Building Resilience to Tsunami
In the Indian Ocean

About the Project

Building Resilience to Tsunami in Indian Ocean

Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Maldives were four nations in the direct path of the South Asian
Tsunami, where local communities even today are highly vulnerable and exposed to futuredisasters. The post-tsunami reconstruction eﬀorts are still underway in most of the aﬀected
communities, yet most risk reduction initiatives are only at the level of pilot projects. The
NGOs, CBOs and community groups at work do not have access to adequate knowledge
resources and tools to address their local risks. Project Selamat recognizes the community and its
educational institutions as the most crucial stakeholders for building resilience to disasters suchas tsunamis.
As a direct implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), the project aims atbuilding community level coping capacities towards long term resilience. The objectives of the
project include making tsunami threatened communities aware of their risks and of actions
needed, training local stakeholders in appropriate skills, establishing community based
infrastructure, and preparing and using IEC (Information, Education and Communication)material for awareness, training and advocacy. In this setting, the project aims to bring together
the NGOs, the academic institutions and the governments to work on a collaborative model of
locally appropriate process of institutionalizing risk reduction process.This brochure describes
the activities of academic institutions.

This project is funded by
European Union“The European Union is made up of 27
Member States who have decided to graduallylink together their know-how, resources anddestinies. Together, during a period ofenlargement of 50 years, they have built azone of stability, democracy and sustainable
development whilst maintaining cultural
diversity, tolerance and individual freedoms.
The European Union is committed to sharing
its achievements and its values with countries
and peoples beyond its borders.”

Disclaimer“This publication has been produced with theassistance of the European Union. The
contents of this publication are the sole
responsibility of UN/ISDR secretariat and canin no way be taken to reﬂect the views of theEuropean Union.”Contact Details
For academic institutions' activities, pleasecontact:
Rajib Shaw
Associate Professor
International Environment and Disaster
Management Laboratory,
Graduate School of Global Environmental
Studies
KYOTO UNIVERSITY
Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto
606-8501, JAPANTel/ Fax: 81-75-753-5708
E-mail:shaw@global.mbox.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Web: http://www.iedm.ges.kyoto-u.ac.jp/

Building Resilience to Tsunami
in the Indian Ocean
Action Research, IEC and Practices
In India, Indonesia, Maldives and Sri Lanka
Implemented by
Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies

In partnership withCenter for Coastal and Ocean Studies, University of Madras, India
Center for Disaster Mitigation, Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia
Center for Environmental Studies, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
September 2007 to March 2009

Project Team Members
Kyoto University Team-

Rajib Shaw, Team Leader
Yukiko Takeuchi
Miwa Imura
Yusuke Ogino

University of Madras Team
- Ramaswamy Krishnamurthy, Team Leader- V. Jayalakshmi- Ahana Lakshmi, TRINet- Satish Babu, InApp

Institute of Technology Bandung Team-

Krishna S Pribadi, Team Leader
Teti Argo
Retno Dwi Surjaningsih
Andi Oetomo
Aria Mariany
Novya Ekawati
Hening Parlan, MPBI
Trihadi Saptoadi, WVI
Jimmy Nadapdap, WVI
Milli Mildawaty, STKS

University of Peradeniya Team- Rekha Nianthi, Team Leader- Shantha K. Hennayake- Madduma Bandara- K. W.Nandalal- H.M.D.R. Herath- Ranjith Bandara- MAS Jayakumara- A.S.M.Nawfhal- Sampath U.B.Tennakoon- Ram Alagan- Chandani Hema Devendra, Irrigation Department,- S.R. Jayasekara, Department of Metereology- S.M. Premasiri, Irrigation Department- W.M.G.B. Giragama, HK Agrarian Research and Training Institute- Sriyani Jayasundara, Disaster Management Center- Lalani Imbulana, Disaster Management Center- Menake Wijesinghe, Disaster Management Center- Clarence Perera, NBRO
1

Targeted Issue and Problem“Education, including formal education, public awareness and training,should be recognized as a process by which human beings and societies
can reach their fullest potential. Education is critical for promoting
sustainable development and improving the capacity of the people toaddress environment and development issues.
While basic education provides the underpinning for any environmentand development education, the latter needs to be incorporated as an
essential part of learning. Both formal and non-formal education isindispensable to changing people’ s attitudes so that they have thecapacity to assess and address their sustainable development concerns”.
Chapter 36 of AGENDA 21,
on Education, Awareness and Training (1992)

