IRDR News http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/news/rss Lucy Stanbrough 2010-07-19T10:28:31Z IRDR IWD Gender and Disasters Event http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/event-reports/gender-disasters-event-report On 8 th March 2013, International Women’s Day, the UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction hosted a panel discussion on “Gender and Disasters”, in which we explored how the genders are differently impacted by natural disasters, why this difference exists, and what is being done about it. A panel of experts and an experienced chair-person all with very wide ranging experiences and backgrounds made this a very lively and informative discussion, with keen participation from the audience. The panel of experts included Paula Albrito, Head of the European Office of the UNISDR, David Alexander, UCL Professor of Risk and Disaster Reduction, and Linda O’Halloran, Director of NGO Thinking Development. It was Chaired by Ellie Lee, Reader in Social Policy. Further details of the Chair and panelists and a video of the full panel discussion can be found below. Rosanna Smith 2013-04-24T11:53:12Z IRDR now recruiting Reader and Lecturer http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/jobs/irdr-reader-lecturer The IRDR aims to lead research, knowledge exchange and advanced teaching in the area of risk and disaster reduction (RDR). By providing a focus for UCL’s RDR activities, with its breadth of disciplinary emphasis, promotion of novel multidisciplinary research and translation into practice, the Institute aims to assume a role of leadership in RDR both in the UK and internationally. The Institute is hosted in the Faculty of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, but operates across all UCL’s faculties, spanning earth and space sciences, mathematics and statistics, engineering and development planning, population health, anthropology, geography, ethics and laws. Rosanna Smith 2013-04-16T13:56:32Z IRDR February 2013 Newsletter http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/newsletter/IRDR-February-2013-Newsletter IRDR Gender and Disasters Event:  Our first major public event of 2013 will be a panel discussion on Genders and Disasters to mark  International Women’s Day  on  Friday 8th March , to be held at UCL from 6.00pm in the Cruciform Lecture Theatre 1. This will be followed by a drinks reception until 8.30pm. All are welcome. Women are more badly impacted by disasters than men and may be left vulnerable to exploitation in the aftermath. Why this gender bias exists and what can be done about it will be addressed by Paola Albrito from the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, UCL professor for risk and disaster reduction, David Alexander and Linda O’Halloran, director of the NGO, Thinking Development, in a discussion chaired by social policy and gender issues expert, Ellie Lee. Further details and registration are below. Yvette Twumasi-Ankrah 2013-02-25T14:40:06Z IRDR Special Report on UK-Japan Workshop on DRR and Lessons From the Great East Japan EQ http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/publications/irdr-special-report-on-uk-japan-disaster-research- In October 2012, the IRDR coordinated the UK delegation for a UK-Japan Joint workshop on Disaster Risk Reduction – Learning from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake hosted by the British Embassy in Tokyo. In addition to participating in the workshop, delegates visited areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami. The IRDR has just published a special report on this workshop and site visits, edited by IRDR lecturer Dr Joanna Faure Walker, which can be downloaded from our publications page . Rosanna Smith 2013-02-22T17:43:57Z New IRDR Postgraduate Programmes http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/general-news/new-irdr-postgrad-courses The IRDR will launch two new postgraduate programmes: a MSc and a PGDip in Risk, Disaster and Resilience which, along with our current MRes and PGCert in Risk and Disaster Reduction, will admit students from 2013.  In these programmes students will explore the characterisation, quantification, management and reduction of risk and disasters, and their associated impacts from a diverse range of perspectives with the aim of meeting the growing need for experts trained to analyse and provide solutions to complex issues. To this end, all the IRDR post graduate programmes are centred around the IRDR core taught modules: Natural and Anthropogenic Hazards and Vulnerability, Integrating Science into Risk and Disaster Reduction, Emergency and Crisis Planning, and Emergency and Crisis Management. The programmes differ in the total time commitment needed and the share of time dedicated to taught modules and independent research. For details of our postgraduate programmes please visit our teaching page or download our postgraduate prospectus: Rosanna Smith 2013-02-06T18:23:19Z IRDR newsletter: Oct 2012 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/newsletter/October-2012 We warmly welcome the newly appointed professor for Risk and Disaster Reduction, David Alexander, and the newly appointed lecturer in Risk and Disaster Reduction, Joanna Faure Walker. David, who has made seminal contributions to the discipline of disaster risk reduction, joins us from the Global Risk Forum, Davos.  