‘Investing in Disaster Risk Reduction for Resilience’’- NBRO holds 8th Annual Symposium
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8thAnnual Research Symposium of National Building Research Organisation on ‘Investing in DRR for Resilience – IDR3’ was successfully held on 24th and 25th January 2018 at the Auditorium of Ministry of Disaster Management, Colombo 07. This graceful event witnessed the participation of many researchers, disaster management practitioners, policy makers and eminent experts from local and international institutions and it provided an excellent platform to have discussions, exchange ideas and share experience.
At the Inaugural session Dr. (Eng.) Asiri Karunawardena, Director General, NBRO delivered the welcome address. He also presented the progress made by NBRO and introduced the purpose of the symposium. Then, Dr. Koichi Fujita, Director General, National Institute for Land & Infrastructure Management delivered the keynote address on “The Role of National Institute for Land & Infrastructure Management (NILIM) in Disaster Risk Reduction” which was an eye-opener to our scientists and in fact, it set the direction for the events that proceeded during the symposium. Then the Guest of Honour, Mr. M. Kingsly Fernando, Secretary of Ministry of Disaster Management addressed the audience. The launching of the conference proceedings took place afterwards.
NBRO signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management to strengthen the scientific and technological cooperation in the field of landslide and sediment disaster management on the basis of equality and mutual benefit. This Memorandum will facilitate collaborative research in the areas of landslide hazard mapping, numerical simulation, early warning, and slope protection including survey, design and construction. The Memorandum signed by Mr. M. Kingsley Fernando, Dr. (Eng.) Asiri Karunawardena, Mr. Koji YAGI Counsellor / Deputy Head of Mission, Japanese Embassy, and Dr. Koichi FUJITA, will be valid for a period of five years.
The symposium had seven structured technical sessions on the themes of Risk Identification, Risk Assessment, Risk Mitigation, Monitoring & Risk Management, Risk Communication, Community Preparedness for Response and Smart and Sustainable Built Environment and were chaired by Mr. N. S. M. I. Arambepola, Dr. T. Uchida, Prof. S.A.S. Kulathilaka, Dr. P. Rathnaweera, Dr. Jagath Gunathilake, Dr. Nishara Fernando, Dr. S. U. Adhikari respectively.
On the second day of symposium, a panel discussion was held on ‘Investment Mechanisms on Disaster Risk Reduction’. The panelists were Eng. (Dr.) Asiri Karunawardena, Prof. (Mrs.) Chintha Jayasinghe, Mr. M.F.A. Mubarak, Mr. D. C. S. Elakanda, Prof. Ajith De Alwis, Dr. Jagath Munasinghe and Mr. Suranga Kahandawa, Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist, World Bank who was the Moderator.
A Special Session, “Sharing the experience of implementing the Sri Lanka Community Landslide Risk Mitigation project” was arranged by Asian Disaster Preparedness Center with presentations on the subject of Introduction to the project objectives and project tasks, Landslide Risk assessment, Recommended operational procedures for efficient planning and execution of Landslide risk mitigation interventions, Community preparedness planning, Policy level recommendations; Review of land resettlement policies and laws applicable to the resettlement of people from disaster prone areas and recommendations; and Review of the current institutional mandates and organizational capacity for landslide risk management and recommendations.
NBRO gratefully acknowledges all the assistance extended by all donors and stakeholders to make the Symposium a great success.
