Annual Report 2017

Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 1

We thank all our members for their inputs to the GADRI Annual Report 2017.

GADRI Annual Report 2017 is the property of GADRI Secretariat.
Edited and designed by Hirokazu Tatano and Wilma James.
Copyright © 2017 by GADRI Secretariat.
All rights reserved. GADRI Annual Report 2017 or any portion thereof may
not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express
written permission of the publisher—GADRI Secretariat.
GADRI Secretariat
Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI)
Kyoto University, Uji Campus
Gokasho, Uji Shi
Kyoto 611-0011, Japan
Tel: +81-0774-38-4651
E-mail: secretariat-gadri@dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Web: www.gadri.net

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 2

GADRI Annual Report 2017

Contents
Background5

Message from GADRI Secretary-General

8

GADRI Activities

10

Keeping in touch with GADRI Members

17

List of GADRI Member Institutes

57

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 3

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 4

In November 2011, when the First Global Summit of
Research Institutes for Disaster Risk Reduction washeld at the Disaster Prevention Research Institute(DPRI), Kyoto University, Uji Campus, Kyoto, Japan,
participants recognized the need to bring together
research institutes working on disaster risk
prevention and mitigation in various disciplines. The
Summit Resolution proposed to establish aninternational alliance fostered by DPRI, Kyoto
University.

This proposition was seconded during the Second
Global Summit held at DPRI, Kyoto University, UjiCampus, Kyoto, Japan and the Global Alliance ofDisaster
Research
Institutes(GADRI)wasestablished in March 2015 soon after the UN World
Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR,
2015) that was held at Sendai, Japan with a mandate
to support the implementation of the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

GADRI is a member of the Scientific and TechnicalAdvisory Group (STAG) of the United Nations Officefor Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). GADRI
works closely with the science and technology
community endorsing policies related to disaster risk
reduction,anddisseminating
andsharing
cutting-edge knowledge and information supported
by evidence-based research among research
institutions, international organizations and theprivate sector in various nation states.

Today, GADRI has more than 150 member institutes
to its credit. Its partners and research networks
continue to evolve and strengthen research activities
towards disaster risk reduction and management.

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 5

Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes (GADRI)

Our Mission
Strive to build a collaborative global platform to bridge the gap between
policy makers and academicians to examine challenges in disaster risk
management and contribute to disaster resilience in the world.

Our Vision
To deepen the understanding of disasters and find implementable solutions
to achieve disaster resilience, by integrating knowledge and technologies
from around the world.

Our Values
•
•
•
•
•
•

To support the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster
Risk Reduction 2015-2030
To establish a global research network that promotes and engages
disaster research.
To provide a research road map, with plans that help facilitate theorganization of disaster research groups.
To promote capacity building and development of disaster research
institutes and enhances researcher and student exchange.
To promote exchange and sharing of data and information for
scientific research across the globe.
To serve as an advocacy organization presenting evidence-based
approaches that influence decision-making processes.

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 6

GADRI One of a kind Network
We seek to contribute to enhancing disaster risk reduction and disaster resilience in close collaboration withorganizations around the world through sharing of information, knowledge, experiences, ideas and initiatives
on relevant research.

With Unique Activities•••

Planning and organization of regionally or
globallycollaborative disaster risk research
initiatives
Formation of international research groups toinvestigate current global disasters, andimplement new research methodologies fordisaster risk reduction and implementation
Establishment of an international network fortimely communication related to research on
disasters

•
•

•
•

Organization of conferences, workshops andmeetings
Dissemination and sharing of information,
publications, reports, data and other research
outputs
Facilitation of rapid reconnaissance field surveys
following disasters
Preparation of GADRI news releases, policy
recommendations, news bulletins, research
reports, and other publications.

GADRI and the Global Summit Series
1st Global Summit of Research Institutes for
Disaster Risk Reduction• Held during the aftermath of the Great East
Japan Earthquake & Tsunami at DPRI) Kyoto
University, Uji Campus, Kyoto, Japan• Participation of 52 institutes – 88 participantsfrom 14 countries• Proposed establishment of an international
alliance of disaster reduction and risk
management fostered by DPRI, Kyoto
University

2nd Global Summit of Research Institutes for
Disaster Risk Reduction• Organized by Disaster Prevention ResearchInstitute (DPRI), Kyoto University, Uji Campus,
Kyoto, Japanrd• Held soon after the 3 UN World Conference on
Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR)• Majority of the attendants were from UN andother organizations attending the WCDRR• Participation of 186 participants from 21
countries• Resolution passed to establish GADRI

3rd Global Summit of Research Institutes for Disaster Risk Reduction• Organized by GADRI and attended by 251 participants from 33 states around the world
representing 102 institutes• Awarded 20 full fellowships to researchers in developing countries• 24 Oral and 32 poster presentations• Developed a table of current and future research status of disaster risk reductionrd• Proposed to publish the Proceedings of the 3 Global Summit in major scientific journals• Proposed to publish GADRI Prospectus containing information of GADRI Member institutes; andst• Held the 1 GADRI General Assembly with participation of 58 institutions

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 7

Message from GADRI Secretary-General

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 8

It gives me great pleasure to share with you the first edition of GADRI Annual Report 2017. This edition
captures reflections of our outcomes during the past year.
In March, the highly successful 3rd Global Summit of Research Institutes for Disaster Risk Reduction:
Expanding the Platform for Bridging Science and Policy Making which was held at the Disaster Prevention
Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University, Uji Campus, Kyoto, Japan from 19 to 21 March 2017 wasorganized by the Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes (GADRI). One major outcome of theconference was the proposal to establish a multi-disciplinary book series by GADRI on disaster risk reduction.
Keeping up with the momentum, and supported by the Kyoto University, GADRI launched the Disaster andRisk Research: GADRI Book Series in July. The Series will provide visions and knowledge to connect with thecurrent status of science and technology with future directions for disaster research to contribute for disaster
resilience in communities. Knowledge, regulations and policy measures are failing short to ensure disaster
resilient societies as they are applied in an isolated manner. The gap remains wider between what is known
and what needs to be done. Applying a multi-disciplinary approach, disaster risk issues could be managed ina holistic and integrated manner which would integrate different disciplines, different stakeholders and experts.
The series will focus on deepening the understanding of risks from the perspective of different disaster
research domains; and manage and plan disaster risk reduction. The series would be welcome byresearchers across disciplines, students, policy makers, planners, practitioners and others engaged in disasterrisk management and resilience to disasters. During the editorial meeting held in November, an impressive
number of thirteen book proposals in various disciplines were finalized. The proposals were submitted toSpringer Nature for approval and eventual publication.
Recognition by UNISDR and nomination to the 21-member institute Science and Technology Advisory Group(STAG) for the first-term of two years renewable by one more term (2017-2018 and 2019-2020) is anotherlaudable milestone. The first face-to-face meeting was attended by the GADRI Chair of the Board,
Prof. Andrew Collins. Three working groups of core topics were set-up to take forward to the 2019 Global
Platform and beyond. GADRI co-lead the group on ‘Data’ together with EC-JRC.
At the Global Forum on Science and Technology for Disaster Resilience 2017 organized by the Science
Council of Japan, GADRI contributed to the “Tokyo Statement 2017” which is committed to join and lead efforts
by the science and technology community to work closely with various stakeholders towards achievement of adisaster resilient world. Members of the Board of GADRI are closely working with the group.
In addition, GADRI actively participated at the World Bosai Forum 2017 held in Sendai, Japan in November
and at many other international conferences. GADRI membership continued to increase. As of December
2017, GADRI was significantly represented to nearly 150 institutes in 40 states.
I believe we have accomplished more than was expected during the year 2017. Challenges facing us today
are more substantial and complex in nature and I am certain by evolving the expertise of our network, we can
improve disaster risk reduction and find solutions for a disaster resilient world.
Learn about the members of GADRI and how the commitment and passion of a diverse based community,
dedicate and contribute their efforts to research in disaster risk reduction and resilience to disasters around theworld.
I would like to express my gratitude to our members of the Board, Advisers, members and colleagues as noneof these accomplishments would have been possible without your support. I thank you for your continued
support.
I hope you will enjoy reading GADRI Annual Report 2017.

Hirokazu Tatano
Secretary-General, GADRIGADRI Annual Report 2017— 93rd Global Summit of Research Institutes for Disaster
Risk Reduction — 19 to 21 March 2017

The Third Global Summit of ResearchInstitutes for Disaster Risk Reduction:
Expanding the Platform for Bridging
Science and Policy Making was held at
the Disaster Prevention Research Institute(DPRI), Kyoto University, Japan from 19
to 21 March 2017 and was organized by
the Global Alliance of Disaster Research
Network (GADRI). The Summit was
attended by various experts in theinternational science and technology
community, governments, private sector,
and academia within Japan and abroadwith majority of the participants being
members of GADRI.
The Summit paved an opportunity toevaluate existing research projects andpractices, collaborative research activities
and examine current research gaps inmost needed research areas in disaster risk reduction and was concluded with a positive note to work
towards improving networking among members and encourage collaborative international research work on
disaster risk reduction to bridge the gaps between science and technology and policy making whereby
contributing to the objectives of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. The
conference featured eleven keynote speeches out of which five members were from the UN and others fromthe government, diplomatic mission, national organisations and the academia, and attracted over 250
participants representing 102 institutes within 38 states. There were eight parallel group discussion sessions
and three panel sessions which produced a final resolution document. The Proceedings of the 3rd Global
Summit including a few selected papers will be published by Springer Japan. One of the recommendations
was to establish a multi-disciplinary GADRI Book Series to discuss the current status of disaster risk reduction
research.
(L-R) Andrew Collins (Northumbria University), Kaoru Takara (Director, DPRI,
and Deputy Executive Director, Kyoto University), Tadashi Yamamoto (Mayor,
Uji City), Shuichi Yamauchi (Vice-Governor, Kyoto Prefecture)

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 10

GADRI and the UN
GADRI is committed to work together
withmulti-disciplinary
research
institutes in advocating sharing of
knowledge
andevidence-based
research results to reduce disaster risk
and make the world resilient todisasters
includingthroughtheframeworks and vision of the United
Nations.
GADRI is in a better position today toplay an important role to further
facilitate contributions from the Science
Yuichi Ono (Tohoku University), Andrew Collins (Chair of GADRI
and Technology community towards theBoard of Directors), Hirokazu Tatano (Secretary-General, GADRI) at
the UNISDR 2017 Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction,
implementationof
theSendaiCancun, Mexico)
Framework through reinforcing various
channels to deliver on the key actionsof the UNISDR Science and Technology Roadmap which was established during the Science and Technology
Conference held in January 2016.

Message from the Chair of the Board of Directors
There is a fundamental problem in that major changes to life onearth are still increasing faster than we have developed sufficientscience and technology, political will and human behaviour
needed to reduce disaster risk. The act of ‘allying’ or state of‘being allied’ to those aware of and committed to addressing thischallenge across the research community globally is one way tohelp make a difference for future generations. It is a great
privilege to serve as Chair for an immense wealth of expertise
represented by GADRI.

First General Assembly
The first General Assembly of GADRI was held on 21 March2017 at the Kyoto City Hall, Kyoto, Japan. The meeting wasattended by 58 GADRI member institutes. During the meeting,unanimous endorsement was received on the Chair of the Boardof Directors, Secretary-General of GADRI, Charter of GADRI –this was endorsed with a few clarifications raised by themembers, current activities of GADRI, and outcomes of the 3rd
Global Summit. The meeting was chaired by the Chair of theBoard of Directors.

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 11

Prof. Shahbaz Khan, Director, UNESCO
Jakarta Regional Science Bureau for Asia andthe PacificBoard of Directors
GADRI is governed by an able and geographically balanced Board of Directors representing their affiliatedinstitutions. The term of the Board is for a period of four years with the first half of the members serving two
years. The member institutions of the Board are elected by the GADRI General Assembly which constitutethe members of GADRI.

Member Institutes of the Board of Directors

Europe and Africa
1.

International Institute for Applied System Analysis (IIASA), Austria
Prof. Pavel Kabat represented by Dr. Stefan Hochrainer-Stigler

2.

European Commission, Joint Research Centre EC-JRC), Italy
Dr. Tom De Groeve

3.

Disaster Development Network (DDN), Northumbria University, UK
Prof. Andrew Collins (Chair of the Board)

Asia and Oceania
4.

International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University, Japan
Prof. Fumihiko Imamura represented by Prof. Yuichi Ono

5.

National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED), Japan
Prof. Koji Suzuki

6.

GNS Science, New Zealand
Dr. Gill Jolly represented by Dr. Kelvin Berryman

7.

National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR), Chinese Taipei
Prof. Wei-Sen Li

Americas
8.

Disaster Risk Research, Institute of Geography, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM),
MexicoProf. Irasema Alcántara-Ayala

9.

Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER), National Information Service for
Earthquake Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, USA
Prof. Khalid Mosalam

10.

Natural Hazards Center (NHC), University of Colorado- Boulder, USA
Prof. Lori Peek

GADRI Secretariat
11.

Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University, Uji Campus, Kyoto, Japan
Prof. Hirokazu Tatano, Secretary-General

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 12

Integrated Arts and Sciences for Disaster Reduction Research GroupDr.
Subhajyoti
Samaddar
Associate Professor

Social Systems for Disaster Risk Governancehttp://www.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/organization_en/iasdrrg_en/rddms/ssdrg/

As part of research exchange and collaborative
activities, Dr. Subhajyoti Samaddar undertook site
visits to institutes in India. During his site visit to the
Nalanda University, Rajgir, India, he delivered alecture on community partnership during disasters andhow disaster after effects can be curbed throughdisaster risk mitigation through various processes.
Prof. G. J. Chakrapani, Dean, School of Ecology andEnvironment Studies welcomed and introduced
Dr. Samaddar to the audience.
The lecture was focused on his research work done in
the fields of Dharavi and Bhuj, where due to unevenand mismanaged urbanization, ripple effects ofearthquakes cause havoc. He introduced the idea ofminimizing disaster impact through adaptation andmitigation processes based on location specificopportunities and risks.
He focused on the effectiveness of community
participation strategies during and before the calamity.
Such mechanisms will contribute to sustain or
minimize the impact. He placed emphasis on social
consciousness, community participation, public andprivate stakeholder’s role including the role of media
to deliberately handle the issue in such troubled watertimes. Dr. Samaddar was felicitated with a memento
by Dr. Prabhakar Sharma and thanked by theadministration for his inspiring thoughts on the topic.
He also visited the Indian Institute of Technology,
Roorkee which is a member of the GADRI Board of
Directors. He delivered a lecture on“Implementing Community Participation in
Disaster Management and Climate Change
Adaptation: on whose terms?”. The lecture
discussed about his field experiences in
Ghana, Mumbai, Japan and Bangladesh. He
explained the conflicting views on risk
management and the role of community inurban
planning.
Hetaughtvarioustechniques and methods of participatory
based disaster management. He also
explained roles and responsibilities ofdifferent stakeholders.

Geohazards Research Group

Research Division of Geohazards
Mountain Hazards Section
http://www.slope.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/english_ver/index.htm

Prof.
Masahiro Chigira
Head, Mountain Hazards

In addition to engaging in various research activities, international conferences and presentations, the MountainHazards Group proposed and discussed a book on Landslides and Surface Processes Related to be publishedunder GADRI book series. A tentative list of chapters and authors was presented during the first meeting of the
GADRI Book Series held in Tokyo in November 2017. Further details of our group’s research activities can befound at DPRI website.
GADRI Annual Report 2017— 13

Integrated Arts and Sciences for Disaster Reduction Research Group

Prof. Ana Maria Cruz
Professor, Disaster Risk
Management

INTER-Asian initiative on joint
NAtural and TECHnological (Natech)(Intera-Natech) Project
http://www.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/organization_en/iasdrrg_en/drs/drm/

The INTER-Asian initiative on joint NAtural and
TECHnological (Natech) (Intera-Natech) Project,aims at strengthening societal resilience focusing on
industrial estates located at earthquake, tsunami
and flood affected Asian coastal areas.
It proposes the development of an international
comprehensive area-wide risk management
framework for mitigating the impact of natural
disaster triggered chemical accidents. Towards thedevelopment of the project and with the support
and funding of DPRI, several activities wereconducted during the fiscal year 2017.
The 8th Conference of the International Society for
Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRiM) heldin Reykjavik, Iceland from 23-25 August was aplatform to show the Preliminary stages of a newcomprehensive Natech performance rating system.
We participated in the Young Scientist Session(YSS), with an oral and poster presentation. An
award and recognition was received as one of the
10 best presentations in the YSS. Later on in
October 14th-18th, we attended to the 9th ChinaJapan Joint Workshop on Sustainable Managementof Cities and Regions under Disaster andEnvironmental Risks held in
Beijing. We gave an oralpresentation
and
had
an
enrichingexperiencethat
contributed to our research withdiscussions and comments fromthe participants.

proposed framework. Eight multi-stakeholder
meetings were conducted with the participation of
more than 80 experts. In addition, more than 20
public and private organizations were contacted aswell as three industrial visits were carried out. The
main aim of the visits was to obtain expert feedbackon the proposed framework in addition to datacollection for understanding the current state
regarding Natech risk and risk management in
Colombia. As a result, expert feedback was positive
indicating the need for and usefulness of the
proposed framework.
Later on, in January 19th, 2018 we were able toshare the results and findings from our Siteinvestigation of Natechs in Colombia at the Working
Group meeting in Osaka University. Finally, we also
had the chance to participate on the recent DPRI
annual meeting 2018 to show the main findings andcontributions from the field trip to the framework.

December
2017
was
the
opportunity to conduct a field tripin Colombia, with the aim to
introduce the area-wide risk
management
framework
currently under development andits associated methodologies.
Meetings and industry visitswere arranged in order to obtain
input that could help refine theField visit in Colombia

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 14

Seismic and Volcanic Hazards Mitigation Research Group

Sakurajima Volcano Research Center
Prof. Masato Iguchi
Head

http://www.svo.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/svo/english-top-page/

Sakurajima volcano Research Center has conducted
research task D2 “Development of real-time volcanic
ash hazard assessment method” under “Integrated
Program for Next Generation Volcano Research andHuman Resource Development (NGVR)” consigned
from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Scienceand Technology-Japan. We installed 6 X-band MP
radars at 5 volcanoes (Sakurajima, Kirishima,
Satsuma-Iwojima,
Kuchinoerabujima
andSuwanosejima) in South Kyushu to detect volcanic
ash cloud.

mitigation of multimodal disasters caused by ejectionof volcanic products” has been conducted under the
Science and Technology Research Partnership for
Sustainable Development (SATREPS). Sinabungvolcano has been frequently erupting since 2014 withvertical emission of volcanic ash clouds andpyroclastic flows. The X-band MP radar detected adense volcanic ash cloud which elevated up to 8 km.

Sakurajima volcano frequently erupts with vulcanianstyle at the summit crater of Minamidake or Showa
crater east of it. Shinmoedake volcano in Kirishima
volcano complex resumed eruptive activity in October
2017, after 6 years dormancy. Volcanic clouds weresuccessfully detected, even invisible volcanic cloud.
Volcanic cloud by an explosive eruption on
November 13, 2017 at Sakurajima volcano was notseen due to weather cloud covering the summit of
the volcano, however the radar detect echo until theelevation of 4-5 km. The elevation well coincides withplume height estimated from GNSS and discharge
rate estimated by ground deformation and seismic
activity.
In 2014, the technology was well applied to Sinabungvolcano, in Indonesia where “Integrated study on

X-band MP radar

Seismic and Volcanic Hazards Mitigation Research Group

Research Division of Earthquake Hazards
Earthquake Source Mechanisms—
http://www.eqh.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/src/index.htm

Prof. James MoriHead

As part of the activities for the Earthquake and Volcano Group, a book on earthquakes and earthquake
engineering was proposed and discussed to be published under GADRI book series. A tentative list ofchapters and authors was presented at the kick-off meeting of the GADRI Book Series meeting held inTokyo in November 2017. Refer to DPRI webpage to find out more about our research activities.

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 15

Atmosphere and Hydrosphere Research GroupDr.
Kantoush
Sameh
Socio and Eco Environment
Risk Management

Water Resources Research Center
http://www.dpri.kyoto-u.ac.jp/organization_en/ahrg_en/wrrc/

The Water Resources Research Center (WRRC) andGlobal Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes(GADRI) of Disaster Prevention Research Institute(DPRI), Kyoto University initiated the International
Symposium on Flash Floods in Wadi Systems (ISFF)
to investigate flash floods disasters, and implement
new research methodologies, and emphasizing
transdisciplinary approaches in this ever more
important field of research.
In recent years, flash floods in Wadi systems havecaused severe damages, especially in the Arabregions. Human lives, infrastructure such as roads
and buildings as well as the environment areendangered and have been heavily destroyed. Flashfloods are caused by extreme weather conditions,and their occurrence is highly random andassociated problems are expected to increase in thenear future due to climate change.
The first International Symposium on Flash Floods(ISFF) in Wadi Systems held at DPRI, Kyoto
University, Kyoto, Japan in October 2015 wasattended by about one hundred scientists,
practitioners and stakeholders from 11 countries(Japan, Arab Region, Europe; see (http://
ecohyd.dpri.kyotou.ac.jp/en/index/1.html).
ISFF is focusing on existing research gaps in thearea of flash floods based on case studies from fiveArabian countries, to ensure an integrated strategy
and water resources management for wadi systems
intheArabianregion.
Finding
solutions to thesechallenging
problems requires
close collaboration
between scientists– established as
well
as
young
ones, practitioners,
and stakeholders
from federal andpublicorganizations.

Through the ISFF, various stakeholders areencouraged to contribute to the development of
future solutions.
The first event brought together experts fromgovernments, universities, and companies in flash
floods field from Japan, Egypt, Sudan, Jordan,Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Europe, to provide aplatform to present the current areas of investigation
especially in the fields of atmospheric and water
related disaster and integrated disaster risk
management to encourage the forming joint researchcooperation programs.
Subsequently, with the success of the first
symposium, the second symposium was held at
Technische Universitat Berlin, Campus El Gouna,
Egypt from 25 to 27 October 2016. For further
details visit the website.
(http://www.campuselgouna.tu-berlin.de/home/international_symposium_on_flash_floods/).
The third ISFF in Wadi Systems on Disaster Risk
Reduction and Water Harvesting in the Arab Region
was successfully held in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman
from 5 to 7 December 2017.
(http://isff2017.gutech.edu.om/)
Plans are under to organize the 4th ISFF in
Casablanca, Morocco in 2018. (http://isff2018.com)

Third ISFF, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman from 7 to 8 December 2017
GADRI Annual Report 2017— 16

Keeping in Touchwith Members

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 17

Keeping in Touchwith Members

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 18

Centre for Disaster Studies
James Cook University
Dr. Yetta Gurtner
Coordinator

https://www.jcu.edu.au/centre-for-disaster-studies

Research, publications and projects within theCentre for Disaster Studies in 2017 continue toreflect our extensive knowledge base and fieldwork
experience, particularly in tropical regions.
Published research over this period addresses adiversity of themes including mitigation andevacuation behaviours; effective risk and hazard
communication; social/community based disaster
assessment research methodologies; and, social
network analysis for disaster risk reduction andclimate change adaptation (refer to website for fulllist of outputs).
Case studies in 2017 were primarily based aroundfieldwork investigations regarding the impacts andlearnings from Tropical Cyclone Pam (Vanuatu 2015)
and Tropical Cyclone Debbie (North Queensland,
Australia 2017).
This research was partially
supported by a number of small external grants.
Subsequent findings and recommendations havebeen presented at a number of stakeholder forums
including local communities, government agencies,
non-government agencies, academics, industry andother relevant emergency/disaster management
practitioners. Researchers from the Centre also
retain specialist/consultative positions on a numberof associated committees to advise on relevant
policy development and decision making.
AWARDSIn 2017 the journal article: Gurtner, Y (2016)“Returning to Paradise: Investigating Long term
Tourism Crisis Recovery on the Island of Bali”,
Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management.
Special Issue: Crisis Response and Recovery for the
Tourism Industry. Vol 28. pp. 11-19 was Awarded
Highly Commended Paper by Journal of
Hospitality and Tourism Management 2016 .

Airlie Beach Government Recovery Service Trailer—7 April 2017

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 19

Federal University of Campina
Grande (UFCG)
http://www.ufcg.edu.br/

Prof. Carlos de Oliveira Galvão

The Federal University of Campina Grande
conducts studies and research on environmental
disasters in a broad sense, spanning several
areas. This is partly motivated by the institution’s
location in the a semiarid region of Brazil, highpopulated and socially and economicallyvulnerable to environmental hazards, such as
droughts, desertification, land degradation, flash
floods, health vulnerability, leading to social
inequality. Our present interests are onunderstanding local and regional needs and thesocial aspects of Disaster Risk Reduction.
The year 2017 was marked as the sixth year of
the most prolonged drought in the region, leading
to severe consequences both in rural and urban
areas. This climate extreme has impacted several
sectors, such as family-based agriculture andlivestock, water security in rural and urban
settlements, health, soils and biodiversity.
Research challenges addressed by our teamduring 2017 were strongly related to, among othertopics, water availability, pollution, access andmanagement, epidemics of dengue, Zika virus
and Chikungunya, resilient agroecology and family-based agriculture, climate variability and change,
waste management, regional sustainability,
disaster monitoring in rural and urban
environments, risk communication, land cover andchange, desertification.
Our research has been conducted in regional,
national and international networks, consortia
and partnerships. They include the Brazilian

Olho N’Água: Monitoring Reservoirs in Brazilian Semi-Arid

Excellence Institutes on Global Change, onMetropolis Observatory and on Pharmaceutic
Products.
As 2017 highlights, we can share initiatives
related to disaster monitoring. Two satellite-based
systems for monitoring land use cover andchanges, and their relationships to climatechange are the Bioclimate and the SAPS,
produced in cooperation with European
organisations, research centres and universities.
Olho N’Água and Água Nossa are two IT-based
platforms for monitoring storage of water supply
reservoirs, a collaborative system with theBrazilian National Institute for the Semi-Arid(INSA), and inequalities in the access to water inurban areas. The sociodemographic profile ofwomen infected by Zika virus during pregnancy
was a relevant survey for monitoring the impactof this health disaster. The Metropolis
Observatory team at UFCG has established amonitoring effort on the right to the city, an
ongoing national effort on urban processes.
Among disaster mitigation strategies, UFCG’s
Program on the Semi-Arid has consolidated in2017 initiatives on technology innovation for ruralcommunities in the region. UFCG is a supporting
University
ofthe
UNESCO
Chair
on
Geoenvironmental
Disaster
Reduction,
established at Shimane University, Japan, in
2017.