Education has been there for ages. Need of
education for sustainable development isstated in Chapter 36 of Agenda 21. The
Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA:
2005-2015) also re-emphasized the needand urgency of disaster related education.
While there has been quite active awarenessraising and training for diﬀerent sectors,
formal higher education has been lessdominant in disaster reduction ﬁeld. Only
after 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, an
increasing trend is observed to develop anddeliver disaster management courses in theuniversities targeting under graduate andpost graduate students.
Education is considered as one of the key
mainstreaming tools for any subject. There
have been several attempts to mainstreamrisk reduction in development practices.
However, the real mainstreaming starts fromformal educational institutions, including
schools, colleges and universities. The modeand method of education should be one of
the important issues to make positive
impacts. Disaster risk reduction being a
multi-disciplinary subject needs a
combination of theory and practice.
Possibly, more emphasis should be given to
the ﬁeld practice and learning from theexperiences. Thus, the academic and formal
education should go beyond the traditionalboundaries of the school and/or university
compound, and communicate more withthe communities, and learn from theirexperiences.
Non-government organizations (NGOs)
have direct ﬁeld access, and experiences ingrass-root project implementation.
However, these experiences are not properly
reﬂected in the educational curriculum.
Thus, the Selamat project aims at bridging
academic research, education and ﬁeld
practice.

2

Objectives
Project objective is to build capacity of local
communities at risk to tsunamis and other coastal
hazards.
Some of the highlights of the university-NGO
cooperation are:Tell me, I will forget,
Show me, I may remember,
Involve me, I will understandSource: Anon

1. Quality of knowledge and information: All participating universities in the targetedcountries are esteemed organizations in the ﬁeld of disaster risk management. Therefore,
it brings high quality knowledge and information.
2. Extensive network: The four universities have largest networks in the tsunami aﬀectedareas, and thus ensure that the knowledge product will have largest circulation in future.
3. Ensuring sustainability: Through development of the certiﬁcate courses and customized
courses, young professional development will be ensured, which is linked to thesustainability of the disaster preparedness activities in the targeted countries andcommunities.

What to Achieve?
The project targets on three speciﬁc achievements:-

Education mainstreaming in the curriculum: Through development of courses andmaking it part of the regular curriculum of the universities.

- Linkages to field practice: Linking the courses with the NGO project learning.
-

Participatory learning: Academic learning through participation and experiences.
Teaching

University Education

GLOBAL

TeachingMedia

GLOBAL

ExperienceMedia
Field PracticeExperience

LOCAL

Traditional

LOCAL

Traditional

Source: Anshu Sharma 20083

How to Achieve? Process Based
The project was developed through a series of consultation process with the universities, local andnational governments, partner NGOs and school communities, especially in the tsunami aﬀectedareas.

Where the Interest Lies?
To develop eﬀective and sustainable education program, it is important to have a good market
research, and to understand where the interest lies.
Q. Why do you want to study
disaster management?

Q. Which among the following courses
do you want to study?

Source: 2008 survey

4Module 1:
School Safety
Primary Country: India
Primary Target: School teachers
Secondary Target: NGOs, practitioners and university students

School safety is the core of risk reduction education, and consists ofboth structural and non-structural safety. While there have been
several debates on the nature, form and implementation of school
safety programs in diﬀerent countries, very few consolidated
documents exists targeting school teachers. This module consists of
5 chapters: coastal hazards: conceptual framework, school safety:
generic principles, coastal hazards in India, school safety in Indian
context, and inclusive education. The module is prepared for 3.5
days of training program, which has 2 days of theory with
illustrations and video, and 1.5 days of practical training with ﬁeld
knowledge.

Module 2:
Climate Change Adaptation
Primary Country: India
Primary Target: Local Government Planners
Secondary Target: NGOs, practitioners and university students

Climate change is real, and is happening. In recent days, climatechange adaptation is becoming increasingly popular amongdevelopment practitioners. However, very few adaptation practices
exist in local government level. Therefore, this module targets
speciﬁc “how-to” on climate change adaptation and local
development planning. This module consists of 4 chapters: climate
variability and climate change, climate change and disasters,
mitigation and adaptation strategies and climate change practices inIndia. The module is prepared for 2 days of training program,which has both theory and practice.

