Chair’s Summary1World Bosai Forum, held in Sendai Japan, 25-28 November, 2017
Fumihiko Imamura
World Bosai Forum Committee Chairperson
The concept for the World Bosai Forum emerged at the United Nations World
Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, held in Sendai in March 2015. The aim was foran open and broad forum for civil society, the private sector, academia, media,government and international organisations, to share knowledge and learn from one
another, to help advance the goals of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction,
which is the international agenda for action agreed at the World Conference, and last
but not least, to capitalize on the experience so painfully gained as a result of the 2011
Great East Japan Earthquake and its massive tsunami over 6 years ago. The Japaneseword “bosai” means the holistic approach to reducing losses and damage, encompassing
all aspects of disaster management, from prevention to recovery. To strengtheninternational linkages, the Forum has partnered with the long-established International
Disaster and Risk Conference Davos. It has also benefited from its co-location withJapan’s national events on promoting disaster risk reduction, the Bosai Kokutaiconference and the Bosai Industry Fair in 2017 which together were attended by 10,000participants.
I am happy to report today that this first World Bosai Forum has amply succeeded in its
aims. It has attracted over 900 participants including people from over 40 countries orregions. There were 50 specialized sessions spanning diverse aspects of disaster risk, somany in fact that numerous parallel sessions were required. In addition to thesesessions, there was a one-day pre-forum festival, 12 technical exhibitions, dozens ofposter presentations, 26 short “flash talks,” and study tours and excursions to nearby
tsunami-aﬀected areas.
From highly motivated school children, leading experts and captains of industry andgovernment we have heard how different factors must be linked and blended toproperly protect our societies – including science, technology, culture, finance,education, leadership, and community action. And we have heard time and again themany positive messages of recovery, reconstruction and renewal, and the recognition
that we can accept and manage Nature’s wrath along with her bounties.
I was greatly impressed by the Pre-Forum Festival event on Saturday 25 November
which was attended by almost 700 people. It sought to show the human ways werespond to, and interpret and learn from, disaster events and disaster risk, throughpersonal initiatives and learning, courageous leadership, and cultural production by
way of music and dance. The projects and insights of the students were illuminating andencouraging, and demonstrated that disaster policies should never forget the potentialof young people to engage in and help advance the safety of our communities – as one
1 The summary was drafted by Forum Rapporteur Dr Reid Basher, New Zealand-based Visiting Professor,

International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, drawing on session reports preparedby session organisers and with the assistance of the Institute's Dr Yuichi Ono and Dr Daisuke Sasaki.

group said – for 1000 years into the future. The outspoken efforts of the Mayor ofKuroshio to dispel negativism and face up to new projections of 34-meter tsunamis forhis town was a lesson in leadership. The Festival also demonstrated how music, songand dance remained accessible in the aftermath of disasters, providing essential andenduring support to individuals and communities at times of adversity, and sustaining
values of normality, hope and practical action over long periods.
The opening sessions of the main events described the 2011 disaster and the enormous
efforts to recover from it, and the many lessons learned. Collaboration mechanisms
were stressed as critical for the effective use of financial and organizational capacities inboth the public and private sectors, and to develop community commitment andacceptance. Collaboration, built on foundations of trust, is reflected in Japan’s principleof “self help, mutual assistance, and public assistance”, and it is critical for ourpreparedness to face future events. Constant interaction is needed to develop
knowledge bases and to guide and communicate scientific research to help
policymakers and managers in their work. This should include awareness that the next
disaster may be completely different, such as a volcanic eruption.

The need for continued public awareness raising and education was frequently
mentioned, along with the task of creatively recording and communicating theintensely-felt human experience of disasters. Japan has a long history of large-scaledisasters and innovation in disaster risk reduction, while also recognising the many
shortcomings still to be addressed. Globally, disaster risk is seen as a key issue toaddress in sustainable development agendas, as is elaborated in the Sendai Framework.

Among the lessons from the 2011 event were: the importance of volunteer
coordination; the development of staged risk-zoning of coastal areas; proactive efforts
to rebuild old industries and stimulate new ones; the use of business continuity plans asa tool to upgrade business resilience; the importance of community social capital and ofactivities to sustain it; and the substantial upgrading of early warning and evacuation
capabilities that has been achieved. All of these things reflect the “build back better”
principle. Lastly, it was argued that we need to more systematically develop a “riskculture” where risk is incorporated naturally as a consideration in all aspects of life andsociety, and where everyone accepts their responsibility to play a part, however small,in prevention and preparedness.
Many valuable contributions were made in the multiple specialized sessions; here I
endeavour to summarise the highlights under three headings: science and technology;
policy and finance; and society and culture. Successful disaster risk reduction requires
all three operating together; like a three-legged stool, it falls down if one leg is missing.
Science and technology

Scientific knowledge is the foundation for understanding and action. Technology
provides the tools to monitor, respond to, and mitigate risk. Exciting new science andtechnology included major advances in dynamic modelling of tsunami flows andinundation including: the transport of debris and sediments and the resulting damage
impacts, partly as a result of very high speed computing capabilities and the availabilityof extensive data such as that generated by Japan’s land-sea monitoring network of2

seismometers, ocean buoys and ocean floor pressure sensors; a new concept forpotentially predicting earthquakes an hour ahead; the use of drones for different
aspects of disaster risk reduction; and big-data analysis of social media activity andsurveillance camera imagery. Some of these technologies will require the developmentof appropriate regulation for effective application.