(https://olhonagua.insa.gov.br)

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 20

Science Research Center for
Disaster Risk Reduction (SRCDRR)
University of National and World
Economy (UNWE)
Prof. Dimiter Velev
Director

http://www.unwe.bg/en/

The Science Research Center for Disaster Risk
Reduction (SRCDRR) at the University of Nationaland World Economy (UNWE), Sofia, Bulgaria, hasco-organized the 2nd IFIP Conference on
Information Technology in Disaster Risk
Reduction (ITDRR 2017), October 25 - 27th, 2017,
UNWE, http://itdrr.unwe.bg/.
ITDRR-2017 has provided an international forum forresearchers and practitioners to present their latest
R&D findings and innovations. The conference has
been especially focused on the various IT aspects
and challenges of copying with disaster risk
reduction. ITDDR-2017 invites experts, researchers,
academicians and all other who are interested todisseminate their work. The conference continues toestablish an academic environment that fosters the
dialogue and exchange of ideas between different
levels of academic, research, business and public
communities.
The conference has focused on topics, such as:
Advanced ICT and disasters, Big Data anddisasters, Climate change and disaster risk,
Communications in disasters, Crowdsourcing andemergency management, Disaster information
processing, Disaster prevention and mitigation,
Disaster relief, resilience and research, Disaster risk
management capability assessment, Emergency
preparedness, Hazard, vulnerability and risk
mapping,
ICTchallenges
inemergency
management, Disaster monitoring, Disaster risk
assessment, Security andprivacy issues in disastermanagement, Simulation andgamingfordisastermanagement, Socio-economic
impacts of disasters, etc.
The
ProgramCommittee
received
48
paper
submissions, out of which 18
research papers were finallyaccepted and presented at the conference. The
ITDRR-2017 Proceedings will be published by
Springer.
DisasterTraining
Cooperation

through

International

SRCDRR members took part in the 2017
International Training Workshop on Natural
Disaster Reduction on Regional and Local
Best Practices of Post-Disaster Recovery:
Building Sustainability and Resilience throughScientific Approaches, 17- 21, July, 2017, Taipei,
Taiwan, organized by the National Science andTechnology for Disaster Reduction (NCDR). NCDR
is also a GADRI member.
New R&D project
SCRDRR has started a R&D university project titled:“Research on the Applicability of Virtual Reality
in Education and Training”, with a 2017-2019
period. Special focus of the project is investigating
the VR application for personnel training in disaster
preparedness and relief operations.

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 21

Natural Disaster Research InstituteNortheast Normal University of China

Prof. Jiquan Zhang
Director

http://ndri.nenu.edu.cn/

The year 2017 has been filled with results and the following provides a few of the highlights:
1. The Study on Risk Assessment, Early Warningand Emergency Decision-making Support
Technology of Grassland Fire Disaster. Secondclass award of progress prize in scientific andcollective technology for Jilin province. 2017.8.
Department of Science and Technology of Jilin
province.
2. National Natural Science Foundation of China
NSFC ：Study on dynamic assessment for
integrated
disasterriskofmulti-agrometeorological hazards: Case study of mid-west
maize-growing region in Jilin Province. Project
duration is from January 2017 to December 2019.
3. Key Scientific and Technological Research andDevelopment Projects of Science and Technology
Development Plan for Jilin province: The Studyon Risk Assessment, Early Warning Technology
and Application of the Collapse and Landslide
Geological Disaster Triggered by the Eruption of
Changbai Mountain. Project duration January
2017 to December 2020.

Development Projects of Science and Technology
Development Plan for Jilin province: The Studyon Formation Mechanism and Prediction Methodof Extreme Rainstorm, Blizzard under theComplex Terrain of Changbai Mountains. Project
duration January 2017 to December 2020.
5. Held the Academic Conference of National
Agricultural Disaster Risk Theory and Applicationin Changchun City, Jilin Province from 15 to 17
September 2017.
6. Over 50 academic papers related to disasters
were published in high-level international
academic journals.
7. Invited 4 experts in the field of disaster from theUnited States and other countries to conduct
academic exchanges and cooperative research.

4. Key Scientific and Technological Research andAcademic Conference of National Agricultural Disaster Risk Theory and Application in 2017

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 22

School of Environmental Scienceand Engineering (SESE)
Chang’an University
Prof. Pingping Luo
School of Environmental
Science and Engineering(SESE)

http://esec.chd.edu.cn/index.htm

School of Environmental Science and Engineering(SESE), Chang’an University focus on the research
fields of water conservancy as well as
environmental science and engineering. The SESE
has undertaken more than 4 research projects ofChinese Natural Science Foundation project, 8
projects provided by Natural Science Foundation of
Shaanxi Province for 2017.
The 2017 annual research funding is about 22
million RMB. SESE outputs include publication of
97 SCI academic papers in 2017. SESE held twointernational conferences which are “International
Scientific Symposium on Water Resources
Management and Comprehensive Reclamation ofRiver Basins, Nanjing, China, 17-19 November
2017” and “The invitation of International Workshop
on Constructed Wetland-Microbial Fuel Cell
(IWonCW-MFC2017), Xi’an, China, July 5-7,
2017”, and one international workshops which wason “2017 International Workshop for Sustainable
Water and Environment Management”, November
21, 2017, Xi’an, China. More than thirtyinternational researchers were invited to visit our
school for international communication and invited
more than fifty internal researchers for researchcooperation and communication. Our school has

appointed five guest professors such as Kaoru
Takara, Kyoto University, Japan), Samuel Geoffrey
Schladow (UC Davis), Satoru OISHI（KOBE
University, Japan), Van-Thanh-Van NGUYEN（McGill University, Canada). Our school
welcomed the international researchers to promote
the SESE college undertaking an important place
for sustainable water resource management,
disaster prevention, and environmental protection.
SESE college have the plan to carry theinternational communication with the famous
university and organization from all the word. We
have several international communication projects
and talent scholarships which encourage thefamous professor and research team as well as the
younger researcher to do the research andcommunication actives in Chang’an University. Ourcollege will assist the global researchers to apply
some jointed research grants and talentscholarships, and carry the jointed research inChinese study area. Let’s do our best to help the
global society becoming more and more safety andsustainable.

International Scientific Symposium on Water Resources Management and Comprehensive Reclamation ofRiver Basins, Nanjing, China
GADRI Annual Report 2017— 23

Department of Chemical Engineering
Universidad de los Andes
Prof. Felipe Muñoz Giraldo
Department of Chemical
Engineering

http://www.ufcg.edu.br/

Prof. Felipe Muñoz Giraldo,
Department ofChemical Engineering, Universidad de los Andes,
completed a semester of independent academic
work (STAI) as Visiting Research Professor in
Disaster Reduction Systems Research Center of
the Institute for the Prevention of Disasters from
Kyoto University in Japan in 2017. He wasengaged in advising students of masters anddoctorates in related topics in Natech, his mainarea of research. During his stay in Kyoto,
Professor Muñoz, was part of the ScientificCommittee of a workshop in order to perform apractical demonstration of some tools available for
Natech risk assessment, risk mitigation andplanning of emergency operations for various
types of natural threats.

Visits were made to process plants both in central
areas and in coastal areas, finding great findings
with opportunities for improvement. Within thescope of the visits, advice was provided on Natech
risk taking into account that the Colombian
government is currently in the process of joining
the OECD.
Finally, the Universidad de los Andes (Uniandes)(member of GADRI) proposed a model to evaluate
the probabilities of landslide and pipeline failure
due to landslides, as well as a vulnerability
assessment methodology for storage tanks
subject to flooding, winds, tidal waves andearthquakes (Alvaro -Franco et al., 2017; Ramirez
et al., 2018).

Another major event in 2017, was a Japanesecommission composed of Professor Ana María
Cruz (Kyoto University), Professor Shin-ichi Aoki
(Kyoto University), doctoral student María Camila
Suárez (Kyoto University) and Dr.
Syamsidic(TsunamiandDisaster
Mitigation Research Center - TDMRC) in
conjunction with Professor Felipe Muñoz
Giraldo (University of the Andes) andwithin the framework of the project"INTER-Asian initiative on joint NAturaland
TECHnological(Natech)risk
reduction at industrial estates" carried out
visits techniques to different industrial
plants in Colombia, in order to advise
different private and public entities on
Natech risks to those who are vulnerable
in order to take the appropriate preventive
measures to mitigate the possible
consequences in case of a natural event.

Visiting various plants in Colombia— photo provided by Camila Suarez

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 24

Department of Geology
Assiut University
Dr. Ahmed Sefelnasr

http://www.aun.edu.eg/

The Ninth International Conference on the Geology of Africa (ICGA 2017) was held at Assiut University, Egypt.
The Geology Department of Assiut University
invited scientists to gather in the capital of Upper
Egypt for the Ninth International Conference on the
Geology of Africa (ICGA 2017).
This conference was the premier forum forpresentation of new advances and research resultsin the fields of theoretical, experimental, andapplied geological and environmental sciences. The"ICGA" is a biennial event which has been taking
place since 1999 for eight times in Assiut, Egypt;
bringing together leading researchers, scientists
and engineers in the domain of interest fromaround the world. The next version of thisconference will take place in November 2019.
Conference
Website:www.aun.edu.eg/
conferences/9goa/

limited to the following:• Environmental Geology and Hazards.
• Hydrogeology and Water Management.
• Petroleum Geology and Mineral Resources.
• Structural Geology and Tectonics.
• Sedimentology, Stratigraphy and Paleontology.
• Remote Sensing, Engineering Geology and GIS.
• Igneous,

Metamorphic
Geochemistry.

Petrology• Exploration Geophysics.
• Geoparks and Geoheritage in Africa.
• Geoarcheology and Geotourism.

Topics of interest for submission included, but not

Ninth International Conference on
Geology of Africa (ICGA 2017)

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 25

andFrench Geological Survey (BRGM)
http://www.brgm.eu/
Dr. Nicolas Taillefer
Head, Seismic and Volcanic
Risks Division

BRGM teams achieved two major research projects
concerning risk reduction. In the SAMCO project, a
set of methodological tools was developed in order
to better take into account multiple natural hazard inmountainous area and develop resilience strategies.
The TANDEM (coordination CEA) project studied
impacts of tsunamis in the Atlantic and English
Channel.
BRGM took part in a real-scale preparation exercise
in the Caribbean Islands (RICHTER Caraïbe), which
involved civil France’s protection teams, local
authorities and partners from different countries ofEurope. The exercise simulated a major earthquake
followed by a tsunami, which would have hit both
Guadeloupe and Martinique Islands. The SPICY
project developed preparation procedure andexercise for cyclones in La Reunion, a French Island
located in the Indian ocean. During the Irma cyclone
crisis, BRGM offered technical and scientific support

to the emergency operations in the Caribbean’sFrench Islands.
Seismic team also realized studies aiming at
reducing risks in Haiti. One concerned thepreservation of the heritage buildings of La Citadelle
and Milot Palace, another one proposed retrofitting
strategies for three high schools in northern Haiti.
BRGM realized technical studies to assist Haitian
local authorities of two major urban areas fordeveloping operational multi-hazard, risk reduction
action plans, combining prescriptions for landslide,earthquake, inundation, cyclones and storm surges.

Seismic measures on Milot Heritage sites, Haiti

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 26

Institute for Advanced Sustainability
Studies (IASS)

Prof. Ortwin Renn
Scientific Director

https://www.iass-potsdam.de/en/institute

Outstanding Research Award of the International Society for Integrated Disaster and Risk Management(IDRiM) 2017, Reykjavik, Iceland
The Outstanding Research Award has been
granted to Prof. Ortwin Renn for his
accomplishments in interdisciplinary research on
risk governance with emphasis on integrating
technical and social aspects of risk. The award
was specifically related to his basic research on
the nature of systemic risks and theircharacteristics.
In
addition,
theaward
acknowledges the major insights of his empiricalresearchonrisk
perception
andrisk
communication. Finally, Prof. Renn’s involvementin the International Risk Governance Council andthe development of the Risk Governance
Framework that he developed for this Council was
mentioned as a major step forward to making risk
analysis a part of international risk governance.

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 27

Center for Disaster Management andRisk Reduction Technology (CEDIM)
Prof. Michael Kunz
CEDIM Spokesman

https://www.cedim.kit.edu/english/

The Center for Disaster Management and Risk
Reduction
Technology(CEDIM)isaninterdisciplinary research center in the field of
disasterandresilience
research.
Theinterdisciplinary approach of CEDIM enables to
examine and to assess the entire process chain
from causes to hazard to risk, and to the impact onsociety and environment. By synergisticallycombining competences from different disciplines,
CEDIM develops new models and concepts fornovel solutions in the fields of natural disasters,
hazards and resilience.
Within the current research focus on near-real time
Forensic Disaster Analysis (FDA), CEDIM adopts
the IRDR concept of Forensic Disaster Analysis(FORIN) by incorporating a real-time component tothe assessment and evaluation process. The overallaims are to investigate the dynamics andinterrelations of disasters, to identify major risk
drivers, to estimate the impact as quickly as
possible, and to infer implications for disastermitigation. Direct damage assessment, for example,
include information from CATDAT, the world's largest
natural disaster database with more than 60,000
records created and developed by CEDIM

employees over recent years. Within the frameworkof an FDA activity, CEDIM prepares and publishes
reports with different focus points. In 2017, CEDIM
produced FDA reports for the hurricanes Harvey andIrma in August and September, which caused
substantial damage in the Caribbean and in the US
in the order of $ 192 bn according to our estimation.
CEDIM’s scientifically-based loss estimations were
published only a few hours / days after thecatastrophes.
Furthermore, close cooperation with the insurance
industry enables to put CEDIM's expertise on
disaster and risk into practice. Highlights of 2017
include the finalized hail and flood risk models thatare now used operationally by one of the world’s
largest direct insurer. One of the flagship projects ofWillis Tower Watson, the world's largest insurance
broker, is CEDIM’s hail modeling for Europe andAustralia. Another highlight in 2017 was thedevelopment of a global risk index for wine regions
regarding different hazard types (cold spells, frost,
hail, earthquake, fire).

Fig: Damage caused by hurricane Irma in the Caribbean in billion US$. (Image: James
Daniell; CEDIM/KIT)GADRI Annual Report 2017— 28

University for Development Studies (UDS)

http://www.uds.edu.gh/ktcsr
Dr. Richard W. Nartey Yeboah
Director

2017 was a busy and a productive year for the
University for Development Studies with one of thehighlights being the inauguration of the Kazuhiko
Takeuchi Centre for Sustainability and Resilience(KTCSR) in March within the University in Tamale
as a research, development and extension centre
for issues of sustainability and resilience in thecontext of climate and ecosystem change.
The Centre was named after Prof. Kazuhiko
Takeuchi, the Principal Investigator through whose
effort a joint research team of Japanese andGhanaians successfully executed the Climate andEcosystem Change and Adaption Research(CECAR-Africa) Project. The Centre is headed by
Dr. Richard W. N. Yeboah and a Deputy Director
Dr. Godfred Jasaw.

