LOCALISING STRATEGIES FOR MAKING CITIES RESILIENT TO DISASTERS Workhsop

Under the British Council’s Researcher Links scheme offered within the Newton Fund and supported by the Dept. of Science and Technology (DOST) and PCIEERD, the international workshop on "Localising Strategies for Making Cities Resilient to Disasters was successfully organized by the faculty and staff of De La Salle University and University of Huddersfield last 22nd to 26th January 2018 at the Century Plaza Hotel, Manila, Philippines.

In the welcome program on Jan 22, 2018, Dr. Andres Oreta (Philippine coordinator) welcomed the guests and participants while Prof. Raymond Girard Tan (DLSU, VCRI) gave the opening remarks. Prof. Dilanthi Amaratunga (Huddersfield University) introduced the workshop objectives and schedule. The highloghts of the workshop are summarized below. 

The Faculty and Staff of the Organizing Committee from DLSU and HUD

Dr. Mutuc delivers the first keynote lecture

18 participants from various universities of the United Kingdom and 21 particpants from universities, GO's and LGUs of the Philippines were selected by the workshop organizers to attend the five day workshop. The participants from DLSU were Dr. Mario De Leon, Dr. Jason Maximino Ongpeng, Dr. Marla Redillas and Mr. Raniel Cris Macabare of the CE Dept., Dr, Lawrence Materum (ECE Dept), Shieradel Jimenez, part-time faculty teaching Business Management and Dr.  Nadine Ledesma of DLSU Araneta University.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WORKSHOP 

(http://www.buildresilience.org/nrl-philippines/index.php)

1.    KEYNOTE LECTURES

·         Keynote Lecture 1: Dynamics of Disasters – Assoc. Prof., Dr.  Jose Edgar Mutuc, DLSU

·         Keynote Lecture 2: Why are cities at risk of disaster?? – Prof. Richard  Haigh, HUD

·         Keynote Lecture 3: The New Ten Essential for Making Cities Resilient: A Framework for Research – Prof. Andres Winston C. Oreta, DLSU

·         Keynote Lecture 4: The Sendai Framework for DRR 2015-2030 and Global and Local Challenges in the Making Cities Resilient Campaign -  Prof. Dilanthi Amaratunga, HUD

2.    BRIEFING SESSIONS (BF)

·         BF1: Local Issues on DRR in the Philippines - Resource Persons from Makati (Mayor Abigail Binay) and Albay (Dr. Cedric Daep) presented lessons on the 10 E’s application in their cities.

·         BF2 - An introduction to the development of a roadmap for research futures and capacity development on making cities resilient to disasters  -  Prof. Dilanthi Amaratunga  (HUD)

·         BF3 - Integrating public engagement into research - Prof. Richard Haigh, (HUD)

·         BF4 - Getting funding for our research -  Resource persons from DLSU (Dr. Raymond Tan, VCRI and Dr. Manny Biona, CESDR Director) presented source of funding for research on DRR-CCA. 

3.    PANEL DISCUSSIONS (PD) 

·    PD1: An expert panel to lead a discussion about the current landscape and future opportunities for advancing the dialogue between DRR and urban cities. Resource persons include Atty. Violeta Seva (Makati City consultant), Prof. Dilanthi and Prof. Haigh.

·         PD2 - Pathways to impact. A discussion about how to convert research knowledge into evidence based policy development. Resource persons were Mr. Uriel Correos (Surigao City, Dr. Antonio Fernandez (UP CIS) and Prof. Haigh.

The two panel discussion were moderated by Prof. Marites Tiongco, Dean of DLSU School of Economics.

4.    SKILLS DEVELOPMENT (SK)

·         SK1: Academic writing - Prof. Richard Haigh (HUD)

·         SK2: Publishing your research  - Prof. Richard Haigh (HUD)

·         SK3: Iinteractive session on building your research profile - Prof. Dilanthi Amaratunga (HUD)

5.     PARTICIPANTS’ POSTER PRESENTATION (PPP)

 A five-minute self-introduction of each particpant and a presentation of a summary of a research related to the theme of the workshop. The PPP sessions were moderated by Dr. Lessandro Garciano, DLSU CE Dept. chair.

6.     GROUP INTERACTIVE SESSIONS (GIS)

The participants will be grouped into five clusters to address issues, strategies and challenges related to the 10 Essentials for Making Cities Resilient. There were four sessions of the GIS. GIS1 was moderated by Dr. Mutuc, GUS2 was moderated by Dr. Marlon Era (DLSU BS Dept) and GIS3 and GIS4 were moderated by Dr. Tanhueco.

7.    SITE VISIT  - A site visit to Makati, a  UNISDR Model City for Making Cities Resilient. facilitated by the Office of Mayor of Makati and the Makati DRRM office.

Dr. Oreta (PH Coordinator) and Dr. Dialnthi (UK Coordinator) with Makati Mayor Abby Binay

Prof. Haigh of HUD delivers keynote lecture 2

Prof. Oreta (DLSU) delivers keynote lecture 3

Prof. Dilanthi (HUD) delivers keynote lecture 4

Dr. Garciano moderated the PPP Session while Dr. Tanhueco moderated Day 1 and GIS 3/4

Dr. Mutuc at the Makati City Site Visit

Group Interactive Session (Dr. Materum, Dr. Ongpeng and Engr. Macabare belong to group D)

Dr. Redillas with group E members in one GIS

Dr. De Leon with group B members in a GIS

The workshop was coordinated by Professor Dilanthi Amaratunga (Global Disaster Resilience Centre, University of Huddersfield, UK) and Professor Andres Winston Oreta (De La Sallle University, Manila, Philippines). The mentors were Professor Richard Haigh (University of Huddersfield, UK), Professor Renan Tanhueco and Professor Jose Edgar Mutuc (De La Sallle University, Manila, Philippines), and Abhilash Panda (UNISDR Making Cities Resilient). The DLSU Organizing committee belonged to the CE Department and the CESDR Subcenter for DRR-CCA.