IRDR Annual Conference 2023 – Risk Without Borders

Reducing disaster risk and the impact of humanitarian crises has many difficulties. One such challenge is working across, along or through borders, both physical and metaphorical, and overcoming the barriers these can impose. The 13th IRDR Annual Conference will examine the challenges and possible solutions that risk researchers and practitioners face when assessing, managing and reducing risk across different borders from multiple perspectives including economic and political formal and informal borders considering data, communication, collaboration, and diplomacy.

In addition to lively panel discussions, we will also welcome Professor Stefan Dercon from the Blavatkin School of Government, Oxford and former Chief Economist of DFID to give the keynote speech and Judge Mykola Gnatovskyy, European Court of Human Rights, in conversation with our own Dr Yulia Ioffe. 

The conference will be followed by a drinks reception and PhD research exhibition.

Programme

Confirmed speakers

Welcome

Prof Joanna Faure Walker, UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction (IRDR)

Joanna is Professor in Earthquake Geology and Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of Department.

Keynote: Agency, Anticipation and Disaster Risk Reduction

Stefan Dercon, Professor of Economic Policy,
Blavatkin School of Government, Oxford

Stefan Dercon is Professor of Economic Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government and the Economics Department, University of Oxford. He is also Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies.

He combines his academic career with work as a policy advisor, providing strategic economic and development advice, and promoting the use of evidence in decision making. Between 2011 and 2017, he was Chief Economist of the Department of International Development (DFID), the government department in charge with the UK’s aid policy and spending. Between 2020-2022, he was the Development Policy Advisor to successive Foreign Secretaries at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. 

His research interests concern what keeps some people and countries poor: the failures of markets, governments and politics, mainly in Africa, and how to achieve change.

His latest book, Gambling on Development: Why some countries win and others lose was published in May 2022. It draws on his academic research as well as his policy experience across three decades and 40-odd countries, exploring why some countries have managed to settle on elite bargains favouring growth and development, and others did not. Previously, Dull Disasters? How Planning Ahead Will Make A Difference was published in 2016, and provides a blueprint for renewed application of science, improved decision making, better preparedness, and pre-arranged finance in the face of natural disasters.

He is a Fellow of BREAD, a Research Fellow of CEPR and of IZA, an Affiliate of J-PAL, a Non-resident Fellow, Centre for Global Development, Washington and Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Manufacture (FRSA).

In 2018, the Queen awarded him as an honorary Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for services to economics and international development.

See Stefan's full profile
Twitter: @gamblingondev

Chair: Dr Rozana Himaz, UCL IRDR

Rozana is Associate Professor in Humanitarian Economics in the IRDR. Her research interests look at (i) how catastrophe modelling can incorporate ‘non-conventional’ aspects such as impacts on livelihood and mental health (ii) how welfare impacts of shocks on individuals and households evolve over time and (iii) how program/policy impacts can be evaluated. She focuses mainly on developing countries such as Indonesia, Ethiopia, India and Sri Lanka.

See Rozana's full profile

In Conversation [Chair: Dr Yulia Ioffe, UCL IRDR]

Judge Mykola Gnatovskyy, European Court of Human Rights

Dr Mykola Gnatovskyy holds an LL.M. (1999) and a Ph.D. (2002) in International Law. He is the author of many publications on European and international human rights law, as well as international humanitarian law and international criminal law.

Since 2002, he has taught at the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv and cooperated with the International Committee of the Red Cross as an academic partner.

In 2009–2021 Dr Gnatovskyy was a member of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). He served as Vice-President of the CPT for two years (2013–2015) and as President of the CPT for six years (2015–2021).

Since June 2022 he serves as judge of the European Court of Human Rights elected in respect of Ukraine.

Chair: Dr Yulia Ioffe, UCL IRDR

Yulia is an an international lawyer and Lecturer in Humanitarian Law and Human Rights in the IRDR. She has worked with a range of international organisations and NGOs on humanitarian policy development and practice, including the International Court of Justice, the UNHCR Representation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the UNHCR Regional Representation for Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Red Cross Society. Her research interests lie within international human rights law, forced migration, and children’s rights. 

See Yulia's full profile

Panel 1: Data Without Borders [Chairs: Dr Saman Ghaffarian, IRDR, and Dr Ting Sun, IRDR]

Thanks to recent technological advances, we now have unprecedented access to an extensive range of data, encompassing diverse types, sizes, and volumes, complemented by advanced models like Artificial Intelligence and physical modelling techniques. Through remote sensing platforms and techniques, we can now collect data from the most remote areas, while physical modelling and AI methods enable the generation and utilisation of essential data and information. “While this abundance of data offers immense potential for applications in disaster risk reduction, it also gives rise to ethical concerns and necessitates novel approaches from AI and physical modelling to analyse and process these vast datasets.” 

Panel 2: Scientists beyond borders [Chair: Prof Fatemeh Jalayer, UCL IRDR]

Global warming and changing climate, pandemic, disasters, wars, and conflicts have touched our lives in quite different ways; and yet, no one has managed to remain unscathed. The challenges we face and the problems we try to solve as scientists and researchers, have already managed to transcend the boundaries and to span across the various divides. Our sole hope in tackling these challenges and in finding solutions again lies in scientific collaboration and knowledge exchange transcending borders and barriers of political, social, geographic, linguistic, physical, cultural, disciplinary, and sectoral nature. This discussion addresses the barriers to scientific collaboration and how they can be overcome by fostering access and open science initiatives, communication, dialogue, diplomacy, participation, engagement, and logistics. 

A full programme and details of expert speakers will be available here as they are confirmed.

Please note, this event will be livestreamed and available on the IRDR YouTube channel.