5Module 3:
Community Based Coastal Zone Management
Primary Country: Maldives
Primary Target: Local Government Planners and NGOs
Secondary Target: University Students

Coastal zone management is increasingly becoming revenant due tovulnerability of the coastal areas. While there exist several regulations,community participation is an important issue to sustainable coastalzone management. This module consists of 6 chapters: physical,
biological and human dimensions of coastal zone management,
followed by brief introduction on natural hazards in the coastal zone
and speciﬁc context related to Maldives. The module is prepared for
2.5 to 3 days of training program, which has 2 days of theory with
illustrations and video, and 0.5 to 1 day of practical training with ﬁeld
knowledge.

Module 4:
Community Based Information System
Primary Country: Maldives
Primary Target: Community leaders and Teachers
Secondary Target: University students and Local Governments

Information system is the key to the early warning operation in coastal
areas. Community based information system (CBIS) engages local
communities to take control of the information system and thereby
enhancing their decision making power. One of the characteristicfeatures of the CBIS is to link it to the regular information system likeweather, agriculture, livelihood etc. This module consists of 6 chapters:
basics of Community Based Information system (CBIS), contents andservices provided in the CBIS, community based hazard mapping, andMaldives context of CBIS system. The module is prepared for 2 daysof training program, which has both theory and practical training withﬁeld knowledge.

6Module 5:Participatory Urban Risk Management
Primary Country: Indonesia
Primary Target: Local Government Planners
Secondary Target: University students and NGOs

Urban risk is gradually increasing, and will continue to increase in thenext decades. While urban risk management has been traditionally a
responsibility of the local government, increasing community
participation in urban areas is currently being recognized and practiced.
This module consists of 8 chapters: disaster risk in urban setting, urban
development planning tools, DRR framework and tools, preparedness
planning in urban setting in Indonesia, participatory approach indevelopment planning, participatory risk assessment, action planningand participatory M&E. The module is prepared for an intensive
training of 4 days with both theory and practice.

Module 6:
Leadership Training Program for NGOs
Primary Country: Indonesia
Primary Target: NGO leaders
Secondary Target: University Students

The role of NGOs in risk reduction is increasingly recognized, even in
the countries with traditional strong government presence. NGOs
often face the issue of sustainability of their activities, and the key
challenge is the leadership development for NGO activities. This
module consists of 8 chapters: introduction to DRR, role and challengeof NGOs, leadership quality in building community resilience,
facilitating and advocacy, CBDRR, participatory risk assessment andplanning, risk communication and leadership development program.
The module is prepared for an intensive training of 4 days with boththeory and practice.

7

Module 7:
Post Disaster Environmental Impact Assessment
Primary Country: Sri Lanka
Primary Target: Local government planners and NGOs
Secondary Target: University Students

Post disaster environmental impact assessment is the key for sustainable
recovery after nay disaster. In many cases, a quick estimate (Rapid
Environmental Assessment) is done by outside agency with little
involvement of local governments. It is important to enable the local
governments with tools and practices of the post disaster impact
assessment. This module consists of 8 chapters in two parts. The ﬁrst
part focuses on generic aspects of environmental impacts and theassessment tools, while the second part focuses on Sri Lanka
experiences. The module is prepared for an intensive training of 3 days
with both theory and practice.

Module 8:
Flood Risk Management
Primary Country: Sri Lanka
Primary Target: Local government planners and NGOs
Secondary Target: University students
Flood risk is a crucial issue in most Asian countries, and community
based approaches to ﬂood risk management has been increasingly
popular. In most cases, NGOs are actively involved in community
based initiatives. This module will focus on the local government
involvement in the ﬂood risk management with certain emphasis oncommunity initiatives. This module consists of 8 chapters in two parts.
The ﬁrst part focuses on generic aspects of ﬂood risk management andsustainability issues of community initiatives and its policy
implications. The second part focuses on Sri Lanka experiences. The
module is prepared for an intensive training of 3 days with both theory
and practice.