Biodiversity and Climate Change Project (WA
BiCC).
The Centre has secured support from the UNDP
adaptation fund to collaborate with an NGO,
ProNET North in upscaling the adoption of locallyconstructed improved mud cookstove by shea
butter and food processors across the threenorthern Regions of Ghana.
KTCSR have been invited to participate in the
Economics of Land Degradation (ELD) -Initiative
Ghana Kick-off Workshop under the umbrella of
the EU funded Project “Reversing Land
Degradation in Africa through Scaling-up‘EverGreen Agriculture’.

The
Centrehas since continued
withdissemination
engagements
withvariousstakeholders on strategies for enhancing
resilience against climate and ecosystem changes
in Africa through workshops andpeer
review
journalarticlepublications:
In collaboration with United Nations
University Institute for Natural
Resources in Africa UNU-INRA, wehave secured a 3-year funding from
USAID to carry out joint researchwith Hophoubouny University in Cote
D’ivoireon
FrescoCoastallandscapes under the West Africa

Inauguration of Kazuhiko Takeuchi Centre for Sustainability and Resilience (KTCSR) by
Japanese Ambassador to Ghana

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 29

Centre of Excellence in Disaster
Mitigation & Management, Indian
Institute of Technology, Roorkee
Prof. B. K. Maheshwari
Director

CoEDMM
activities:

members

https://www.iitr.ac.in/engagedinfollowing•

Prof. B.K. Maheshwari attended a meeting as amember of CED39 (Earthquake Engineering
Section) of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) at
New Delhi on February 27, 2017•

Dr. Sudip Roy awarded by the Early Career
Research
Award
from
SERB,
DST,
Government of India.

•

Dr. B.K. Maheshwari delivered a presentation
entitled "Dynamic Properties of Solani Sand at
Small Strains using Resonant Column
Apparatus" in 16th World Conference on
Earthquake Engineering (16WCEE) held in
Santiago, Chile during Jan. 09-13, 2017.

••

CWC, UJVNL and IITR, MAC Auditorium,
Roorkee.
•Dr. B.K. Maheshwari invited to deliver a Key
Note Lecture entitled "Disaster Managementin India and Characterization for Geohazards"in Third Indo-Japan Workshop on "Geotechnicsfor
NaturalDisaster
Mitigation
andManagement" held at IIT Guwhati on Dec. 13,
2017.

Projects :•To Check Feasibility for Installation of Lift at
LBSNAA Mussoorie. Sponsored by CPWD
Mussoorie

Dr. B.K. Maheshwari attended a meeting as amember of CED39 (Earthquake Engineering
Section) of Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) at
New Delhi on February 27, 2017.

•

Repair and Retrofit of Foundation at LBSNAA
Mussoorie, Sponsored by CPWD Mussoorie•

Peer Review of the Report on Vibration
Control, Sponsored by ISRO, Bangalore

Dr. M. L. Sharma presented a paper onstochastic simulation of strong ground motions
for western Himalaya region, Neha Kumari, M.
L. Sharma and I. D. Gupta at 16WCEE,Santiago, Chile, Jan 09-13, 2017.

•

Vulnerability and risk analysis of geohazards in
Himalayan Region, sponsored by ISRO,
Ahmedabad•

Establishment of Earthquake Early Warning
System, Sponsored by USDMA, Dehradun•

Dr. M. L. Sharma represented as National
Delegate from India in Executive committee
meeting of International Association ofEarthquake Engineering in Santiago, Chile, Jan
09-14, 2017.

•

Dr. M. L. Sharma presented Technicaltalk on Trends in Uttarakhand and its
implications
infutureseismicity,
in Workshop on Earthquake Risk
Management, Disaster Mitigation andManagement Centre, Department ofDisaster Management, Government of
Uttarakhand, Dehradun, Jan 20, 2017.

•

Dr. M. L. Sharma chaired a session TS
6: Emergency action plan for dams
towards disaster resilience, Third
National Dam Safety Conference,
February,18 – 19, 2017, organized by
Project: Establishment of Earthquake Early Warning System, Sponsored by
USDMA, Dehradun
GADRI Annual Report 2017— 30

Center for Disaster Mitigation andTechnological Innovation (GAMA-InaTEK)
Gadjah Mada University
Dr. Wahyu Wilopo
Associate Professor

http://gama-inatek.ugm.ac.id/

The Center for Disaster Mitigation andTechnological Innovation (GAMA -InaTEK),
Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia- Faculty ofEngineering Gadjah Mada University has beensucceeded to earn an award as World Center of
Excellence in Landslide Disaster Risk Reduction
which was given by UNESCO and United Nations
International Strategy on Disaster Risk Reduction(UN-ISDR) in World Landslide Forum 4 in
Ljubljana, Slovenia, on May 30, 2017.

ago and this year was approval by all themembers.
In addition, in this year also Gama-InaTek was
selected by Ministry of Research, Technology andHigher Education of the Republic of Indonesia
become on of Center of Excellent in the Scienceand Technology in Indonesia. There were manyother activities undertaken by the institute.
Visit our website to obtain further information.

This award is the third time received by UGM
since 2011. This award was first obtained in 20112014, then 2014-2017 and 2017-2020. GAMAInaTek also work together with National
Standardization Agency of the Republic ofIndonesia (BSN) and National Authority for
Disaster Management (BNPB) to propose ISO
Guidelines for implementation of a communitybased landslide early warning system since 2 year

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 31

Global Representation of GADRIThe Global Alliance of Disaster Research Institutes(GADRI) was established in March 2015 right after
the UN World Conference on Disaster Risk
Reduction (WCDRR2015) which was held in Sendai,
Japan. GADRI works closely with the science andtechnology community endorsing policies related todisaster risk reduction, and disseminating andsharing cutting-edge knowledge and information
supported by evidence based research among
research institutions, international organizations andthe private sector in various nation states. GADRI
takes a firm stance on its vision to deepen theunderstanding of disasters and find implementable
solutions to achieve a disaster resilient world, byintegrating knowledge and technologies from aroundthe world.

Area

Members

Europe23

Africa12

Americas20

Oceania

7

Asia (excl. Japan)

63

Japan

25

Europe15%
Africa8%

Asia (excl.
Japan)
42%

150
TOTAL

Japan
17%

Americas13%
Oceania
5%(40 States)

Members as of 31 December 2017
GADRI Annual Report 2017— 32

GADRI Membership
GADRI membership is open to
research institutes with an aim tocontribute to science and technology
and promotion of disaster risk
research and resilience to disasters.
Currently, GADRI membership is freeof charge and non-binding. As of 31
December
2017,
around150
research institutes have expressedinterest to join GADRI.

GADRI Secretariat
GADRI is hosted by the Disaster Prevention
Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University,
Uji Campus, Kyoto, Japan.

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 33

European Commission
Joint Research Centre (JRC)

Dr. Tom de Groeve
Deputy Head
Disaster Risk Management Unit

https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en

A major achievement of 2017 is the publication of thereport 'Science for Disaster Risk Management 2017:
knowing more and losing less', a flagship product oftheEuropeanCommission's
Disaster
RiskManagement Knowledge Centre (DRMKC). The
report presents the state-of-the-art in science fordisaster risk management, and was authored by over
120 scientists. It contributes to UN efforts tostrengthen prevention, preparedness and response
to calamities and it is also a key part of the Scienceand Technology Roadmap of the Sendai Frameworkfor Disaster Risk Reduction. The report was launchedat the UN Global Platform for Disaster Risk
Reduction in Cancun and has since been widely
disseminated, including as a syllabus for academic
programmes. The DRMKC started a 3-year process
to publish a second flagship report focused on
science-based solutions for disaster risk reduction.
To support the expanded scope of the Sendai
Framework to new hazards, the JRC stepped up its
research on Natech disasters (with the release of the
RAPID-N platform for natural-hazard induced
technological disasters) and is doing exploratory
research on risk and impact of biological hazards.
Mature risk indicators are integrated in the INFORM
risk index, which follows an all-hazard approach torisk. It also includes results from the Global Conflict
Risk Index, a statistical tool to assess the likelihoodof violent conflicts.

through its improved Global Disaster Alert andCoordination System, Global Wildfire Information
System, Global Flood Awareness System and Global
Drought
Observatory.
These
systemsarecontinuously improved with the latest research incollaboration with global networks and initiatives(JRC co-leads three GEO initiatives), and most are
run operationally under the Copernicus Emergency
Management Service (EMS). The Copernicus EMS
mapping service, managed at JRC, was activated arecord 81 times to produce post-disaster impact
maps and risk & recovery maps.
In our European Crisis Management Laboratory, we
continued to develop technology for crisis rooms,
field-headquarter communication, and sensor
networks. For the latter, JRC expanded its network of
low-cost sea-level gauges to 30 devices installed in 7
Mediterranean countries, greatly improving the realtime data availability for the regional tsunami
monitoring systems.
Finally, the Unit's work on global human settlements
resulted in the launch of the 2017 Human Planet
Atlas, showing for the first time the increase in
human and building exposure to disasters based on
globally consistent data from satellites. The releasein 2017 of the Global Human Settlement Layer as
open data was a major achievement of the JRC.

In 2017, the Disaster Risk Management
Unit of the European Commission Joint
Research Centre (JRC) published 41peer
reviewed articles and books, with highprofile publications on future impacts ofextreme events under climate change
scenarios. This research supports EU
policies on disaster prevention and climatechange adaptation.
2017 was a record year for disasters in
Europe, notably for wildfires and cyclones.
The Disaster Risk Management Unit
providedreal-time
monitoring
andforecasting information on hazards andtheir impacts to EU and national authorities

JRC's Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre provides science advice during
emergencies through its suite of monitoring and early warning tools. The image shows
Typhoon Maria, approaching the Japanese islands of Miyakojima and Tarama, before
causing severe flooding in Fujian, China and damage of 410m€. Inset: Situation Map
produced by JRC for the Emergency Response Coordination Centre, distributed toMember States and available online.

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 34

Department of Earth Sciences
University of FlorenceProf. Nicola Casagli

https://www.dst.unifi.it/

The World Centre of Excellence on Landslide Risk
Reduction (WCoE) for Earth observation advanced
technologies for landslide monitoring, management
and mitigation. Awarded by IPL (International
Programme on Landslides) Global Promotion
Committee to The Earth Sciences Department of the
University of Florence (confirmed in 2017)
Centre of Competence of the National Civil
Protection Service Presidency of the Council of
Ministers - Department of Civil Protection. Awarded
by Decree of the Head of the Italian National Civil
Protection Department (confirmed in 2017)
Recognition to the Research Group for the activities
carried out for the Rigopiano avalanche emergency
by the President of the Italian Republic (2017)

and sustainable management of geo- hydrologicalhazards at the University of Florence (2016-2020)
Project: International Programme on Landslides(IPL) - PS continuous streaming for landslide
monitoring and mapping (2017-2018)
Project: EC ECHO - SAFETY:
Sentinel for
geohazards regional monitoring and forecasting(2016-2017)
Project: EC H2020 - RESOLUTE - Resiliencemanagement guidelines and operationalization
applied to urban transport environment (2015-2017)

Establishment of the UNESCO Chair Prevention

Prof. Casagli receiving the Award of World Centre of Excellence on Landslide Risk Reduction

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 35

International Centre for Water Hazard and
Risk Management under the auspices of
UNESCO (ICHARM)
Prof. Toshio Koike
Director

http://www.icharm.pwri.go.jp/

International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk
Management (ICHARM) under the auspices of
UNESCO was established as a UNESCO
category II center and a part of the Public Works
Research Institute of Japan on 6th March, 2006.
The mission is to serve as the Global Centre of
Excellence for Water Hazard and Risk Management
by observing and analyzing natural and social
phenomena, developing methodologies and tools,
building capacities, creating knowledge networks,
and disseminating lessons and information in orderto help governments and all stakeholders manage
risks of water related hazards at global, national, andcommunity levels.
To achieve the mission, ICHARM has conductedvarious activities based on its three pillars, i)innovative research, ii) effective capacity building,and iii) efficient information networking, including
following special topics;

After severe flood disaster in Sri Lanka in May 2017,
the Earth Observation Data Integration & Fusion
Research Initiative (EDITORIA) and ICHARM started
providing real-time flood forecasts and otherinformation for Sri Lanka on a trial basis. EDITORIA
offered an advanced data processing system called
DIAS while ICHARM offered expertise in flood
monitoring and forecasting. To support Sri Lanka,
ICHARM developed an online system on DIAS thatcollects hourly ground rainfall data from Sri Lanka,
performs rainfall forecasting using the collected data,
and delivers the results automatically.
ii) Effective capacity building
ICHARM provides a one-year M.Sc. program as a
joint effort with JICA and GRIPS. This program istargeted at officials of administrative organizations
and designed for them to obtain master’s degree
within a single year. In September 2017, the tenthbatch of 10 students from eight countries graduated,
and in the following month, the eleventh batch of 14
students entered the program from 10 countries.

i) Innovative research

Graduation Ceremony (3 doctoral course students and 13 Master’s course students)

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 36

Outline of Support for Sri Lanka

And ICHARM also provides a doctoral program incollaboration with GRIPS to produce experts whoare capable of making policies on water-related
disaster risk management and taking the leadershipin implementing them. In October 2017, one student
from Bangladesh joined as the eighth batch.
iii) Efficient information networking

The 3rd Asia-Pacific Water Summit was held on
December in Yangon. ICHARM co-hosted a session
with ICIMOD, SPC and HELP. The session was aunique platform for the high-level leaders andrepresentatives of Asia-Pacific states to discusswater-related disasters and environmental risks,
explore common challenges and solutions, andcollaborate on the development of effective
frameworks for action.

