EVRC Review Workshop: Experts Join Forces to Make Cities Safe from Earthquakes

Before embarking on the fifth course entitled Earthquake Vulnerability Reduction for Cities (EVRC), ADPC organized a Curriculum Review Workshop from 6-8 March 2002. The workshop brought together experts and professionals specializing in earthquake vulnerability reduction, and ADPC senior staff, to discuss and review the course’s draft curriculum.

“The purposes of this workshop are to seek inputs, to engage in dialogue and to elicit feedback and guidance with an aim to make it the most vivid, compelling and practical learning experience possible. I believe it is going to be a significant movement in earthquake vulnerability reduction,” announced Shirley Mattingly, a well-known urban risk management advisor, who served as a facilitator of the workshop. Her opening speech embodied the spirit of this endeavor.

The workshop formed an international panel of experts and specialists in EVR, which included Dr Jamilur R Choudhury, Vice Chancellor of BRAC University, Bangladesh; Prof D K Paul, Head of the Department of Earthquake Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee; Dr M Fouad Bendimerad, Chairman of the Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative (EMI), USA; Dr Richard Deane Sharpe, Principal of the Earthquake Engineering Department, Beca International Consultants Limited, New Zealand; Prof Mustafa Erdik, Chairman of the Department of Engineering, Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute, Bogazici University, Turkey; Dr Ravindra K Pande, Executive Director of the Disaster Mitigation and Management Centre, Government of Uttaranchal, India.

The draft course curriculum was collaboratively developed by Mr Amod Dixit, General Secretary, National Society for Earthquake Technology (NSET) Nepal, and Dr Krishna Pribadi, Project Manager, Indonesia Urban Disaster Mitigation Project (IUDMP) under the Institute of Technology Bandung (ITB). To cover every aspect of EVR, the course development also involved policy-makers, planners and financiers.

During the workshop, a consensus emerged that case studies were critical for learning about EVR. More emphasis should be placed on planning and implementation of mitigation efforts. Hands-on experience was recommended through exercises on real-life situations based on Risk Assessment Tools for Diagnosis of Urban Areas against Seismic Disasters (RADIUS). A template to present course material that embeds adult learning tools with visual media integration was also endorsed by the panel.

The first regional EVRC workshop is scheduled for 20-31 May 2002 in Kathmandu, Nepal. The course is a collaborative venture between ADPC, NSET-Nepal and the World Seismic Safety Initiative (WSSI). Another outstanding outcome of the Curriculum Review Workshop was the offer by EMI to be the fourth collaborator on the course. Much enthusiasm was visible for EVRC when experts from Dhaka, Bangladesh and Uttaranchal, India expressed the desire to run the course at these locations as follow-ups to the Kathmandu schedule.

More information on EVRC-1 in Kathmandu can be obtained at http://www.adpc.ait.ac.th