Water hazards
as a major challenge
200

Outline ofthe International Centre on
Water Hazard and Risk Management
under the auspices of UNESCO
Public Works Research Institute (PWRI)
Tsukuba, Japan

Historical Background2000 2nd WWF (The Hague)
Æ “Managing Risk”
as major challenge area.
2002 WSSD (Johannesburg)Æ Necessity to develop programs for
mitigating the effects of extreme water-related events
2003 3rd WWF (Kyoto, Shiga & Osaka)Æ Water hazards as one of the 37 main themes- Awareness on importance of water hazards
and risk management was raised.
- Needs to develop technologies and capacity
building were recognized.

Public Works ResearchInstitute (PWRI)• History••••

Number of Events by types

Flood

150

Windstorm
100

Drought
50

The water related disasters will be …
¾ aggravated by population growth, rapid urbanization, andconcentration of human settlements and assets in flood areas;¾ hampering sustainable development at global scale.
There are acute needs for R&D and capacity building.
01992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

年
2001

Reduction of water hazards is vital for poverty alleviation.
Immediate actions at scientific/academic fields are needed.

UNESCO-IHP Bureau Meeting
April 1, 2004, Paris, FRANCE

1927: Establishment
1979: Relocation to Tsukuba
2001: Re-organization
Staff : 220 (including 150 researchers)
Land area: about 560,000m2
Number of project themes: around 200
Budget (FY 2003):
6 billion JPY (55 mil. US$)The number of water related
disasters is still increasing.

PWRI @ Tsukuba
Tokyo

Objectives of the Centre
On water hazards and risk management…
¾ Generate and provide scientific and technicalinformation to the world¾ Promote research involving international
institutions and networks¾ Undertake effective capacity-building activities¾ Enhance cooperation in order to advanceknowledge

Framework of the Centre¾ Proposed to be established within PWRI as a global
center under auspices of UNESCO (Category 2) inautumn 2005
¾ Mission theme:
Water hazard and risk management¾ Activities:
Research, Training, and Information networking¾ Support from the Government of Japan (MLIT,MOFA, MEXT…)¾ Partnership with UNESCO-IHP Networks,UNESCO-IHE & other global/regional institutes, UN
agencies and other key organizations of the world1

Outline of the Centre

Office outlook(at initial stage)¾ Staff- 10 international and 10 Japanese professionals- Support from PWRI and other relevant institutes/organizations (e.g., NILIM)¾ Administrative support from PWRI
¾ Budget- Operational budget: financed by PWRI
- Project budget: to be financed by various sources from inside& outside of Japan¾ Office facility- Location and total area : Next to PWRI HQs, around 2,000
square meters- Total cost: 200 million JPY (2 million US$)- Construction of the center will be started in April, 2004 andbe completed by Autumn 2005

Location: Next to the PWRI HQs, Tsukuba
Total area: around 2000 square meters

Pillar Activities ofthe Centre

Office design and layout
Lecture Hall

Researchers’ office

ResearchResults/ Outcomes
Participation
14m

Lecture Hall
Capacity : 60～～ 80 persons
Floor area : 189 ㎡

Lecture Room

Researchers’ office
Floor area : 280 ㎡

Training& Capacity
building

70.4m

Capacity : 40～～ 60 persons
Floor area : 101 ㎡

Director’s office
Floor area : 56 ㎡

First Floor

Second Floor

Research Activities
Conducting scientific and academic research;- Hydraulic / hydrological prediction, observation,modeling and analysis- Water-related hazards management technologies- Climate change assessment study and adaptation
technologies- Contribution to the WWAP・・・andothers
・・・

Data/Information
Curriculum
Network

Knowledge

Information
networking

Research Projects (1)Contribution to the WWAP
¾ For Phase 1 (WWDR publishedin March 2003)- Technical input- Case study of Greater Tokyo¾ For Phase 2 (toward 2006)-Expansion of the Case Study to country scale
Indicator of Risk Management with WMO, ISDR
Input to the risk chapter of the 2nd World WaterDevelopment Report (WWDR)

2Research Projects (2)Contribute to UNESCO/WMO jointInternational Flood Programme, including
potentionally related programmes:¾ International Flood Network (IFNet) by actively
collaborating to the network expansion andsubstantially contributing to develop Global Flood
Alert System (GFAS)¾ Global Cooperative Programme on Water andClimate (CPWC) by contributing through national
assessment of Japan and developing the Flood
Vulnerability Index (FVI)

Training Activities (1)-experiences of PWRIPWRI’s long experiences through conducting JICA
training courses for over 35 years, including:- river and dam engineering- landslide engineering
Pacific 8/6

Africa 41/13

Middle East47/8
Latin America
Total Number of28/12
Trainees/Countries
355/62Europe 2/2
in FY2002
Asia
229/21

Information Networking (1)Creating knowledge base and information
networking :---Collecting, compiling and providing useful information andpractices relevant to risk management, particularly throughco-operation with International Flood Programme andWWAP
Contacting UN-systems and all other international resource
organizations in collaboration with IHP networks andWWAP
Interaction with the existing global/ regional network (IFNet,JWF, etc.)