Applications of space-based technologies continue to progress and can be directly
integrated into systems modelling, for example in water hazards management.
Increasingly, scientific and technological advances are being forged through multidisciplinary, multi-institute collaborations, including close cooperative work with theprivate sector and the application of the principle of client participation to clarify thepurpose and design of the research. These approaches are also valuable to risk
communication, early warning systems and multi-hazard assessment. An interesting
field under development is the integration of ecosystem principles to disaster risk
reduction; this is termed eco-DRR.
Policy and finance

Coordinated effort on disaster risk requires sound policies to guide action and sufficientfinance to support action. Here, we mainly considered two settings, firstly, developing
country integration of risk reduction into sustainable development, and secondly, the2011 Great East Japan Earthquake recovery. The value of disaster risk reduction
investment is well recognised, as shown by significant and continuing investments inresilient infrastructure by countries and major donors, yet economics modelling ofdisaster impacts and ex-ante disaster risk reduction investment remains a work inprogress, with results affected by the model choice and availability of input data.
Studies are underway to develop investment strategies that are appropriate to theparticular circumstances, of the country, the hazard, the sector and the risk-reducing
intervention. Regional cooperation plays an important role in information sharing andsupport of high-risk low-capacity countries, as in typhoon warning for example. A key
concept is that disaster risk reduction is an investment and not merely an expenditure.
Risk transfer and insurance can play an important role in recovering from the impacts
of disasters, for governments, firms and households. Efficient risk transfer andinsurance is highly dependent on quality science for the modelling and assessment ofrisks. International collaboration has facilitated the development of cooperative
catastrophe insurance schemes at regional levels, for example for Caribbean country
governments. A potent tool developed for the Tohoku recovery has been to link credit
availability for firms to their adoption of well-structured business continuity plans; thisincentivising approach enhances firm performance as well as community resilience.
Regular systematic surveys of firms’ status has been valuable to monitor and guide therecovery process. The build-back-better concept has been an important overall
principle in the Tohoku recovery, for example underpinning the staged coastal
protection approach, the raising of roads and embankments and the relocation of
housing areas, as well as being central to the process of engagement with communities
and other stakeholders.

Technological hazards are generally increasing and can pose significant problems ofcomplexity, as illustrated by the nuclear plant failure in 2011, but there is plenty of past3

experience of technological hazards to draw upon to guide disaster risk reduction
efforts. Improvement in risk management and risk reduction for nuclear plants require
a combination of high technological capacity and strong involvement of external
stakeholders such as universities and particularly local communities, and theavailability of objective information on risks.
Society and culture

Disaster risk and its reduction are always mediated through the actions of individuals
and groups operating in social organization and under prevailing culture and belief
systems. I have already noted the insights of the Pre-Forum Festival in this respect. A
central issue for many sessions was the differentiated interests and needs of groups,
and the impact of exclusion from decision-making processes. To ensure that disasterrisk reduction is effective and equitable, all relevant constituencies should berepresented in decision-making and leadership. Failure to do so was seen as a potential
risk driver. Special measures are needed to overcome widespread cultural practices
that exclude women or discourage their participation. Careful consideration needs to begiven to the needs of poor people, the elderly, people with disabilities, those withpsychiatric illness, foreigners, and any others disadvantaged through any systemic
reason.

Another perspective proposed was to present citizen involvement in bosai activities as apositive and effective practice to be encouraged in normal times as an ongoingmechanism for communication and implementation, for example for neighbourhoodand school-based activities, and for fostering the participation of children and young
people. Existing structures of social capital, such as university and school groups,
volunteer organisations, and faith-based organisations, can play valuable roles in
expanding community-based efforts in risk reduction and in response and recovery
phases. The education sector needs to stress the role of risk in sustainable development
and to integrate risk reduction into curricula. In the health sector, specific techniques
are being developed to address the needs of mental health support in disaster
preparedness and response, and discussions on improved approaches in nursing areunderway. A number of points were made for communicating people’s experience ofdisasters, such as through dialogue with disaster-affected people, a strong will andpassion in conveying our lessons, and the proactive use of traditional and new forms ofthe media to communicate underlying risk reduction messages at times when public
interest or concern in disasters is high.

To conclude, let me recall the words of Professor Torahiko Terada after the Great Kanto
Earthquake of 1923: “Disasters strike when we forget them”. This saying is well known
to us Japanese. Now the World Bosai Forum has said, instead, “We can handle disasters
because we do not forget them.”
I thank you.

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