The International Flood Initiative (IFI) is a worldwide
framework to promote collaboration in flood
management
among
internationalorganizations such as UNESCO, WMO,UNU and UNISDR. As the IFI secretariat,
ICHARM proposed the basic action plan of
IFI, which was adopted as the Jakarta
Statement. In July 2017, ICHARM
co-chaired the Special Session on Scienceand Technology held in the 3rd UN Special
Thematic Session on Water and Disasters.
The session discussed a broad range ofissues including the IFI framework forestablishing a Platform on Water andDisaster. ICHARM has been involved in theestablishment of a Platform on Water andDisaster in the Philippines, Myanmar,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Prof. Koike Co-Chaired and Co-hosted the Third Asia-Pacific Water Summit

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 37

Institute of Disaster Mitigation for
Urban Cultural Heritage (R-DMUCH)
Ritsumeikan University
Prof. Takayuki Okubo
Director

http://www.r-dmuch.jp/en/

The UNESCO Chair Programme on Cultural
Heritage
and
Risk
Management
12th
INTERNATIONAL TRAINING COURSE (ITC) on
DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT of CULTURALHERITAGE 2017 was held for 3weeks from 29
August to 16 September 2017 with 11 participantsfrom Bhutan, Philippines, Turkey, Malawi, Malaysia,
Brazil, Laos, India, France, Italy and Myanmar.
Participants were managers of cultural heritage
sites, disaster risk management experts, decision
makers and government officials involved in cultural
heritage conservation or disaster management.
Exercise for Emergency Response at Kyoto Museum

This year the ITC focused on the theme “Towards
Integrated Protection of Immovable and Movable
Cultural Heritage from Disasters”. During the course,
the trainees have deepened an understanding of not
only various aspects of disaster risk management of
cultural heritage in Japan, but also the distinctive
issues and the previous lessons which involved in
the field of cultural heritage conservation and thedisaster risk management in the world. All thelectures, site visits, exercises and workshops were
performed by the worldwide experts. In addition, theylearned about the flood disaster occurred in the
Kumano which is listed on the UNESCO World
Heritage List and the reconstruction effort, also a
long-term recovery process in Kobe area from theGreat Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake in 1995.
From 2018, Ritsumeikan University will start tocooperate with the Japanese National Institutes for
Cultural Heritage (NICH) whereby providing trainees

an opportunity to study risk management for both
immovable and movable cultural heritage affected bydisasters
in
Japan
and
comprehensive
countermeasuresandapproaches.
On the final day, the International Symposium“Working Internationally toward the Integrated
Protection of Cultural Heritage from Disasters” washeld and approximately 75 international experts andaudiences participated. We discussed potential rolesof disaster risk management for cultural heritage fromthe global perspective, based on the experience andacknowledges which have been obtained from thepast disasters. Three representative trainees
presented their relevant efforts to disaster risk
management for cultural heritage in their countries.
The training course was organized in cooperation
with the UNESCO, ICCROM, ICOM, ICOMOS/ICORP and relevant institutions of the government ofJapan. We will continue this outreach activities anddissemination of our research outcomes to theinternational society.
Call for applications for the ITC2018 will beannounced at our website:
http://www.r-dmuch.jp/en/project/itc.html

Site visit to Kiyomizu-dera World Heritage siteGADRI Annual Report 2017— 38

Earthquake Research Institute (ERI)The University of Tokyo
Prof. Kazushige Obara
Director

http://www.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/

In 2017, the Collaborative Research Organizationfor Historical Materials on Earthquakes andVolcanoes was established as a collaboration
between the Earthquake Research Institute and theHistoriographical Institute at the University of Tokyo.
In this interdisciplinary organization, historians andseismologists work together to develop a scientific
database that can provide long-term information
about seismic and volcanic activities in Japan bycompiling and analyzing historical materials. Thishistorical data is essential for long-term forecasts offuture seismic and volcanic hazards. Kenji Sataketakes a role as the director of this organization with10 staff from both institutes. One of the important
activities is to open the database for historicalearthquakes and tsunamis in Japan.

seismic hazards for infrastructures, which can be
simulated by seismic response analyses that use
waveforms at the base of each infrastructure as an
input ground motion. Masayuki Kano et al. (2017)reconstructs the seismic wavefield in the Tokyo
metropolitan area located on the Kanto sedimentarybasin, Japan, from seismograms of the Metropolitan
Seismic Observation network. The simulated
wavefield fully explains the observed waveforms in
the frequency band of 0.10–0.20 Hz. Inputting thereconstructed wavefield into seismic response
analyses, rapid assessment of the overall damage
to infrastructures will be made possible immediately
after a large earthquake.

Science of slow earthquakes lead by Kazushige
Obara is a 5-year project (2016-2020) funded as
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science,
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on
Innovative Areas. It will shed light on the
mystery of “slow earthquakes”, which have been
detected in succession in recent years. This will
require an approach integrating the conventional
fields of geophysics, seismology, and geodesy
with materials science and non-equilibrium
statistical physics, among others. By explaining
the mechanisms, environmental conditions andprinciples of slow earthquakes, our goal is toaccelerate a unified understanding of allearthquake events, from low-speed deformation
to high-speed slip, and at the same time, torebuild the way research is conducted onearthquakes.
Seismic wavefield imaging of long-period groundmotion in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Japan:
Long-period ground motions due to large
earthquakes can cause devastating disasters,
especially in urbanized areas located on
sedimentary basins. To assess and mitigate
such damage, it is essential to rapidly evaluate‘Namazu-picture’, a god with a stone trying to stop the earthquake
generated by a catfish.
Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, with permission.

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 39

Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Initiative(SEADPRI-UKM) at the Institute for Environment andDevelopment (LESTARI)

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
Prof. Dr. Mohd Raihan Taha
Director

http://www.ukm.my/seadpri/

The year 2017 saw the launch of the Malaysia
Window to Cambridge (MW2C@UKM), which isthe culmination of a collaboration initiated in 2012that led to the signing of a collaboration agreement
between Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and theCambridge Malaysian Education and Development
Trust (CMEDT), in association with the MalaysianCommonwealth Studies Centre (MCSC) on 19
November 2013.The collaboration resulted inestablishment of the Asian Network for Climate
Science and Technology (ANCST). Following on,
the MW2C@UKM was put into place where the main
objective is capacity-building in areas related toatmospheric science and climate change in Malaysia
and the region, to help strengthen the expertise
required for future disaster prevention. The
MW2C@UKM will also facilitate junior staffs andstudent exchanges to enhance awareness andstrengthen ties between the University of Cambridgeand UKM. It also serves as a gateway to Cambridge
for scientists from Malaysia and Asia. The
MW2C@UKM is jointly administered by SEADPRIUKM and the Asian Network on Climate Science andTechnology (ANCST) with support from the MCSC and
CMEDT.
SEADPRI-UKM embarked on a research project
involving teams from Malaysia and the United
Kingdom, awarded under the Newton-Ungku Omar
Fund, administered by Innovate UK and the Malaysian
Industry-Government Group for High Technology(MIGHT). The project, Disaster Resilience Cities:
Forecasting Local Level Climate Extremes andPhysical Hazards for Kuala Lumpur focuses on ways
to best adapt selected meteorological and hazard
models to enable better forecasting of climate
extremes and physical hazards in Kuala Lumpur. It will
test their viability and integrate them on to a common
multi-hazard platform designed for managing andcommunicating risks and enhancing disaster
resilience, suited to local conditions and scale. From
the United Kingdom, there are three researchorganizations (University of Cambridge; British
Geological Survey; University College London) andthree business partners (Cambridge Environmental
Research Consultants, CERC; Cuesta Consulting,
Cuesta; JBA Risk Management collaborating with
Malaysian research organizations, i.e. SEADPRI-UKM;
Universiti
Malaya;Malaysian
Meteorological
Department; Mineral and Geoscience Department of
Malaysia; Department of Environment Malaysia; andfive business partners from Malaysia, all involved inthis project seeking solutions to address thechallenges of urbanization and climate change in
Malaysia. Pilot studies will be conducted in Kuala
Lumpur and adjacent areas to forecast flash floods,
landslides, sink holes, strong winds, urban heat and air
pollution at very detailed scales. The projectencompasses an administrative component, which
includes management, capacity building and outreach;and three technical phases focusing on areas that
include meteorological forecasting, hazard modellingand multi-hazard forecasts. Each phase has specificwork packages with structured projectdeliverables. Dissemination and outreachactivities, such as capacity building and trainingof Malaysian partners and stakeholders inappropriate methods of risk communication andmodelling results, will be carried out in parallelwith and be an integral part of all aspects of thetechnical work.

UKM Pro-Chancellor Tun Ahmad Sarji at the MW2C@UKM launching ceremony
GADRI Annual Report 2017— 40

Prof. Irasema
Alcántara-Ayala

Institute of Geography, National
Autonomous University of
Mexico (UNAM)
http://www.igeograf.unam.mx/geoigg/

The Institute of Geography, UNAM was quite active
during the year 2017.

by same conference.
• In Japan, the institute participated in the Disaster• Publicationof the Atlas "Hillslope instability in
Teziutlán, Puebla. Disaster Risk Drivers; a contribution
undertaken from an interdisciplinary perspective incollaboration with communities, authorities, scientists
and
other
relevant
stakeholders;andtheestablishment of the University Seminar on Socioenvironmental Risks (Sursa) led by the Institute ofGeography, as a permanent activity of the National
Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

Prevention and Resilient Society session of the
Science and Technology in Society forum (STSforum), STS forum 14th Annual Meeting, October 1-3,
2017 in Kyoto; and co-Chaired a session on Priority 1
Understanding Risk at the Global Forum on Scienceand Technology for Disaster Resilience 2017, Science
Council of Japan, Tokyo, 23rd - 25th November, 2017.

• Participationin the High-level panel discussion:
Strengthening Intergovernmental Network and theInternational Programme on Landslides (IPL) for ISDR-ICL SENDAI PARTNERSHIPS 2015–2025 for global
promotion of understanding and reducing landslidedisaster risk, 4th World Landslide Forum, Ljubljana,
Slovenia, 29 May to 2 June 2017. The institute wasalso awarded a status of World Centre of Excellence
UNAM participation at ICL, Slovenia

Universidad Michoacana de San
Nicolás de Hidalgo (University ofMichoacán)

Dr. Patricia deJesús Alarcón
Chaires

http://www.umich.mx/
The Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de
Hidalgo report on the following achievements:
Participation at the 3rd Global Summit of ResearchInstitutes for Disaster Risk Reduction held in Kyoto,
Japan and presentation of paper on “Large landslides
in the past 10 years in México”; participation in the2017 Global Platform for disasters risk reduction UN.
Cancún, México and lecture on “Building resilience inMorelia, México”.

Evaluation of the structural damage behavior ofmasonry buildings, observed during the September 7,2017 Chiapas earthquake, in Juchitan, Oaxaca,
México. Most of these buildings (Approximately 10,000
buildings evaluated), were family dwellings, of one or
two stories. Also Creating database through qgis
technology for sectoral management information
systems; structural damage behavior of masonrybuildings, and landslides, observed during the
September 19, 2017 Axochiapan, earthquake in Teteladel Volcán, Morelos, México;
structural damage
behavior of church masonry buildings, observed
during the September 19, 2017 Axochiapan,
earthquake
in
PueblaandMorelos(approximately 100 churches evaluated); andstructural damage behavior of masonry buildings,
observed during the September 8, 2017 Chiapas
earthquake, in Juchitan, Oaxaca, México.

Structural damage in Juchitan, Oaxaca.

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 41

GNS Science
Te Pū AoDr. Kelvin Berryman
General Manager
Strategic Relationships

https://www.gns.cri.nz/

The aftermath of the Mw7.8 Kaikoura earthquake has
dominated GNS Science activity in natural hazards
during 2017. Activities include advice forreconstruction and recovery, peer reviewed research
publications, new funding to enhanced monitoring andwarning actions especially for tsunami, andengagement with policy agencies tasked with disasterrisk management and disaster risk reduction.
Some more details of these activities include:
Advice on restoration and construction standards forthe reinstatement of the main transport lifelines (roadand rail) in northeastern South Island considering
futureearthquake
probabilities
anderosionprocesses. These lifelines were re-opened in lateFig. 2. Highway repairs late 2016

decade or longer period of enhanced landsliding
and sediment transport during storm events(Figure 3) that will continue to impact thetransport network.

Fig. 1. Severed coastal highway system following Nov. 2016 Earthquake2016 after a year of severely
disrupted
transport
network
operations with major impacts on
tourism, transfer of consumer goods,
and agricultural production. Veryextensivelandsliding
andconsequential erosion and sedimenttransfer presented major challenges
for reinstatement and recovery(Figures 1 & 2). Major new research
initiatives to track and forecast
landscape recovery will likely signal a

Fig. 3. Further damage to coastal highway following Cyclone Cook in April 2017

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 42

Fig. 4. Cover page of draft business case report for resilience
investment for Wellington infrastructure•

A large number of peer-reviewed technicalpapers have been prepared and published.
Publications from GNS Science cover surface
fault ruptures, seismology, ground shaking,landsliding, damage assessments, economic
modelling and social science.

•

A Wellington city study on the vulnerability ofcritical lifelines and the economic benefit ofresilience investment has been invigorated by
the damage that occurred in the city resulting
from the Nov 2016 Kaikoura earthquake.
Excellent progress on economic modelling of thebenefit-cost of interventions prior to highprobability future events has been identified.
These results will be socialised with New
Zealand central and local government agencies
in 2018, seeking commitment to improved
resilience for the capital city (Figure 4).

•

In budget 2017 GNS Science was awarded
additional funding for the GeoNet project (https://www.geonet.org.nz/) to transition to a 24/7
operation to enhance more rapid advice toresponse agencies in the event of a major
geological event, and to provide more timely
warning of tsunami and volcanic eruption. Thesedevelopments are a direct consequence of the
Kaikoura earthquake which occurred at 12:04 am
local time on 14th November 2016 when duty
seismologists were on call but not operational
and the tsunami threat advice from this local
source earthquake did not meet public orgovernment
expectations.
See
https://
www.stuff.co.nz/national/nzearthquake/86742260/review-of-tsunami-alertslikely-after-kaikoura-earthquake, and findings in a
recently released review of current civil defence
arrangements(https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/ourbusiness-units/ministry-civil-defence-emergencymanagement/ministerial-review-betterresponses).

