Workshop Report

Kerstin Schmidt-VerkerkScience Officer

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

Regional Workshop on Disaster Risk Management in LAC

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 policy-makers as essential components of their career.

• 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 Global-Regional 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

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).

http://www.icsu.org/latin-america-caribbean

kerstin.schmidt-verkerk@icsu-latin-america-caribbean.org

Thank you!