Prof. Gretchen Kalonji, Dean of Sichuan University-Hong Kong Polytechnic University Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction (IDMR), China

Gretchen Kalonji is an American scientist and academic administrator. She is Dean of Sichuan University-Hong Kong Polytechnic University Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction. Kalonji was previously the assistant Director-General for Natural Sciences at UNESCO. She is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA and obtained her D.Phil. on Materials Science and Engineering. Link

Lecture title: Innovations in Undergraduate Education: Design of a New Major in Integrated Disaster Sciences and Management addressed the following topics:

• Why was this topic chosen and how is it related to the strategic development of our Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction (IDMR)?
• Comparison of the emerging field of "disaster sciences" with the historical evolution of the field of "materials science" - lessons and ongoing challenges; and details of the design for a new undergraduate major in "Integrated Disaster Sciences and Management"
• Prospects for international collaboration in a research-based, interdisciplinary undergraduate program

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Prof. Andrew Collins, Leader, Disaster and Development Network, Northumbria University Newcastle, United Kingdom

Andrew Collins is Professor in Disaster and Development, Department of Geography. Beyond research, local teaching and management responsibilities, he represents disaster, development and health related initiatives internationally. He led the establishment of the world's first disaster management and sustainable development postgraduate programme launched in 2000, and Disaster and Development Network (DDN) launched 2004. Beyond his regular research, teaching and management responsibilities, he represents disaster, development and health related initiatives internationally. He gained his PhD from King's College London in Human Geography. Link

Lecture title: Systemising and De-systemising the Societal Contributions to Disaster Risk Reduction

The presentation focused on people centred approaches to disaster risk reduction and the idea of systems analysis and what it means by different types of approaches using systems and sometimes but non-systemic aspects as well. People are quite used to the idea of systems being fundamental to ther subject areas. There are many questions ahead as to why systems approach has got its limitations.

The lecture starts by looking at metanarratives there are about systems - there are world systems, and what is going on really in the subject area in terms of those world systems. It moves more towards looking at the management implications of the systems or non-systemic approaches; and and other different types of systems and how it interprets them. Then the lecture shifts beyond towards system-based risk assessment to thinking about how societies actually engages with risks. It doesn't always fit into a neat systemic type of analysis. There is an increasing interest in systemic risk itself and usually that leads to some of the difficult questions as to how different systems interact with each other. The questions that come out of this is where should be systematized and what is beyond the system; where might the non-systemic be useful also to the systems that are currently in use.

There is a tendency to accept as a way forward trying to work out what can be achieved beyond the standards of the systems approach to DRR, and there is the need to think about how to go about achieving it. The talk start to discuss about learning processes and the experiential learning and non-experiential learning, that has been writing about in recent years. It also discussed about some of the barriers there are to developing the approach. Ultimately this all have to be applied. How might one engage with this approach going forward. Lot of answers to this is by looking around at what is already going on in the society. The societal contributions are there naturally and what we are trying to do is interpret it so that we can remove barriers to advance forward.

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Prof. John Clammer, O. P. Jindal Global University, India

John Clammer is a Professor at Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities. He comes to the university after a long period in Japan as Professor of Comparative Sociology and Asian Studies at Sophia University and formerly Director of the Graduate School of Comparative Culture there, and as Visiting Professor at the United Nations University, Tokyo. He is a graduate of Oxford University and completed his D.Phil. degree there in Social Anthropology. Link

Lecture title: Culture, Sustainability and Disaster Recovery: A Sociological, Architectural and Cultural Approach discussed the following issues:

• Linking Natural Disasters, Humanitarian Crises and Climate Change
• Building a Holistic model of the relationships between natural disasters (prevention and recovery), humanitarian crises, climate change and sustainability.
• Which means:

Þ Deepening Theory and methodology

Þ Exploring social, cultural and psychological dimensions as well as scientific and engineering ones

Þ Analyzing cases studies for clues for both preparedness, short-term recovery and long term recovery and rehabilitation

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Prof. Andrew Collins, Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK was honoured with the 6th DPRI Award for Outstanding Contributions to Research and Education recognition. To commemorate the occasion, Prof. Collins delivered a lecture.

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