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 43

Center for Urban Water (CUrW)

http://www.curwsl.org/
Prof. Srikantha Herath
Director

The transition office for Center for flood control and water management is set up now at the Sethsiripaya
Stage II, Battaramulla, until the completion of the new building that will house a state-of-the art real time
forecasting and control center to manage floods in Metro Colombo. The center also has agreements with the
University of Peradeniya and the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, so that center staff can be enrolled in the
M.Sc. Eng. programmes of the universities in one year research degrees based on the research work carriedout at the center. The center also can host visiting postgraduate students who can conduct research on
various aspects of urban water management where the Megapolis Development Programme will serve as a“living laboratory”.
Workshop with the Department of Irrigation, Sri Lanka
International
Networkfor
AdvancingTransdisciplinary Education (INATE) organized aworkshop at the Irrigation Department, Sri Lanka
on 30th of January 2017 to share the results of joint
study carried out by the Irrigation Department and
INATE under INATE-Sri Lanka project. The main
objective of the workshop was to share twooutcomes of the project with relevant stakeholders
and to plan a way forward. The first was the study
and proposal to construct an Aqua Park that willcollect the excess water from proposed Malwatu
Oya reservoir to serve functions of flood control(extending the flooding from 1:5 year at current
levels to 1:8 years), recreational and ground water
recharge. The park will also address a social need

Figure 2. Proposed Aqua Parkof inadequacy of open space in the area. Around 30
senior engineers and water management specialists
from different stakeholder agencies joined themeeting and expressed appreciation for the
proposal. A figure of the proposed Aqua Park isshown in Figure 2.
The second proposal was based on a feasibility
study carried out to see the feasibility of using
amphibious structures as agriculture fields in thelower Malwatu Oya basin, in the Giant Tank area
where recurrent flooding has prevented farmers
from engaging in long term agriculture practices,
especially cash crop cultivation. A Figure of
prototype is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: A prototype of a floating agriculture field(L-R—Aditi Kodke, Srikantha Heath and a staff member)

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 44

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)
https://www.sei.org/
Dr. Karlee Johnson
Research Associate

The Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR)
unanimously approved SEI-Asia Centre’s proposal
to host an IRDR International Centre of Excellenceon Transforming Development and Disaster Risk
(ICoE-TDDR). The ICoE is supported by SEI’s
global TDDR Initiative which seeks to understandhow disaster risks are created inside development
processes, and to transform this current
relationship towards equitable, resilient andsustainable development policy and practice. The
ICoE-TDDR is one of 13 ICoEs globally, and thethird center to be established in Asia. While the
ICoE is hosted by SEI-Asia, it brings together aconsortium of well-established regional andnational institutions in Asia, including the Asian
DisasterPreparedness
Centre(ADPC),
Rockefeller Foundation Asia, and Chulalongkorn
University. The ICoE will serve as a long-term
platform to undertake multi-disciplinary researchthat informs DRR and development policy
processes, in line with the Sendai Framework andSDGs.
SEI now sits on both the global Science andTechnology Advisory Group (STAG) of UNISDR
and the Asian Science, Technology and Academia
Advisory Group (ASTAAG). The STAG provides
substantive technical advice and support in theformulation and implementation of activities
carried out by the UNISDR community. The
ASTAAG is UNISDR’s main advisory body for the
implementation of the Sendai Framework in Asiaand is composed of disaster experts from Asia. Its

focus is: (i) strengthening the science, technology
andacademiccommunity;(ii)
supportgovernments in science-based decision making;and (iii) enhance networking among academic
community and other stakeholders.
In January 2017, SEI was ranked as the world’s
most influential environment policy think tank in
the University of Pennsylvania’s 2016 Global Go
To Thinks Tanks Index. The index is based on asurvey of thousands of journalists, policy-makers,
donors and topic and regional specialists aroundthe globe, using a detailed list of criteria including
quality and reputation of the research produced,
policy impact and recognition, convening power,
innovation, and inclusiveness.
SEI researchers have been invited to guest edit a
special issue of the journal Sustainability on‘Transforming Development and Disaster Risk’
which will focus on the complex relationships
between development and disaster risk, and howtransformation can help us move away fromcurrent development patterns that increase, createor unfairly distribute disaster risk. GADRI
members are encouraged to submit research
papers to be featured in the special issue by 31
March
2018:
http://www.mdpi.com/journal/
sustainability/special_issues/disaster_risk.

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 45

Faculty of Geosciences and Environment
University of LausanneProf. Michel Jaboyedoff
Vice-Dean

http://www.unil.ch/gse/home.html

Prof. M. Jaboyedoff had the privilege and was muchhonored to receive the DPRI award on February 21st2017. Dr. Derron and M. Jaboyedoff participated tothe outstanding 4th Slope tectonics conference, which
held in DPRI October 2017, which was an event
underlining the collaboration we developed with Prof.
Chigira (DPRI).
In September 2017, we worked with the Yosemite
National Park (Dr. G. Stock) to analyze during an
emergency the rockfalls that occurred in thesoutheast face of El Capitan, which caused one
fatality and several injuries. Thanks to the acquisitionof oblique helicopter photos taken a few hours after
these events, the Risk Analysis Group has provided
the first volume estimations (450 m3 and 10'250 m3)
by comparing the terrestrial LiDAR scans acquired
over several years with the post-event Structure-from-Motion models (Figure).
We are developing a relatively easy-to-use analysis
tool to better assess the risk associated with rockfalls.
This work was initiated during collaborative projects
in Quebec, (Canada) with Dr. Jacques Locat. The toolconsists of a fast 3D rockfall simulation numericalmodel that works on highly detailed terrain models(such as LiDAR point clouds), which is unique atpresent.
We developed a methodology to use the SfM-onmotion technique to generate 3D spatial data fromimages taken from a moving vehicle with action
cameras that have a GPS chip. The geroreferencing
without ground control points and based only on
approximate coordinates from the low cost GPS chips
gives an absolute accuracy less than 10 m and a
relative accuracy of few centimeters. Benefits of thislow-cost SfM on-motion method are: 1) a simple
setup to use in the field (easy to switch between
vehicle types as car, train, bike, etc.), 2) a low costand 3) an automatic georeferencing of 3D points
clouds. This can support very simply and at low costs
post-disaster assessments.
Among other research activities, the group also
carried out projects in the development of webGISbased decision support platforms for the risk analysis
and management of natural hazards. These platforms
are also used by students to learn environmental risk
assessment. They are developed entirely with opensource components, and can be easily adapted to
specific requirements.

Location of the scars of the 27-28
September 2017 rockfall events with
their associated estimated volumes.
Data sources: 2006 and 2010 aerial
LiDAR by the U.S. National Center
for Airborne Laser Mapping; 2015
terrestrial LiDAR and 2017 Structure-from-Motion (SfM) models by the
Risk Analysis Group; SfM pictures
taken by Dr. Greg M. Stock (credit:
U.S. National Park Service).

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 46

National Science and Technology
Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR)
Prof. Wei-Sen Li
Secretary-General

https://www.ncdr.nat.gov.tw/

In 2017, NCDR has offered information intelligencefor emergency operations of four typhoons and threemajor torrential rains that clearly showed the valuesof science-based disaster risk management.
Through conducting impact assessments, the results
did improve efficiency to make effective decisions for
emergency preparedness and response. For
example, to decide timing to conduct early
evacuations or to identify locations for deploying
utilities that highly depended on scientific evidence.
Furthermore, a mechanism of information sharing
and exchange to fill gaps between central and local
government at times of emergency response. All 22
local governments have received direct benefits
from information sharing through a commonoperating-picture platform.

participants. The centerpiece of the event focusedon post-disaster recovery at community-based level.
Participants had a chance to visit recovery sites andknow their stories about how to “Build back better”
from Typhoon Morakot in 2009. With the field
excursion, all participants had full discussions on
key issues related to reconstruction, recovery andrehabilitation. With case studies, the workshop
provided an occasion to exchange regional
experiences and the best practices of post-disasterrecovery, especially focusing on highly vulnerable
groups such like indigenous communities. NCDR
will continue hosting the series of ITW in 2018 andwelcome GADRI members to join. The proposed
topics for the 2018 ITW will be applications of big
dada and social media for disaster risk reductionand emergency preparedness.

To engage regional participation into activities ofdisaster reduction, NCDR hosted the 13th
International Training Workshop (ITW) on Disaster
Reduction in July and invited GADRI to recommend

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 47

Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation andManagement (DPMM)
Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)Dr. Indrajit Pal
Assistant Professor and Chair

https://www.ait.ac.th/

In 2017 Dr. Indrajit Pal has been recognised as“IRDR Young Scientists” by Integrated Research on
Disaster Risk, Beijing, China. His recent bookpublications in 2017 includes “Disaster Risk
Governance in India and Cross Cutting
Issues” (2017), Edited by Dr. Indrajit Pal and Prof.
Rajib Shaw, Springer, Singapore and “Natural
Hazards Management in Asia” (2017), Authored
by: Dr. Indrajit Pal and Dr. Tuhin Ghosh, SAGE
Publications.

Paris Agreement to address the regional challenges
on Mainstreaming resilience and Disaster Risk
Reduction (DRR). Over 140 participants from morethan 20 countries took part in this International
Expert Forum, which includes academicians,
scientists, engineers, practitioners, researchscholars,
policy-makers
andhigh-level
representatives from international development
agencies, UN organizations and International nongovernment organizations.

DisasterPreparedness,
Mitigation
andManagement(DPMM),
Asian
InstituteofTechnology, Thailand along with University of
Newcastle, Australia under the Australia-ASEAN
Council (AAC) supported grant for the project"Disaster Resilience Education Capacity Building inSouth-East Asia" organized an International
Expert Forum on “Mainstreaming Resilienceand Disaster Risk Reduction in Education" at
AIT from 1 - 2 December 2017. Dr. Indrajit Pal was
the Coordinator and Organizing Committee Chair of
this Mega event. This International Forum was aholistic approach to integrate Sustainable
Development Goals, Sendai Framework for
Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030) and UNFCCC

The Expert Forum provided an opportunity todevelop a Higher Educational Institution Platform
on DRR to address the cross-cutting issues on
Disaster Risk Governance and understanding
regional challenges that result from complex
problems generated by natural hazards and human-induced threats. It also provided a platform tocreate regional synergies between leading higher
education institutions engaged in education andresearch on DRR and Sustainable Development,
development agencies, government and nongovernment stakeholders to proactively address
disaster risk and build resilience through education.

Book release: "Natural Hazards Management in Asia" at the Mainstreaming Resilience and Disaster Risk Reduction in Education” held at AITfrom 1-2 December 2017. (From left: Dr. Indrajit Pal, Mr. Surendra Shrestha, Mr. Bernard Philip and Dr. Tuhin Ghosh)

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 48

Bournemouth University Disaster
Management Centre (BUDMC)
http://budmc.uk/
Prof. Richard Gordon
Director

During the year 2017, colleagues of BUDMC
published and contributed to articles and bookchapters, participated in conferences and in addition
to continuing with many other activities.

Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency,
Cameroon’s Directorate of Civil Protection and British
Virgin Island’s Department of Disaster Management,
all hosted by the BUDMC.

Published Articles

Through external funding, delivered the National
Research informed Multi-Scenario National Exercise
Training and Simulations, Oman; Medical Emergency
Training for Global Centre for Mass Gathering
Medicine, Saudi Arabia; and two other International
Disaster Management Courses (IDMC).

•

Bang, H., Miles, L. and Gordon, R. (2017) The
Irony of Flood Risks in African Dryland
Environments:
Human
SecurityinNorth
Cameroon, World Journal of Engineering andTechnology, 5.

•

Walters, G, Shipway, R., Miles, L. and Aldrigui, M.
(2017) Fandom and Risk Perception of Olympic
Tourists, Annals of Tourism Research, 66.

•

Holdo, G-M., Miles, L. and Hartwell, H. (2017)
Disaster Nursing: Looking to the Future in Norway.
International Journal of Safety and Security
Engineering, 7(3).

Book Chapter and Reader•

Miles, L., Gordon, R. and Bang, H. (2017) Blaming
Active Volcanoes or Active Volcanic Blame?
Volcanic Crisis Communication and BlameManagement in the Cameroon. In: Fearnley C., etal., eds. Observing the Volcano World, Volcanic
Crisis Communication. Springer•

Gordon, R., Bang, H. and Miles, L. DedicatedReader in Disaster Management for the Middle
East

Impact and Public Engagement - Prof Lee Miles
disseminated the PINPOINT research project inrelation to Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Twenty-fourradio and TV interviews were conducted on premier
media outlets with an estimated media audience
coverage/impact calculated at 12.5 million.
Research-informed Career and Professional
Development Delivery: Richard Gordon: 4 courses inOman and FCO course delivery; and Prof. Lee Miles:
Launch of Masters (MSc) in Disaster Management(CPD route).