Joanna joins us from a glamour City firm, Risk Management Solutions (RMS). She holds degrees from Cambridge University and UCL. (Their career details, in brief, can be found on the IRDR website.) We also welcome the new students on our first IRDR taught programme, the Master of Research (MRes) Risk and Disaster Reduction. Rosanna Smith, the Deputy Director, Joanna and I have just returned from Japan, where the IRDR had organized a joint UK-Japan Workshop on “Disaster Risk Reduction – Learning from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake” with our counterparts from the new Tohoku University International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS). This was generously hosted by the British Embassy in Tokyo. The UK delegation included representatives from other UK universities, financial services and architectural consulting. The workshop discussed the necessity for creating resilient societies as well as resilient infrastructure, in order to recover from disaster. The workshop was followed by a seminar on “Disaster Research in the UK and Collaboration with Japan”, opened by the Ambassador , and addressed by the UK Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir John Beddington, FRS, his Japanese counterpart, Dr Masuo Aizawa, and the Nobel Laureate, Sir John Sulston, FRS. The emerging theme was the importance of a multi-hazard approach, cross-disciplinary research and translation into practice. This was re-iterated at a high-level Scoping Workshop I attended at the Japan Foreign Ministry, where disaster research was included as a key action for future UK-Japan collaboration. The importance of a multi-hazard approach was strikingly illustrated during our site visit to the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant. The massive structural damage to three reactors was attributed to hydrogen explosions resulting from the loss of cooling; but if there had not also been a landslide which brought down the power lines, the plant may have survived both the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. (A blog of our Japan visit will go up shortly on the IRDR website.) The summer saw a major research grant success, where following an IRDR initiative, Richard Chandler (Statistical Sciences) organized a UCL-led consortium which won a £2 million award under the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Probability, Uncertainty and Risk in the Environment (PURE) programme. As well as partners in Statistical Sciences, the IRDR, Earth Sciences and Space & Climate Physics, our consortium includes the universities of Reading, Durham, Edinburgh, Birkbeck, the Met Office and British Geological Survey, and collaborators across the financial services and engineering sectors. And finally up-and-coming events include, the launch of the 2012-13 IRDR Seminar Series with a seminar by David Alexander on 17th October, the first IRDR Student Forum on 18th October and the IRDR-sponsored International Conference on Urban Change in Iran at UCL (8-9th November). On the 6th December, Thinking Development are holding an IRDR-sponsored screening and exhibition on progress of their Haiti education project. Further details can be found below. Rosanna Smith 2012-11-27T17:52:00Z IRDR annual conference 2012 report http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/publications/irdr-annual-conference-2012 After the success of the inaugural IRDR annual conference in June 2011, the UCL IRDR held its second annual conference on 21 June 2012. The conference focussed on the themes of Assessing Risk, Communicating Risk, and Natural Hazards and Critical Infrastructure, which have been key themes for IRDR research for the past year. These themes were explored through thought provoking lectures, panel discussions, discussions, and poster presentations. The event drew together dynamic participants from varying disciplines across UCL, other UK universities, and non-academic sectors including policy makers, humanitarian aid organisations, insurance industry, nuclear industry, and the media. A key aim of the conference was to get these people from different disciplines and sectors to engage with each other and discuss issues, advances and future goals in disaster risk reduction. We believe that this aim was achieved, with presenters communicating in a way that engaged interest and provoked discussion from the diverse participants. Rosanna Smith 2012-08-06T12:14:01Z IRDR appoints new Professor and Lecturer http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/general-news/new-IRDR-prof-and-lecturer David Alexander has been appointed Professor of Risk and Disaster Reduction at the UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction. He will join the IRDR on 1st October. David Alexander teaches emergency planning and management and has research interests in this field, as well as earthquake disaster analysis. His books include "Natural Disasters", "Confronting Catastrophe" and "Principles of Emergency Planning and Management". He is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, Co-Editor of Disasters journal, and is a Founding Fellow of the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management. We believe that he will be a great asset to the IRDR and look forward to his arrival in October. Rosanna Smith 2012-06-14T17:20:14Z IRDR Newsletter: Apr 2012 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/newsletter/april12 The UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction (IRDR) is rapidly expanding: we are making new appointments and will move shortly into newly refurbished space in the South Wing (Wilkins Building). We had an exceptional response to our advertisement for a Professor in Risk and Disaster Reduction resulting in a strong international slate of candidates. Short-listed candidates for the chair will be making research presentations on Thursday 19th April from 10.00 to 12.00 in the Pearson Lecture Theatre (Pearson Building: ground floor, entrance from the Front Quad at the