Young Scientists Event on Disaster

Risk Reduction May 13th, UNESCO-IHE Delft, The Netherlands

Organised by UNESCO-IHE and Deltares in collaboration with Delft University of Technology,

University of Amsterdam, The Young Scientists Platform on DRR, UN Major Group of Children and

Youth, The Water Youth Network and UNISDR

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Introduction

This event brought together multi-disciplinary researchers, practitioners and students to jointly

identify the challenges for implementing the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 -

2030 and the ways for young scientists to address these in future research.

The objectives of the event were to:

● Increase awareness among young scientists about Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk

Reduction implementation

● Collate existing research knowledge on DRR within the water sector and identify research

gaps in relation to the Sendai Frameworks Priorities for Action

● Identify opportunities to continue multidisciplinary research by young scientists and early

career researchers

● Formulate input and support for the thematic groups under the Young Scientists Platform on

Disaster Risk Reduction being co-ordinated by UN Major Group for Children and Youth

The programme had a number of different components. To set the scene introductions were

provided on the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015 - 2030, the UNISDR Science

and Technology Partnership and The Young Scientists Platform on DRR. Next, four young scientists

presented their own research framed under one of the Priorities for Action of the Sendai Framework.

These presentations set the stage for four interactive breakout sessions on the following related

topics;

1. Priority for Action 1: Understanding Disaster Risk

2. Priority for Action 2: Disaster Risk Governance

3. Priority for Action 3: Investing in resilience: Eco-DRR

4. Priority for Action 4: Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to “Build

Back Better” in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction: Early Warning

During these breakouts the following questions were addressed:

1. How is this topic addressed in DRR policy?

2. What are the key research developments and partners on this topic?

3. What are the existing research gaps?

4. How can young scientists contribute to filling the gap?

The facilitators pre-prepared the answers to questions 1 and 2 and presented them to the

participants at the beginning of the session. The interactive part of the session involved collecting

the research gaps and identifying how young scientists can contribute to filling the gaps. Upon

registration for the event, participants were asked to identify research gaps (question 3) and the

results were used by the facilitators to tailor the session. The summarised results are presented in

this document and the detailed programme can be seen on the following page.

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09:30 Introduction and welcome Chris Zevenbergen, UNESCO-IHE

09:40 Sendai Framework and the Science and Technology Partnership and Roadmap

Ms. Virginia Murray Vice Chair UNISDR STAG

09:50 Young Scientists Platform on DRR Annisa Triyanti, Focal point

10:00 The power of networks for DRR Ms Mansi Jasuja, President, Alumni International, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Young Scientists sharing good practices and challenges

10:10 Understanding disaster risk Shima Ebrahimi, TU Delft

10:20 Governance: An arena for disaster risk reduction Robert Sakic Trogrlic, Heriot Watt University

10:30 Eco-DRR: Building with Nature for sustainable water management solutions

Tim Busker, University of Utrecht

10:40 Young Expert Programme & water treatment in Nicaragua Bayardo Gonzalez, YEP and TU-Delft

11:00 Interactive breakout session

Understanding disaster risk (B3) Andreas Burzel, Deltares

Disaster risk governance (B2) Eric Chu, University of Amsterdam

Eco-DRR Investing in resilience (B6) Annisa Triyanti, University of Amsterdam

Preparedness and Early warning (B1) Lydia Cumiskey, Deltares

11:45 Feedback (5 mins per group)

12:10 Science-Policy Closing remarks Corsmas Goemans, Netherlands Ministry for Security and Justice

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Participants

Overall 102 people registered for the event from

44 different countries, see below. 50 people

attended the interactive breakout sessions.

The event was live streamed and recorded for

those that could not attend in person. See link

here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RezAdR-

m0pM

4

The Young Scientists Platform on DRR was launched at the UNISDR Science & Technology

conference in Geneva, January 2016, during a side event on the role of young scientists in the

implementation of the Sendai Framework for DRR (see the Press Release Here). The Platform

came about as a follow up action from the Children and Youth Forum at the Third World Conference

on DRR and youth’s participation in the design of the Sendai Framework, facilitated by the UN Major

Group of Children and Youth and supported by the UNISDR Secretariat and Science and

Technology Advisory Group UNISDR. The young scientist’s roadmap on DRR has been created to

complement the UNISDR Science and Technology Roadmap to support the implementation of the

Sendai Framework for DRR.