International Conference Presentations - Lee
Miles, Henry Bang and Richard Gordon participatedin many conferences and symposia within the UK
and abroad. At the International Studies Association
58th Annual Convention in Baltimore, Maryland, USA
in April 2017, Prof Lee miles and Dr. Henry Bangdelivered a presentation on “A glass of crisis
management with a foreign policy twist?
Entrepreneurial resilience in the Cameroon” .
Successfully concluded the research of AFRIGATE(West/Central Africa), PINPOINT (Caribbean) and
CRIS-ELITE research and knowledge exchange
projects.
Completed the Executive Briefings to Ghana’s
National Disaster Management Organisation,

Prof Lee miles (left) and Dr. Henry Bang (right)

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 49

Global Disaster Resilience Centre
University of Huddersfield
Prof. Dilanthi Amaratunga

https://www.hud.ac.uk/gdr

In 2017, academics at the Global Disaster
Resilience Centre, University of Huddersfield, UK
have been successful with several international
research grants:‘Mainstreaming
Integrated
Disaster
Risk
Reduction and Climate Change Adaption
Strategies into Coastal Urban Agglomeration
Policy’. Value of the grant is £ 120,000 for 18-24
months and it is funded by the Newton Fund
Institutional Links Programme. Professor Haigh is
the GDRC lead where as Dr. Harkunti P. Rahayu at
Bandung
Institute of Technology, Indonesia isleading the project from Indonesia. Associatepartners include: National Disaster Management
Agency (BNPB); Meteorology, Climatology andGeophysical Agency (BMKG); Ministry of Agrarianand Spatial Planning; and University of Andalas, allfrom Indonesia and UNESCO ICG/IOTWMS basedin Perth, Australia. This collaboration and research
project will develop researcher capacity and novel,
integrated DDR and CCA strategies that can protect
centres of economic growth and development
outcomes in coastal urban agglomerations.
Professor Richard Haigh is
the Principle
Investigator of CABARET (Capacity Building in
Asia for Resilience EducaTion) with 15 partners
fromIndonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar,
Philippines, Sri Lanka, UK, Spain, Bulgaria, Latvia
and Malta. Its associate partners include IOC/UNESCO, ADPC and Federation of Sri Lankan
Local Government Authorities. CABARET is cofunded by an EU Erasmus+ programme grant of€993,340, will run for three years commencing
February 2017.
CABARET aims to promoteinternational cooperation between Higher Education
Institutes (HEIs) in Asia and Europe, and among
Asian HEIs themselves, to improve multi-hazard
early warning and increase resilience among coastal
communities. through its focus on coastal
communities, many of which are under severepressure resulting from planned and unplanneddevelopment, population growth and human induced
vulnerability, coastal hazards with increasing
frequency and magnitude, and the impacts of global
climate change.
“Tsunami Interface: A study of the upstream-

downstream interface in end-to-end tsunami early
warning and mitigation systems” is anotherinitiative that was commenced in 2017, led byProfessor Dilanthi Amaratunga. This study aims tounderstand the technical, legal and socio-culturalcomplexities that occur at the interface between
upstream and downstream mechanisms of thetsunami early warning system. Project investigators
include: University of Colombo, Sri Lanka; Bandung
Institute of Technology, Indonesia; Asian Disaster
Preparedness Centre, Thailand; and Several otherassociate partners.
7th International Conference on Building Resilience
was very successful held in Bangkok, Thailand from27-29 November 2017 and was chaired by Professor
Dilanthi Amaratunga and Professor Richard Haigh. It
was attended by more than 300 academics,
practitioners, professionals and policymakers fromaround the world. The conference sought to bridge
the gap between the research community in disasterrisk reduction, and policy and practice. Experts fromall regions shared the latest research being
conducted by universities and research institutes,
much of it undertaken in response to the Sendai
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which maps
out the course of global action over the next 15 years.
Further details about GDRC activities in 2017 can beread by visiting: http://www.hud.ac.uk/gdrc

CABARET project launch

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 50

Disaster and Development Network (DDN)
Northumbria University

Prof. Andrew Collins
Leader

https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/ddn

The Disaster and Development Network (DDN) is
hosted by the Department of Geography andEnvironmental Sciences of Northumbria University at
Newcastle-upon-Tyne in Northeast England. During
2017 the DDN continued to engage with research,
policy, practice and civil society in combined disaster
reduction and sustainable development issues both
locally and with partners in other parts of the world.
For example, the 2017 annual Dealing with Disasters
Conference was hosted as a local Durham andNorthumbria
University
collaboration.
Bothinstitutions are members of the UK Alliance forDisaster Research (UKADR) that provided extensive
sessions. Northumbria DDN is a founding member
and current co-lead of UKADR (ukadr.org). The
UKADR is an achievement for all those institutions
involved in this field in the UK demonstrating
commitments to alliance building now more apparent
in the disaster research sector.
The DDN steered and lead inputs to major policy
development work; for example through leading
ongoing regional evaluations in Southern Africa that
included ‘strengthening national capacities andframeworks for disaster risk reduction and climatechange adaptation’ with United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and furthering the World HealthOrganization ‘Thematic Platform for Emergency andDisaster Risk Management for Health’. The DDN isan accredited partner of UNISDR for the
implementation of the Sendai Framework for
Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and input to the
Global Platform in Cancun being also a partner
institution in the Science and Technology roadmap.
In 2017, the DDN concluded its Steering (since2011) of the highly successful Enhanced Learning
and Research for Humanitarian Assistance (ELRHA)(elrha.org), now spinning off from its host Save theChildren and taking forward an extensive portfolio of
forward looking projects that includes bringing DRR
into Humanitarian Assistance.

Report (GAR)’ (Maskrey, Geneva). A new research
project on ‘Infectious Disease Disaster Risk
Communication’ was launched with partners in
Kenya (No Strings and Catholic Relief Services)
funded by Department for International Development
and the Welcome Trust. The DDN Research Fellow
working on this project (Becky Richardson) is also to
be a presented with an Award from the Queen for
their services with the British Red Cross inrelationship to the Grenfell Tower, London firedisaster of 14th June 2017. A further DDN research
input on ‘domestic sprinkler safety’, was launchedwith Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service(TWFRS) (Kotter). DDN also input to the UK-India
Joint Network on Sustainable Cities and
Urbanization in India lead by Nottingham University
amongst others initiatives.
PhDs awarded in 2017 included:•

Sara Walsh – ‘Mainstreaming Disaster Risk
Reduction in Nepal: The rhetoric and the reality’•

Onaopepo Adeniyi – ‘Disaster Resilience
Framework for Encouraging Private Sector
Investment in the Built Environment’•

Nnamdi Iloka – ‘Indigenous knowledge forDisaster Risk Reduction’•Turki Alshadadi – ‘Assessment of weatherrelated natural disaster vulnerabilities in theKingdom of Saudi Arabia’•

Ibrahim Almarzouqi – ‘An Analysis of Disaster
Vulnerability in the United Arab Emirates’•

Seema Ahmed – ‘Psychosocial wellbeing ofadolescent girls and young women after the 2005
Pakistan Earthquake’

The accompanying MSc in Disaster Management
and Sustainable Development concluded 19 awards
during 2017. These comprised seven Distinctions,five Commendations and seven at the Pass level.

The DDN hosted Visiting Research Fellowships in2017 focusing variously on ‘Disaster Law’ lead byMichaelEburn(ANU,
Australia),‘DisasterEthnography’ (Miyamae, JSPS/Osaka University)and on outcome ‘Analyses of the Global Assessment
GADRI Annual Report 2017— 51

Overseas Development Institute (ODI)
https://www.odi.org/
Dr. Emma Lovell
Research Fellow

ODI’s Risk and Resilience Programme published arange of reports and working papers in 2017,
notably Delivering disaster risk reduction by 2030:
pathways to progress, which examined countries’
individual progress and reporting under the Hyogo
Framework for Action, and how lessons can be
drawn to help achieve the Sendai Framework for
Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. Case studies
covered a range of examples from low- and middleincome countries, each with varied risk levels,
starting points and trajectories of progress.
In 2017, we undertook a project to understandpeople’s choices and efforts to rebuild following
disasters in Nepal and the Philippines, andproduced a working paper looking at how
households recover from disasters in situations
where little or no support is available fromhumanitarian agencies. We also produced a reportwith UNDP examining the links between climatechange, migration and displacement, breaking down
the often sensational claims made by the media andexamining the complex links between the effects ofclimate change and human mobility. Other research
explored The next frontier for disaster risk reduction:
tackling disasters in fragile and conflict-affected
contexts.
Our Resilience Scan initiative (supported by theRockefeller Foundation) has continued to deliver aseries of quarterly publications reviewing andsummarising the latest trends in resilience from grey
and academic literature, debates and social media,
alongside
expert viewson i) Selfrecovery forresilience; ii)transboundary
adaptation;andiii)
coastalresilience.
We have also
producedseveral ‘deep-dives’ on key emerging resilience-related topics in2017, including how i) universal health coverage; ii)
risk insurance; and iii) solar household systems can
support overall resilience.
Highlights from two other long-term programmes,
Building Resilience and Adaptation to Climate
Extremes and Disasters (BRACED) and Pathways
to Resilience in Semi-arid Economies (PRISE), bothof which began in 2014, are provided below:
BRACED aims to build people’s resilience acrossthe Sahel, East Africa and Asia. ODI leads the
BRACED Knowledge Manager, which generates
evidence and learning on resilience and adaptationin partnership with BRACED projects and the wider
resilience community. In 2017, BRACED launched
The Resilience Exchange, which looks at what has
been learned across the diverse projects, presenting
stories, research, evidence and learning. BRACED
has recently been awarded a 21-month extension,
taking the programme to the end of 2019.
PRISE works with decision-makers in local andnational governments, businesses, business support
agencies and trade bodies in semi-arid regions of
Senegal, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia,
Pakistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to build climateresilient economic development. In 2017, PRISE
published a range of publications, including Value
Chain Analysis for Resilience in Drylands (VCARID): Identification of adaptation options in key
sectors, which identifies opportunities for economictransformation and diversification in semi-arid areasof PRISE countries by integrating sectors rooted insemi-arid lands, including cotton and livestock, into
national economies.
Finally, ODI researchers have taken part in several
high-level meetings in 2017, including the Global
Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction and the United
Nations Climate Change Conference (COP23). For
more information about our publications, researchand events, please visit odi.org.uk

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 52

Natural Hazards Center (NHC)
University of Colorado, Boulder
Prof. Lori Peek
Director

https://hazards.colorado.edu/

The Natural Hazards Center is the one academic
center in the United States dedicated to linking
researchers, practitioners, and policy makers to
reduce the harm from disasters. We share andadvance social science and interdisciplinary
knowledge, with a special emphasis on the mostvulnerable populations and places. Every day, we
work to empower a culture where all people are
educated and inspired to take positive action to
mitigate hazards losses and to build stronger
communities.
In 2017, the Center team hosted the 42nd Annual
Natural Hazards Workshop, which brought together
over 500 leading researchers and practitioners. In
addition, at the 2017 Workshop, the Center helped
convene a meeting of North American directors ofacademic hazards and disaster centers. At themeeting, the group decided to move forward withforming an alliance of institutes for the region, to be
discussed and voted on in 2018.
The Center currently has numerous active research
projects in the areas of hazards, disasters, andsocial vulnerability. In addition, Center Director Lori
Peek is the Principal Investigator on a new National
Science Foundation EAGER grant, that is intended
to form a Social Science Extreme Events Research(SSEER) and Interdisciplinary Science andEngineering Extreme Events Research (ISEEER)
network and platform for the hazards and disastercommunity. In addition, Peek is PI on a new
evaluation research grant for Save the Children andco-PI on a National Science Foundation research
grant on interdisciplinary methods and approaches
for hazards and disaster research.

Natural Hazards Center Wildfire and Flood Tour, July 9, 2017. ©Sonya Doctorian, 2017

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 53

Center of Excellence for Risk-Based
Community Resilience Planning
Colorado State University
Prof. John van de Lindt
Co-Director

http://resilience.colostate.edu/

The Center is about to embark on its fourth year ofoperation. Year 1 was devoted to knowledge
consolidation and interdisciplinary team-building.
Year 2 focused on community modeling and interdependencies. Year 3’s emphasis was on recovery
modeling. In Year 4, we will turn our attention todecision support. Practically all research activities
in progress are performed on a community scale.
Major accomplishments during the first three years
include:• Completed community resilience assessment of

the Centerville Virtual Community, demonstrating
how interfaces between models of the built
environment can be developed by teams ofengineers, social scientists and information
scientists to study social and economic impact of
a severe earthquake;• Performed a hindcast of the Joplin, Missouri

Tornado of May, 2011, utilizing data gatheredfrom NIST’s post-disaster investigation as wellas tornado demand and fragilities developed inearlier Center research, completing the damage
assessment phase and entering the recovery
modeling phase;models are being developed for storm surge
using a combination of a logistic regression andrandom field models.
• Initiated the Memphis Metropolitan StatisticalArea (MMSA) testbed (Tennessee, USA), thefirst testbed for a large urban community with apopulation of approximately 1.4 million in 9
counties distributed in three states, to examine
issues related to scaling physical, social andeconomic resilience models developed in priorresearch for small communities to a larger urban
area, to determine the dependence of recovery
on the influence and support from surrounding
communities, and to model interfaces andinformation flow between physical, social andeconomic systems during the recovery processwith the ultimate goal of informing thedevelopment of efficient decision support
algorithms.
Visit our webpage for further details on our projects
and accomplishments.