8

LinksThe project has established a strong link with the local governments, NGOs and local
communities.

Governments
Tamil Nadu state government, Cuddalore district administration, India;
Aceh, Bandung and Yogjakarta governments in Indonesia
Atoll and Island offices in Maldives
Disaster Management Center, Kaluthara district administration in Sri Lanka

NGO Partners
SEEDS India, MERCY Malaysia, MPBI. SHEEP, 118, SEEDS Asia,
Sarvodaya

University Partners
Kyoto University, University of Madras, Institute of Technology Bandung,
University of Peradeniya

Links to the University Curriculum
MODULES

9UOM

1. School Safety

Elective Course introduced by
Applied Geology (ongoing)

2. Climate Change
Adaptation

Certain Components alreadyincorporated in elective Course
in Master degree students ofapplied geology-course begins
for July 2009.

3. Community Based
Coastal Zone
Management

Elective Course introduced
by Applied Geology (ongoing)

4. Community BasedInformation System

Elective Course introduced
by Applied Geology (ongoing)

5. Participatory Urban
Risk Management

M.A.,(Town and Country
Planning), M.A., (Geography)

6. Leadership Training
Program for NGOs

M.A. Social Work, M.A. Sociology
and Anthropology
Can be offered as value added
certificate Courses

7. Post Disaster
Environmental Impact
Assessment

M.Sc., Environmental Studies
B.E., Civil Engineering

8. Flood Risk
Management

Core and Elective Courses
are currently offered by
Department of Applied
Geology for Post Graduate
Students

ITB

UOP

Introduced in PG andUG Courses

Courses in Oceanography
and Urban Regional Planning

Introduced in Urban
Planning at Master Level

Elective Courses offeredin School of Environment

Courses offered by theEnvironmental studies
Department for UG Students
Climate Hydrology for
50 students.
Watershed Managementfor Under Graduate Students.

Post Script: AUEDM
Recognizing the needs and demands of higher education indisaster risk reduction, Kyoto University Graduate School of
Global Environmental studies have established a network of
Asian Universities, called: Asian University Network ofEnvironment and Disaster Management (AUEDM). It is hopedthat the AUEDM network will sustain and build on the initial
seed network developed among four universities in this project.
For more information on AUEDM, see: www.auedm.org

Objectives of AUEDM:- To share and work together (bilaterally or multilaterally) in promoting
environment and disaster management in higher education (focusing on, but not
restricted to, post-graduate education)- To seek possibilities of mutual collaboration on field-based action research- To broaden the scope of education and learning in the environment and disastermanagement field through collaboration with other stakeholders like NGOs andlocal governments

Characteristic Features:- Multi-disciplinary approach- Field-based action research- Linking academic research to field practiceParticipating Universities and Organizations-

BRAC University, Bangladesh
Beijing Normal University, China
University of Madras, India
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India
Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia
Kyoto University, Japan
National University of Malaysia (UKM), Malaysia
Myanmar Engineering Society, Myanmar
Nepal Engineering College, Pokhara University, Nepal
Peshawar University, Pakistan
University of Philippines Los Baños, Philippines
Peradeniya University, Sri Lanka
Chulalongkorn University, Thailand
Hanoi Architectural University (HAU), Vietnam
GTZ Pakistan
SEEDS
United Nations University
10About Implementing Partners
University of Madras, India
The University of Madras envisages to establish
a Centre for Ocean and Coastal Studies(COCS) with multi disciplinary facilities forcarrying out Research and Development(R&D) and human resources development
programs in the areas of coastal and ocean
science. The interaction between land and sea
with particular reference to climate changes,
ecosystem modiﬁcations in the east coast ofIndia will receive special attention. Thus, themain objective of the Centre is to facilitate
inter-disciplinary teaching, training and R&D
programs with an aim to protect, conserve andmanage the ocean and marine ecosystems forsustainable development towards optimum
utilization of resources for the beneﬁt ofcommunity.

