Transcript Workshop Report - International Council for Science

Workshop Report
Kerstin Schmidt-Verkerk
Science Officer
Regional Workshop on Disaster Risk
Management in LAC
Co-organised by ICSU ROLAC,
CONICET Argentina, IRDR
Co-financed by ICSU Grant 2012,
CONICET, ICSU ROLAC
Supported by the Argentine National
Academy of Exact, Physical and
Natural Sciences (ANCEFN)
Under the auspices of the Argentine
Ministry of Science, Technology and
Productive Innovation (MINCyT)
More than 50 participants:
- expert scientists
- early-career scientists
- representatives of international
organizations
representing 10 countries in LAC
representing natural, social
sciences and engineering
Workshop themes
• Social vulnerability in the context of
disaster risk
• Trans-disciplinary tools for making
scientific data useful to risk managers
• Scientific Institutional arrangements for
risk management
Workshop Recommendations
• Provide
evidence-based scientific contributions to disaster risk
management, policy-making, and advocacy;
• Hazards may be natural and/or anthropogenic but disasters
are an expression of social vulnerability, which is a sign of
unsustainable development;
• Move away from a focus on emergency preparedness and
response towards reducing disaster risk as an integrated
requirement of sustainable development;
• Understand vulnerability and resilience to hazards to
effectively reduce their negative impacts;
• Integrated approaches in research and education, enhance
collaboration among various scientific disciplines;
Workshop Recommendations (cont.)
• Produce data, information, and advice, which will better
reflect the complexity of disaster risk, and which will better
serve the needs of all sectors of society;
• Go beyond traditional academic systems and individualistic
efforts to a system, which encourages integrated research and
values, cross-disciplinary approaches and team efforts;
• Use common terminology to ensure a common language and
understanding with the contribution from all stakeholders;
• Involve young scientists from early stages in integrated
research efforts as well as in the collaboration with policymakers as essential components of their career.
Towards an integrated project in LAC
• ICSU RCLAC will be asked to approve the establishment of
a Steering Group to guide the elaboration and further
implementation of the long-term strategy;
• Elaborate a project proposal to be submitted to interested
funding agencies, such as Sida, IDB, and other agencies;
• Address the workshop recommendations and integrate them
into the IRDR Science Plan and the ICSU ROLAC Science
Plan;
• Take into account the recommendations of the GlobalRegional Integration Workshop on Natural Hazards and
Disasters (Kuala Lumpur) and of the Implementation
Workshop on Hazards and Disasters (Dakar);
Towards an integrated project in LAC (cont.)
• Advocate for the scientific perspective in the UNISDR
Regional Platform for the Americas in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, from 29-31 October 2012;
• Involve heads of governments, their Ministers of Science
and Academies of Sciences in the region about this
initiative and request their support in the implementation of
the proposed strategy and plan;
• Establish initiative by 2015 to provide governments the
best possible advice and support on scientific issues in their
deliberations in three major international negotiating
processes (post-Hyogo led by the UNISDR, the post-Kyoto
led by the UNFCCC, and the post-MDGs led by the UN
Secretariat).
Thank you!
http://www.icsu.org/latin-america-caribbean
[email protected]