• Initiated a multi-year longitudinal investigation of

the impact of Hurricane Matthew, Sept-Oct 2016,
on Lumberton, North Carolina, a vulnerable, lowincome community, conducting an initial field
investigation of flood-related damage and social
impact approximately 6 weeks after thehurricane and returning just over a year later toassess progress in community recovery.
• Initiated a hurricane hindcast for Galveston,

Texas to develop models for hurricane damage,loss and recovery modeling through integrationof hazard, infrastructure and socio economic
systems
andinterdependency
modeling;
developed hurricane-induced coastal flood
fragilities for roadways using empirical damage
data from past hurricane Ike and physicalhydrodynamic experiments, one focusing on
wave loads on submerged bridges, and the otheron failure mechanisms of coastal highway
pavements and embankments.
Surrogate

Lumberton Field Study TeamGADRI Annual Report 2017— 54

Disaster Research Center (DRC)
University of Delaware
Prof. James M. Kendra
Director

https://www.drc.udel.edu/

The Disaster Research Center (DRC) is committed toadvancing the state of the art in disaster
research and its scientifically guided practice;educating the next generation of disaster sciencescholars and informed practitioners in the fields ofdisaster mitigation, preparedness, response andrecovery; and creating, gathering, and disseminating
disaster knowledge in a dynamic and responsiveway.
In 2017, faculty, staff, and students at DRC published
20 books, articles and dissertations, including therelease of an updated edition of the Handbook ofDisaster Research, and participated in numerous
conferences and panels around the world. DRC
hosted seven visiting scholars this year, and faculty,
staff, and students participated in quick response
field studies for three significant disaster events: theCharlottesville, Virginia civil disturbance, Hurricane
Harvey, and the Mexico City earthquake. Additionally,
students at DRC deployed to disaster sites aroundthe world in various response capacities.
Community engagement is a key focus at DRC, andthis year several unique opportunities arose tocollaborate with stakeholders. In early Spring,
Resource Collection Manager Pat Young facilitated agathering of library personnel and emergency
managers in the state of Delaware as part of a seriesof Library Summits. In the Fall, a number of DRC
faculty and staff had the opportunity to meet with
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to discusscommunity experiences in crisis response andresilience building.
The DRC is pleased to announce that the Bill
Anderson Fund (BAF) will be housed at the
University of Delaware. The BAF was founded inmemory of disaster scholar William A. Anderson withthe goal of increasing diversity among disaster
researchers and practitioners through advocacy,
fellowships, and support for scholars from historicallyunderrepresented communities.
Finally, this year marked the passing of DRC cofounder Dr. Enrico L. Quarantelli. Dr. Quarantelli wasremembered in the New York Times Magazine’s
special “The Lives They Lived” feature section.
In September, 2017, DRC faculty and students andlocal community leaders in the arts, disaster relief,and social advocacy met with Facebook founderMark
Zuckerberg
to
talk
about
hazards,
environmental justice, and the importance of social
networks in disaster response.

Meeting with Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg
GADRI Annual Report 2017— 55

Prof. Desmond Manatsa
ChairmanAfrica Alliance for Disaster ResearchInstitutions (AADRI)
Geography Department
Bindura University of Science
https://www.buse.ac.zw/

The Geography Department, Bindura University of
Science joined GADRI this year 2017, marking withit the emergence of the Africa Alliance for Disaster
Research Institutions (AADRI). This will pave a newphase of prominence for its members within the
African continent. Prof. Desmond Manatsa was
appointed as the interim Chairman of the AADRI.
He will disseminate AADRI information as a key
strategy for its awareness campaign and engage ona membership drive to formally initiate its activities
which would include a possible first conference inthe near future.
In November, within GADRI session held at theWorld Bosai Forum in Sendai, Japan from 25 to 28
November 2017, AADRI and the Geography
Department of Bindura University was represented
by Prof. Manatsa. He delivered a presentation on
Vision and Future for AADRI.
To sum-up the rationale for establishing AADRI
within the School of Climate Change and Disaster
Research (SCCDR), Bindura University, Zimbabwe,
Africa’s disaster research community is fragmented
and diverse. It is quite conspicuous that thecontinent, despite having the greatest share of
global disaster victims, Africa has neither a clear

and coherent disaster research collaboration nor
partnership to inform decision-making. Africa’s
disaster research output is less than 1% of global
disaster research with no hub for Africa’s disaster
research. In this regard, AADRI will be involved inadvancing disaster risk reduction knowledge
through producing and sharing knowledge;
promoting collaboration and partnerships andprovide a unified message for policy makers across
Africa. Membership will be open to universities,
government and non-governmental organizations,private sector and PhD students engaged indisaster research. Disaster risk reduction, climatechange adaptation and sustainable development
will be among the key issues addressed by AADRI.
AADRI will function as an independent alliance thatwill be managed by voluntary contributions from theAfrica’s research community. The Secretariat will
be hosted by SCCDR, Bindura University of
Science with a rotating committee including chair of
AADRI.
Further details can be found at our website http://
www.aadri.org.zw.

GADRI Session at the World Bosai Forum 2017, Sendai JapanGADRI Annual Report 2017— 56

GADRI Member
Institutes

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 57

Africa
1

Algeria2

Egypt

University of Science & Technology Houari Boumediene (USTHB), Built
Environment Research Laboratory (LBE)
German University in Cairo (GUC)

3

Egypt

Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University

4

Egypt

5
6
7
8
9

Geology Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University
Water Resources Research Institutes (WRRI), National Water Research Center
Egypt(NWRC), Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation
Department of Agricultural Engineering, UDS International, University for
Ghana
Development Studies (UDS)
Ghana
Department of Geography & Resources Development, University of Ghana
Hydrology and Water Resource Engineering, Water Research Institute, Council
Ghana
for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC),
South Africa
University of the Free State

10

Sudan

UNESCO Chair in Water Resources

11

Sudan

Disaster Management and Refugees Studies Institute (DIMARSI), International
University of Africa

12

Zimbabwe Bindura University of Science Education

Americas13

BrazilCentre for Technology and Natural Resources, University of Campina Grande

14

CanadaThe Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction, Western University

15

Chile

Centro Nacional de Investigacion par la Gestion de Desastres Naturales(CIGIDEN)

16

Colombia

National Unit for Disaster Risk Management in Colombia (UNGRD)

17

Colombia

Department of Chemical Engineering, Universidad de los Andes

18

Colombia

19

Ecuador20

MexicoInstitute of Geography, National Autonomous University of Mexico

21

MexicoStructures Laboratory, University of Michoacan

22

MexicoResearch Institute of Risk Management, University of Michoacan

23

USA

Advanced Radar Research Center, University of Oklahoma

24

USA

Wind and Hurricane Impact Research Laboratory, Florida Institute of Technology

25

USA

Resilient Communities Research Institute, California Polytechnic State University

26

USA

27

USA

28

USA

Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER), University ofCalifornia, Berkeley
Center for Risk-Based Community Resilience Planning, Colorado State
University
Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware

29

USA

Consortium for Capacity Building, University of Colorado-Boulder

30

USA

Natural Hazards Center, University of Colorado-Boulder

31

USA

Geologic Hazards Science Center, US Geological Survey

32

USA

Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC)

Seismological and Geophysical Observatory of the Southwest (OSSO), Valle
University
Pacific International Center for Disaster Risk Reduction, Escuela Superior
Politechnica del Litoral

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 58

Asia (excluding Japan)
33

Bangladesh

Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM)
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)

34

Bangladesh

Department of Disaster Science and Management, Faculty of Earth andEnvironmental Sciences, University of Dhaka

35

China

Beijing National Earth Observatory, Institute of Geophysics, China Earthquake
Administration

36

China

Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences

37

China

College of Engineering, Ocean University of China

38

China

State Key Laboratory of Geo-hazards Prevention and Geo-environment
Protection (SKLGP), Chengdu University of Technology

39

China

40

China

41

China

42

China

43

China

44

China

Integrated Risk Governance Project (IRG-Project), State Key Lab of Earth
Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University

45

China

China Research Center for Emergency Management (CCEM), Wuhan Universityof Technology

46

China

Natural Disaster Research Institute, Northeast Normal University

47

China

Shanghai Institute of Disaster Prevention and Relief, Tongji University

48

China

Chang'an University

49

China

Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Science,
Ministry of Water Conservancy

50

India

Humanities and Social Sciences Department, Indian Institute of Technology

51

India

Research & Development, Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar

52

India

Center of Excellence in Disaster Mitigation & Management, Indian Institute ofTechnology Roorkee

53

India

Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O.P. Jindal Global University

54

India

Department of Geography, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi

55

India

School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi

56

Indonesia

School of Ecology and Environment Studies, Nalanda University

57

Indonesia

JASA TIRTA I Public Corporation

58

Indonesia

Research Center for Disaster Mitigation, Institut Teknologi Bandung

59

Indonesia

60

Indonesia

61

Indonesia

Faculty of Engineering, Gadjah Mada University
Geological Agency, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic ofIndonesia
Brawijaya University

Key Laboratory of Coastal Disaster and Defense (KLCDD), Hohai University
Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction
Sichuan University - The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
College of Architecture and Environment, Sichuan University
State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, Sichuan
University
Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute ofTechnology

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 59

Asia (excluding Japan)
62

Iran

International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES)

63

Korea

64
65

Korea
Korea

66

Korea

67

Laos

68

Malaysia

Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)

69

Malaysia

70

Malaysia

71

Malaysia

72

Malaysia

73

Malaysia

74

Malaysia

Universiti Tenaga National (UNITEN)
Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia (UTM)
Centre for Coastal and Ocean Engineering (COEI), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia(UTM)
Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Water Security (IPASA), Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)
Dept. Structure & Materials, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi
Malaysia (UTM)
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

75

Malaysia

76

Malaysia

Center for Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Initiative (SEADPRIUKM), Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), UKM
Disaster Management Institute (DNI), Universiti Utara Malaysia

77

Nepal

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD)

78

Nepal

Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University

79

Philippines

80

Philippines

81

Philippines

Philippine Society of Emergency Medical Technicians82

Sri Lanka

National Building Research Organisation (NBRO)

83

Sri Lanka

84

Sri Lanka

85

Sri Lanka

86

Chinese Taipei

International Water Resources Research Institute, Chungnam National
University
Research Center for Disaster-hazard Resilience, Seoul National University
Graduate School of Disaster Prevention, Kangwon National University
School of Urban & Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of
Science and Technology
Asia Research Center, National University of Laos

University of the Philippines, Diliman Campus
Resource Facility, Partnerships in Environmental Management for Seas of East
Asia (PEMSEA)

Natural Resource Management & Laboratory Services, Central Engineering
Consultancy Bureau (CECB)
Center for Urban Water (CUrW), International Network for Advancing
Transdisciplinary Education (INATE)
Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT)

87

Taiwan Typhoon and Flood Research Institute, National Applied ResearchLaboratories
Chinese Taipei Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory, National Cheng Kung University

88

Chinese Taipei National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR)

89

Chinese Taipei Center for Weather Climate and Disaster Research, National Taiwan University
National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering, National Applied
Chinese Taipei
Research Laboratories
Chinese Taipei Disaster Prevention Research Center, National Cheng-Kung University
Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management (DPMM), Asian Institute ofThailandTechnology (AIT)TurkeyKandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University

90
91
92
93
94

VietnamVNU Key Laboratory for Geo-environment and Climate Change Response,
Department of Geo-environment, Vietnam National University
GADRI Annual Report 2017— 60

Europe
95

AustriaInternational Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
Department of Information Technologies and Communications, University of
National and World Economy

96

Bulgaria

97

Bulgaria

ISER-Bulgarian Academy of Sciences

98

FranceBureau de Recherches Geologiques et Minieres (BRGM)

99

FranceCouncil of Europe

100

Germany

Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (CEDIM)101

Germany

United Nations University, Institute for Environment and Human Security

102

Germany103

Germany

Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS)
Disaster Research Unit, Department of Social and Political Sciences, Freie
Universiät Berlin

104

Italy

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Florence

105

Italy

European Commission Joint Research Centre (EC-JRC)

106

Slovakia

Faculty of Security Engineering, University of Zilina

107

SwedenStockholm Environment Institute (SEI)108

Switzerland

Faculty of Geosciences and the Environment, University of Lausanne

109

Switzerland

Global Risk Forum (GRF Davos)

110

UK

111

UK

112

UK

113

UK

Cabot Institute, University of Bristol
Global Disaster Resilience Centre, School of Art Design and Architecture,
University of Huddersfield
Disaster and Development Network (DDN), Department of Geography,
Northumbria University
Swansea University

114

UK

British Geological Survey

115

UK

Bournemouth University Disaster Management Centre (BUDMC)

116

UK

117

UK

118

UK

Evidence Aid
Public Health Consultant in Global Disaster Risk Reduction, Global Public
Health, Public Health England (PHE)
Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

Oceania
119

Australia

Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University

120

Australia

121

Australia

122

Australia

Science and Engineering Faculty, Queensland University of Technology

123

Australia

University of Sunshine Coast

124

Australia

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences/ SMAH, University of Wollongong

125

New ZealandCentre for Disaster Studies, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook
University
Centre for Infrastructure Performance and Reliability, School of Engineering, The
University of Newcastle

GNS Science

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 61

Japan126

Japan

Research Center for Potential Development of Disaster Prevention, Akita
University

127

Japan

International Consortium on Landslides (ICL)

128

Japan

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

129

Japan

Research and Education Center for Natural Hazards, Kagoshima University

130

Japan

Faculty of Safety Science, Kansai University

131

Japan

Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa University

132

Japan

Research and Development Center of Fire and Environmental Safety, Universityof Kitakyushu

133

Japan

Research Center for Urban Safety and Security, Kobe University

134

Japan

Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University

135

Japan

Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University

136

Japan

Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance(IDiARRG), Kwansei Gakuin University

137

Japan

Research Institute for Applied Mechanics, Kyushu University

138

Japan

Disaster Risk Reduction Research Center, Faculty of Engineering, Kyushu
University

139

Japan

Center of Environmental Science and Disaster Mitigation for Advanced
Research, Muroran Institute of Technology

140

Japan

Advanced Disaster Prevention Engineering Center, Nagoya Institute ofTechnology

141

Japan

National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED)

142

Japan

Research Institute for Natural Hazards & Disaster Recovery, Niigata University

143

Japan

144

Japan

145

Japan

Institute of Disaster Mitigation for Urban Cultural Heritage, Ritsumeikan
University (R-DMUCH)

146

Japan

Frontier Research Center for Natural Disaster Mitigation, Ritsumeikan University

147

Japan

Disaster Prevention Research Center for Island Regions, University of the
Ryukyus

148

Japan

International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University

149

Japan

Center for Urban Earthquake Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology

150

Japan

Earthquake Research Institute, The University of Tokyo

Research Initiative for Natural Disaster Prevention of Oil and Gas Spill in
Industrial Parks, Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University
Graduate School of Human Sciences, Faculty of Human Sciences, Osaka
University

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 62

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 63

GADRI Annual Report 2017— 64