junction with the Slade School). All are welcome to attend. Lucy Stanbrough 2012-04-16T10:55:23Z IRDR Newsletter: Jan 2012 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/newsletter/january2012 Last year proved to be a watershed for disasters and risk reduction. The 11th March Tohoku earthquake and tsunami were a human and economic disaster for Japan. From the sheer scale of damage that could be inflicted on an advanced industrialized country inferences were drawn, rightly or wrongly, about acceptable risks, which led directly to the termination of the German nuclear power programme. With memories still fresh of the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, there was also recognition for the need to re-assess the UK’s preparedness and resilience, at the highest political levels. Lord Ashdown’s review of the UK’s humanitarian emergency response galvanized action across government. As a consequence, the UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction (IRDR) was invited to join two bids led by industry to consult to government on risks for radwaste disposal and on transport infrastructure. While the report of the Institution of Structural Engineers’ field mission (EEFIT) assessment of the impact of the Tohoku earthquake, to which the IRDR contributed, is now being drawn on for advice to ministers. Natural hazards also developed as an important research theme and major funding awards are scheduled for 2012, with the UCL involved in a number of bids. UCL and the IRDR are therefore well placed to respond to the challenges and opportunities of 2012. Lucy Stanbrough 2012-02-13T10:51:23Z NERC Grant award to Gerald Roberts on earthquake geology http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/general-news/roberts-nerc Dr Gerald Roberts (Birkbeck Earth Sciences and IRDR) has been awarded a £888,983 NERC Grant to study "Earthquake hazard from cosmogenic 36‐Cl exposure dating of elapsed time and Coulomb stress transfer". Lucy Stanbrough 2012-02-13T14:14:54Z 2011 UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction Annual Conference http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/publications/annual-report-2011 In celebration of its first year of operation, the UCL IRDR held its annual conference on 22 June 2011. The event drew together a varied and dynamic audience from across UCL and its external partners and associates to report on, explore and inform research in risk and disaster reduction through thought provoking lectures, panel sessions and discussions. The IRDR aimed to produce a conference that would be truly multi-disciplinary, bringing together natural and social scientists, engineers and architects, doctors and lawyers, researchers and practitioners, financial analysts and humanitarian and development practitioners and policy-makers. The conference focused on four of the themes that the IRDR had worked on over the past year: Risk and Uncertainty for Natural Hazards; Issues in Water Risk and Security; Communicating Disasters; Extreme Events and Health Protection. The IRDR Annual General Meeting was also held and the whole day was rounded off with an evening networking reception. Well over 100 people registered for the event. There follows a brief report that summarises each session of the day and the Director’s Report and financial summary for the Annual General Meeting may be found here . The intention is to build the IRDR conference into the must-attend annual event for all those interested in risk and disaster reduction. Lucy Stanbrough 2011-08-04T17:02:12Z Katerva award finalists http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/general-news/katerva Our TwinSat project for predicting earthquakes with satellites, a collaboration between British and Russian scientists and institutions, which include Alan Smith, Director of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London (UCL), Vitaly Chmyrev of the Schmidt Institute of Physics of the Earth at the Russian Academy of Sciences and Peter Sammonds, Director, UCL IRDR, was a finalist in the prestigious Katerva awards for the “best sustainability initiative on the planet”. Lucy Stanbrough 2012-02-13T14:11:34Z IRDR Newsletter: May 2011 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/newsletter/may2011 We will hold the first UCL IRDR Annual Conference on the Wednesday 22nd June. This will be a one-day event of thought-provoking lectures and discussions, followed by our summer party. We extend an invitation to all in the UCL community, our associates and partners, and to those from outside just interested in engaging with risk and disaster reduction, to join us. The morning will commence with a specialist session on risk and uncertainty, a major research theme we are developing at UCL, with collaborators across industry and the financial sector. This will be followed by a panel-discussion session on the cross-UCL theme of water security, which we are organizing jointly with the Environment Institute and the Grand Challenges.  