Background
The seventh annual Multi-Stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs (STI Forum) was held from 5 to 6 May 2022, convened by the President of UN ECOSOC. The theme of the STI Forum is closely aligned with the 2022 High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development and is “Science, technology and innovation for building back better from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) while advancing the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”.
The Forum has an exclusive focus on the role and contributions of science, technology and innovation on UN Sustainable Development Goal #4 (Education), Goal #5 (Gender) Goal #14 (Life below water), Goal #15 (Life on land) and Goal #17 (Partnerships).
WFEO, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), UNESCO and the International Science Council (ISC), as major international organizations in science, technology and engineering came together for the side event “Engineering Resilience in Disaster Risk Management for Sustainable Development”, on 5 May 2022, provided valuable expert advice and capacity building in the area of disaster risk management and resilience.
The important publication “Engineering Resilience in Disaster Risk Management for Sustainable Development” (available in this link) was developed by the international experts who are members of the WFEO Committee on Disaster Risk Management (CDRM) and has been released at the event by the UNESCO Assistant Director General, Natural Science Sector, Dr Shamila Nair-Bedouelle, who has also provided a Foreword.
The book provides guidance on planning and policies to reduce the impact of natural disasters in high risk areas, the design and development of resilient infrastructure systems, data systems on natural disasters and advice on best practices for institutional frameworks.
Event Outcomes
The outcome of this event and the release of the book on current practices and engineering approaches to disaster risk management and report on the work of scientists in disaster risk reduction was highly valued by practitioners, policy makers, industry and academia on the most effective strategies to deal with natural disasters for sustainable development.
Event Format
The event involved a plenary presentation by the UNESCO ADG Natural Sciences Sector on the importance of engineering approaches for disaster risk management and presentations from the lead authors, of the book on disaster risk management and representing all regions of the world.
Opening remarks
- Jose Vieira (Portugal), President WFEO
- Shamila Nair-Bedouelle (France), ADG/SC UNESCO Paris – Release of Book on DRM
Panelists
- José Macharé (Peru), Chair WFEO Committee on Disaster Risk Management (CDRM) – Scope and objectives of the publication
- Karel Vancura (Czech Republic) – Book Chapter: Land use planning
- Fang Chen (China) – Book Chapter: Data management
- Dave Brunsdon (New Zealand) – Book Chapter: Infrastructure systems
- Ashok Basa (India) – Book Chapter: Capacity building
- Myles Lind (New Zealand) – Book Chapter: Institutional frameworks
- Han Qunli (China), ISC Report in Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) program
Closing remarks
- Gong Ke (China), Immediate Past President WFEO
- Marlene Kanga (Australia), Past President WFEO (2017 – 2019)
- K.N. Gunalan (USA), Chair WFEO UN Relations Committee
The recording is available by clicking on the below image
For more information:
The book “Engineering Resilience in Disaster Risk Management for Sustainable Development”
WFEO Committee on Disaster Risk Management website
JUN
2022