Institute of Technology Bandung, Indonesia
Center for Disaster Mitigation (CDM) is anorganization under the framework of Institutefor Research and Community Services InstituteTechnology Bandung that support theuniversity program in multidisciplinary disastermitigation activities. Center for Disaster
Mitigation conducts disaster mitigation researchand development in urban and rural area,
through an advocacy to support the strategic
policies and legal mechanism, to identify andanalyze the disaster impacts, to disseminate andtransfer knowledge and skills through training,
workshop, seminar, and community-based
research action activities. Center for Disaster
Mitigation was established on January 10, 2003
to respond national needs in reducing disaster
impact. It was also established as an eﬀort toinstitutionalize research activity in disastermitigation that had been done in the past
twenty years by ITB and also to make thisresearch activity sustain.

University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka
The Center for Environmental Studies (CES)
was established in 1992 in the University of
Peradeniya. Over the last 15 years, the CES has
rendered a signiﬁcant service both to the
University and to the nation in the ﬁeld ofenvironmental education and training,
especially in environmental impact assessment(EIA). The vision of CES is "to ensure an
environmentally informed and responsible
society." The overall objective of the CES is tocontribute towards an environmentally
informed and responsible society. Within this,the CES aspires to achieve the following
objectives: 1) Popularize and promote

11

environmental education within the University
and outside, 2) Build a closer interaction with
the Government agencies, civil society, private
sector and international organizations, 3)
Improve general and professional environmental
training both at undergraduate and post
graduate level, 4) Improve the environmental
information base and dissemination ofenvironmental information and researchknowledge, and 5) Evolve into a self sustaining,internationally recognizes environmental
training and education center. For these, CES
is involved in cutting-edge research in the ﬁeldof environment and disaster management.

Kyoto University, JapanThe Graduate School of Global
Environmental Studies of Kyoto University
was established with the objective ofconstructing a new civilization concept andscientiﬁc knowledge that contribute to both astable environment as well as the humanactivities that support the environment. The
purpose was to develop human resources
capable of adapting this concept andknowledge to the real world, in order toclarify and solve global environmental
problems. The study of the global
environment is still in the formative stage,and its relation to development, and disasters
are yet to be established. Strategic foresight,
interdisciplinary collaboration, and ﬂexibility
are vital to achieving dynamic development in
the research of this ﬁeld. The educational sideof this ﬁeld also requires sound educational
content of depth that encompasses related
scholastic ﬁelds as well as steady researchguidance that is both socially conscious and at
the forefront of its ﬁeld. The school promotes
multi-disciplinary action and academic
research in Japan and abroad. The graduate
school has unique internship program for the
students to enhance pro-active ﬁeld research.
Master students in Environmental
Management course need to complete a
compulsory internship of 5 months, andDoctor student for 9-12 months. The
graduate school is currently actively involved
in developing global leaders in the ﬁeld ofenvironment and disaster risk reduction.
For more information, please see:

http://www.ges.kyoto-u.ac.jp/

International Environment and Disaster
Management Research Laboratory targets to
reduce the gap between knowledge andpractice through pro-active ﬁeld-level,
community-based project implementation.
The target areas are mainly developing
countries in Asia, which have the highest
population growth, and high vulnerability
due to diﬀerent types of natural andman-made disasters. The focus of thisresearch ﬁeld is to learn lessons from the ﬁeld
experiences through eﬀective environmentand disaster related project management.
Disaster issues are directly related toenvironmental degradation, and global
climate change. Disaster, environment, anddevelopment are closely linked to each other
under the broad umbrella of human security.
The key of environment and disastermanagement is the end-user’ s participation,
which are the communities, and its people.
Added to this, is education and learning
through formal/ non-formal education, andcommunity/ family interactions. Working
closely with the governments,
non-governments (NGO/ NPO),
international organizations (United Nations
and other bilateral and multilateraldevelopment agencies) and regional bodies,
this research ﬁeld is developing a uniqueprocess-oriented participatory approach ofenvironment and disaster management
through direct involvement and ownership ofthe community. Key research areas are:climate change adaptation, urban risk
reduction, environment and disaster learningand education. For more information, please
see: http://www.iedm.ges.kyoto-u.ac.jp/

12Contact:
International Environment and Disaster Management Laboratory
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies
KYOTO UNIVERSITY
Yoshida Honmachi, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, JAPANTel/ Fax: 81-75-753-5708
E-mail: iedm.gsges@gmail.com
Web: http://www.iedm.ges.kyoto-u.ac.jp/