with the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) and the United Nations Human Settlements
Programme (UN-Habitat) under the supervision of the
Housing
FoundationofIslamic
Revolution.
By ending the World Bank's loan and approving a new
statute in 1993, the Centre for Natural Disasters
Mitigation Studies of Iran was established andcontinued
its
activities
until
1998.
In 1998, the Centre was renamed to Natural Disasters
Research and Study Centre. As a response to anational need in conducting research on natural
disasters, the Centre’s statute was revised in 2003.
Following the permit issued by the Ministry of Science,
Research and Technology and approved by theHigher Education Development Council, the Centre
was transformed to the Natural Disasters ResearchInstitutetoaddressthese
goals:
1. Development and promotion of research in thefield of natural disasters
2. Promoting the relevant research activities
At present, the Institute consists of six researchgroups, i.e. Crisis Management Research Group,
Environmental Hazards and Meteorological Disasters
Research
Group,
Structural
RetrofittingandReconstruction Research Group, Geological Hazards
Research Group, Hydrological Hazards ResearchGroup, and Post-disaster Reconstruction andRehabilitation Research Group. There are alsoaffiliation units, including the UNESCO Chair on
Natural Disasters Management, Centre of Applied
Science, Journal of Housing and Rural Environment,
Natural Disasters Technology Start-up Incubator,
International Center for Urban Resilience Research(ICURR), Innovation and Future Study Think Tank in
Crisis Management, Rural Development ResearchCentre, Vulnerable and Distressed Urban Areas
Research Centre.

23

The National Disaster Management Strategy of Islamic Republic of
Iran and the included national plans were enacted, 15 Dec 2021

Projects:•

Feasibility study of relocation of villages at risk ofnatural disasters•

Feasibility study of optimal settlement of rural
settlements at risk of natural disasters•

Documenting and recording the oral history of thecountry's past disasters•

consulting on vulnerability assessment
seismic improvement of bridges in Tehran•

Preparation of technical identification of steel,concrete and masonry buildings•

Qualitative and quantitative seismic vulnerability
assessment of important buildings in the country•

Preparation of executive
retrofitting and improvement•

Provision of geotechnical services and strength ofmaterials by destructive and non-destructive tests•

Provision of laboratory services of seismic pulse
and forced vibration•

Management of the country's school rehabilitation
plan•

Landslide risk zoning in the provinces of thecountry

instructions

and

for

GADRI Members
Established in March 2015, the Global Alliance ofDisaster
Research
Institutes
supporttheimplementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster
Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (SFDRR) and the work of
the Scientific and Technical Advisory Group of theUnited Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction(UNDRR).
In line with its vision, GADRI strives to deepen theunderstanding of disasters and find implementable
solutions to achieve disaster resilience; i.e. human,
technical system and infrastructure resilience,survivability and well-being, by integrating knowledge
and technologies from around the world. Over 200
institutions have joined GADRI.GADRI membershipis free; and completely voluntary and non-binding.
GADRI Secretariat is currently headquartered andhosted by the Disaster Prevention Research Institute(DPRI), Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
To join GADRI, please contact the GADRISecretariat: secretariat-gadri@dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Geographical Distribution of GADRI as of 30 April 2022
Area

Members

Economies

Africa12

7

Americas

37

8

Asia
(Excluding Japan)

83

23

Europe

37

13

Japan

33

1

Oceania102

Total Institutes

212

54

53 economies

Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes (GADRI)
Secretariat
Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI)
Kyoto University, Uji Campus, Gokasho, Uji-shi
Kyoto 611-0011, JAPAN
Tel: +81-774-38-4621
Fax: +81-774-38-4254
E-mail: secretariat-gadri@dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Web: www.gadri.net

All rights reserved. GADRI ACTIONS is the property of GADRI and protected by the international copyright laws. GADRIACTIONS contents may not be reprinted, copied, and distributed without the copyright holder's prior written permission.

24