The Newton fund, Institutional Links provides grants and collaboration partnership with higher education institutions in the UK and partner countries. The £735 million fund is managed by the UK’s Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and aims to facilitate various research to tackle development challenges globally until 2021.

University College London, EPICentre and Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction was successful in being awarded one of the projects: PRISMH: Philippines Resilience of Schools to Multi-Hazard

The Research Challenge

The project, led by Prof Dina D’Ayala, Dr Carmine Galasso and Dr Joanna Faure Walker aims to develop an advanced resilience assessment framework for school infrastructure subjected to multiple natural hazards in the Philippines. The project investigates the effectiveness of buildings retrofit measures and social preparedness measures as means of preventing casualties, reducing economic losses and maintaining functionality of the school infrastructure and its role within the community in the event of natural disasters. In particular the project addresses risks from seismic, wind and flood hazards. The resilience assessment protocol will be used by civil protection and school authorities to improve their preparedness and implementation. 

Period of Award: 1st April 2017 – 31st March 2019

Principal investigator: 

Prof Dina D’Ayala, University College London, EPICentre

Co-Investigators:

Dr Carmine Galasso, University College London, EPICentre and Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction

Dr Joanna Faure Walker, University College London, Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction

Research Investigators:

Alexandra Tsioulou, University College London, Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction

Partners:

Prof Andres W. Oreta, Dr Lessandro E. Garciano, Mr Richard DeJesus, De La Salle University, Philippines

Mr Dexter Lo, Xavier University, Philippines

Programme: British Council (Newton Fund Grant Agreement Institutional Links) and Philippines’s Commission on Higher Education (CHED)