Research Projects (3)Co-operation with IHP risk-managementrelated programmes and activities
Input of PWRI’s expertise to the Centre:¾ R&D of hydrological modeling and waterresources management system¾ Collaboration with IAHS to develop PUBs
¾ Intensive study of water resources modelingin the Mekong River, etc.
¾ Contribution to develop GWP Tool Box

Many other projects will be coming!

Training Activities (2)¾ Group training course- New training courses on “water hazard mapping”(in cooperation with JICA)- Improvement of the existing training courses torespond to the mission of the new Centre¾ Long- & short-term training for experts/ practitioners- Students/ professionals exchange from academic
institutes worldwide- Internship for the future generations

Information Networking (2)Information networking will be synergized withresearch and training activities in order toenhance integration and coordination:
Through the information network…
¾ Research output will be widely disseminated¾ Feedbacks from countries and regions will be given to
research projects¾ Trainees will develop domestic links in their own
countries/ regions¾ Local needs for training items will be informed3

Synergic Links on Water Hazard andRisk Management at global scale
Japanese
relevantOrganizations/Initiatives(NILIM,IFNet,IFNet,JWF…
JWF…)

Collaboration
Partnership
NetworkResearchTeams/Groups

PWRI
InternationalInternational
CentreCentreforfor
water
waterhazard
hazardandandriskriskmanagement
management

International/ Global
UNESCO, IHP Networkand relevant
UN agencies (WMO,ISDR, UNU…
UNU…)
International / regional
Organization (MRC etc),
International NGOs…
NGOs…
Governmental,Regional Sector
Academic/ ResearchInstitutes, Universities
Private Sectors
Banks (WB, ADB…
ADB…),
International FinanceInstitutions

Capacity Building, Training

Information, Human Network

Practitioners and experts fromdeveloping countries

Preparatory activities (2)October 2003
¾ RSC in Southeast Asia & Pacificand in Latin America & Caribbean
Æ Resolutions strongly supporting theestablishment of the CentreJanuary 2004
¾ International technical workshop at PWRIÆ Experts from Asia, Africa, East & West
Europe, and North & South America
Æ Summary Report on directions of the Centre¾ International Symposium in Tokyo
March 2004
¾ WWAP risk management workshop at WMO

Where we stand…
¾ Started constructing the office/facilities¾ Established a special department devoted to thepreparatory activities (headed by Akira TERAKAWA,Director)¾ Launched the special Website linked with IHP website

Preparatory works will be proactively continued.

Preparatory activities (1)July 2003¾ Preparatory Committee for the UNESCO Centre
Chair: Masato Seiji, Director General, River Bureau, MLIT

¾ Preparatory Working Team for the UNESCO Centre
Chair: Akira Kitagawa, Executive Director, PWRI
Vice Chair: Kenzo Hiroki, National Institute for Land andInfrastructure Management, MLIT

¾ Strategic Meeting of the IHP Centres/Chairs at Delft
October 2003
¾ 32nd UNESCO General Conference
Æ Announcement of intention to establish the Centreby the representative of Government of Japan

Preparatory activities (3)¾ Participation in the international conferences/ meetings- August 2003: Stockholm Water Week (Stockholm, Sweden)- November 2003: Southeast Asian Water Forum (Chiang Mai,Thailand)- January 2004: ADB Water Week (Manila, Philippines)- February 2004: ISDR Asian Meeting (Siem Reap, Cambodia)¾ Networking in Japan¾ Coordination among MLIT, MOFA, MEXT and otherwater ministries and the IHP sub-committee, Japan
National Commission for UNESCO

Budget status¾ Budget for preparatory activities in 2003
40 million JPY (400,000 US$) spent for…
- Organizing International Workshop andSymposium- Preparatory Research- Collecting Information¾Ministry of Finance approved the FY 2004
budget for Centre preparation¾FY 2004 budget will be spent for active
continuation and progress of the preparation

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Future milestones
Key events to progress the preparatory works:¾ March 31-April 2,2004:UNESCO-IHP Bureau at Paris¾ April 2004:CSD 12 (New York, USA)
¾ Autumn 2004:UNESCO-IHP Intergovernmental Committee (IGC)¾ Autumn 2004:Executive Board¾ January 18-25, 2005 : World Conference on Disaster Reduction (Kobe,Japan)¾ Spring 2005:CSD 13 (New York, USA)
¾ Autumn 2005:33rd General Conference

We greatly appreciate
your suggestions and supports!

Launch the TSUKUBA Centre !

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