PSBA-Manila DRM Unit Participates in the 6th APRU Multi-Hazards Summer School 2018 at IRIDeS, Tohoku University, Japan
The Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Unit of the Philippine School of Business Administration, Manila (PSBA-Manila) represented by Mr. Ramon Iñigo Espinosa, the DRM E-learning Coordinator, participated in the 6th APRU Multi-Hazards Summer School 2018 at the International Research Institution of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University, Japan this 24-27 of July 2018. The theme of this year’s Summer School is “Applying science, technology and innovation in disaster risk reduction”.
The major objectives of the event are to:
- Understand the mechanism of the international Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) strategy;
- Learn from the experience and recovery process from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami;
- Learn from various DRR projects that have been implemented in the Tohoku region and overseas;
- Discuss the role of science and technology as well as universities in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
The four-day event was organized by the Association of Pacific Rim Universities (APRU) and IRIDeS. Participants from various APRU-affiliated universities, as well as participants from the 13th Young Leaders Program of the Northeast Asia Economic Forum, attended the first two days of the Summer School. The first day consisted of various talks from experts on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) from different fields including natural sciences, social sciences, and health.
The second day consisted of a field trip to three different tsunami-affected areas in the Miyagi prefecture of Japan, showing the various disaster resiliency efforts, disaster response, lessons learned from the disasters, and applications of the “build back better” principles during disaster recovery. This includes a visit to the former Okawa Elementary School where 74 out of 78 elementary school students lost their lives.
Three more talks on various other DRR-related topics from experts of different fields happened during the third and fourth day of the summer school. They also worked in separate groups to show their DRR-related researches. Mr. Espinosa presented the Risk Sensitive Comprehensive Land Use and Development Planning (RSCLUDP) Model to his group during his group activity. The output of this activity was a framework emphasizing that DRR is a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural responsibility. Mr. Espinosa had the privilege to present their group output for this activity to the entire class.
The activity of the fourth day of the summer school grouped the same participants from day three to come up with a project proposal related to DRR using the different expertise of its group members. These proposals were critiqued by the experts who presented during the fourth day.
Participants were given a certificate after the event showing that they have completed the four-day course by Prof. Osamu Murao of IRIDeS, Tohoku University during the closing ceremony.
The APRU Multi-Hazards Summer School is one of the many Multi-Hazards Program events held annually at IRIDeS. The Program aims to build safer and more disaster-resilient societies through education, research, and partnerships and focuses on better strategies to deal with disasters. To learn more about the Multi-Hazards program, you can visit its homepage here: https://apru.org/partnering-on-solutions/multi-hazards-program.