Training Disaster Managers in Asia

Senior Manager Jim Buika (sixth from right) with International disaster management students from Bangladesh, the Philippines, Turkey, Jordan, and Peru at the Kobe University training course, "Mitigation Strategies for Mega-Urban Earthquake Disasters."

As part of its commitment to provide information and analysis for disaster management leaders in the Asia Pacific region, the Pacific Disaster Center recently developed and taught a two-day training program at Kobe University in Japan. Part of a broader six-week training titled, Mitigation Strategies for Mega-Urban Earthquake Disasters, the program was sponsored by two PDC partners, the Research Center for Urban Safety and Security at Kobe University, and the Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative, and was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

"Our synergy with Kobe University and the Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative has produced important opportunities to understand disaster risk management challenges faced by Asia's largest and most complex urban environments," said PDC Senior Manager Jim Buika. "We are committed to training disaster managers in the state-of-the-art tools and technologies that will help them to manage risks in the region."

Disaster management students from nations including Bangladesh, the Philippines, Turkey, Jordan, and Peru participated in a variety disaster management exercises pertaining to "mega urban earthquakes," and were also briefed on the basics of Geographic Information Systems and mitigation planning. In addition, PDC's training sessions stressed the importance of building stakeholder coalitions and "collaborative education networks" in their communities and nations.

"This workshop is an important way of widening our knowledge and information on GIS applications [and] disaster mitigation processes, and the benefit it provides to decision makers and planners to achieve sustainable development," stated student Mr. Ronaldo Tuazon, a Senior Transportation Development Officer from the Philippines.

The course, Information Management Tools and Techniques for Integrated Decision Support and Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management, is one of many training activities the Pacific Disaster Center has undertaken in the region recently. Click here for PDC's primer about disaster management training opportunities both in the Asia Pacific Region and in the United States.