Lucy Stanbrough 2011-05-11T15:22:58Z UCL Institute for Risk & Disaster Reduction (IRDR) Discussion Meeting on the Honshu Earthquake and Tsunami http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/publications/japan-eq-seminar Wednesday 23rd March from 4.00 to 6.00 pm  Lucy Stanbrough 2011-04-06T12:20:27Z Thinking Development - Collected Reflections http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/publications/haiti-td Thinking Development today launches a special earthquake anniversary booklet available for download here . Collected Reflections will gather anniversary statements from organisations working in or monitoring Haiti in a concise and digestible format. It will bring together messages from groups as varied as DG ECHO, Internews, CDAC Haiti, The Haiti Support Group and the New Internationalist. We invite you to take time this first anniversary to digest all 6 short articles, and to enrich the discussion with your own anniversary messages or responses. To add to this collection, email your thoughts@thinkingdevelopment.org. Lucy Stanbrough 2011-01-13T13:11:45Z IRDR Newsletter: January 2011 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/newsletter/january2011 Happy New Year! The New Year sees the Institute for Risk & Disaster Reduction (IRDR) link up with the NGO Thinking Development and CDAC (Communicating with Disaster Affected Communities) to mark the anniversary of the 12th January 2010 Haiti earthquake with the publication of a collection of special anniversary articles on the 12th and a live London-Haiti panel discussion, Communicating with Haiti , on Monday 17th January at 5.00pm at UCL. (See "Events" below for details.) We are delighted to be actively engaged in the on-going campaign for reconstruction in Haiti, which involves so many UCL students, staff and graduates. Lucy Stanbrough 2011-01-10T12:08:27Z Communicating climate risk and the implications for food security http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/press-releases/16-11-2010 Many indicators warn that climate-related risks are increasing.  However, most scientists and policy makers are unconvinced that communication of these risks, which include widespread drought and food shortages, to the most vulnerable is getting better. Lucy Stanbrough 2010-11-29T11:55:14Z IRDR Newsletter: November 2010 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/newsletter/november2010 Welcome to a timely update on activities and developments in the UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction. This October alone has highlighted why a UCL Institute that leads an integrated research, teaching and knowledge transfer programme in risk and disaster reduction is so highly relevant. For example, we have witnessed the publication of the Government’s National Security Strategy A Strong Britain in an Age of Uncertainty, which highlights clear national security priorities in counter terrorism, cyber security, international military crisis and national disasters such as floods and pandemics. On the other side of the world, we have also seen the devastating impacts of floods, an earthquake, a tsunami and a volcanic eruption in Indonesia. Lucy Stanbrough 2010-07-19T13:07:08Z Scientific and Humanitarian Communities: A Partnership for DRR http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/general-news/elrha The IRDR will be hosting the following meeting in September: Lucy Stanbrough 2010-07-28T16:59:23Z UCL Haiti Development Project Launch http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/general-news/haiti-launch Hosted by Thinking Development in conjunction with UCL & UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction. The programme includes the unveiling of concept designs for Haiti school, website launch, field documentary, and a wine reception. Lucy Stanbrough 2010-07-28T16:25:41Z Launch of the IRDR http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/publications/irdr-launch The Institute launch event was well attended, and bought together a wide range of internal and external people with an active interest in the field of risk and disaster reduction. The panel session raised a number of points for further discussion and development, and saw the announcement of funding opportunities, partnerships, and the report on the recent volcanic activity in Iceland. Lucy Stanbrough 2010-07-19T15:01:23Z The IRDR in Bolivia http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/blog/steve-edwards/july-2010 Steve Edwards (IRDR Deputy Director) recently spent three weeks in Bolivia working with CAFOD (the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development) and its partners CIPCA and CENDA as part of the ongoing collaboration between UCL and CAFOD on risk reduction and climate change adaptation. The aim of the trip was to take the first step in designing a collaborative research project on risk analysis and reduction based around development models and the impacts of mega-projects. An overview was gained through a transect that extended from Riberalta in the Amazon Basin in north-eastern Bolivia, through the Central Highlands around Cochabamba, to the Altiplano in and around La Paz. In the Amazon key issues investigated were flood, drought, wildfire, water and food security, health, and land- and water-use changes. In the Highlands and the Altiplano interest focused on drought, water and food security, health, water management, and mining. Water was identified as the key theme, as all development models must be underpinned by responsible assessment and exploitation of water resources. Lucy Stanbrough 2010-07-19T14:30:08Z IRDR Newsletter: June 2010 http://www.ucl.ac.uk/rdr/irdr/newsletter/june2010 Natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunami, floods and storms destroy lives and damage economies across the globe; pandemics have the potential to bring death and suffering on an unprecedented scale; while climate change may increase the severity of both natural and health disasters. Reducing the threat of global disasters represents a colossal challenge that requires coordinated and collaborative action. Responding to this challenge, on the 26th May the Provost launched the UCL Institute for Risk & Disaster Reduction. Our new Institute aims to lead research, knowledge transfer and advanced teaching in risk and disaster reduction across UCL. Lucy Stanbrough 2010-07-19T13:07:08Z