Thematic groups will be developed

under the platform in line with the Priority

Areas for Action of the Sendai Framework for

DRR, see figure to the right. This will enable

the platform to reach out to young scientists

on specific topics and encourage

intergenerational and multi-disciplinary

research which can support the evidence

based implementation of the Sendai

Framework. The platform welcomes

organisations and individuals to coordinate

individual thematic groups and this was

discussed during this event.

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Breakout 1: Understanding Disaster Risk Facilitators: Andreas Burzel and Ben van Kester (Deltares)

This breakout highlighted the importance of “Understanding Disaster Risk” as a crucial first step for

effective disaster risk reduction and delivery of the 7 global targets outlined in the Sendai

Framework, which states that “Policies and practices for disaster risk management should be based

on an understanding of disaster risk in all its dimensions of vulnerability, capacity, exposure of

persons and assets, hazard characteristics and the environment”.

Prior to the session research gaps were collected from participants and a number of these were

discussed in detail during the session, see table below. The following additional research gaps were

identified but not discussed in detail:

● Lack of standards and definitions

● Lack of research on multi-hazard risk e.g. flash floods, seismic mapping, water quality,

drought

● Limited understanding of local coastal hydrodynamics processes and integrated coastal zone

management

● Limited spatial resolution of models (global, national, local)

● Challenges modelling risk from a mathematical viewpoint / tail probabilities of occurrences /

compounding events

● Lack of fragility and damage curves

● Including uncertainty in risk maps (hazard, exposure)

● Lack of adequate and qualified personnel who work for disaster risk assessment

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Key element Research gaps Filling the gaps

Underlying

Drivers of Risk

Lack of awareness of interactions

between the natural system and society.

Improving the understanding of people

and communities on how their actions

affect the risk to improve both quality

and impact of the scientific work.

Include the society/ community in

the process of understanding risk

and reducing it.

Highlight the importance of

connecting community contexts to

risk science in research and project

proposals and with senior

researchers to acquire the budget to

include local communities.

Scientific progress is not communicated

and therefore does not connect to local

experts or local community.

Any transfer of knowledge between

locals experts and researchers helps

both parties do better work. Local

experts can help disseminate

information to the community.

Include local experts in projects and

form lasting relationships.

Young scientists can help by using

our international network to find

local experts and by stressing to

importance of local inclusion to

senior partners and in proposals.

Understanding

risk perception at

community level

Improve our understanding of the

individual and communal (cultural)

perception of risk. This can help

researchers understand people’s

actions and reach people more

effectively when trying to reduce

disaster risk.

Conduct research at the local level

whereby the scientific view can help

the locals, whereas the indigenous

knowledge from the community can

bring new insights to researchers.

Translating risk

assessments

into actions

Improving methods for co-creation of

risk assessments and action plans with

society. Combining bottom up and top

down input into the research and into

the action plans.

Propose such new co-creation

approaches to the senior

researchers and stress the

importance of co-creation to support

successful implementation

Participatory

data collection

Lack of open accessible exposure data

to support risk assessments

Promote the use of the Open Street

Map community for exposure data

collection within (research) projects

and contribute to the global dataset

which can then be reused by other

researchers, and local experts

Critical

infrastructure

and supply

chains

Limited understanding of the

vulnerability and interdependencies of

critical infrastructures and supply chains

Engage in applied research on tools

that can improve our understanding

e.g. CIrcle (Deltares) which uses

stakeholder engagement to collect

information on the

interdependencies between critical

infrastructure

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Session attendees

First name Last name Organisation Position

Adugnaw

Birhanu Zegeye Debre Tabor University MA, MSc Student

Hang Li TU Delft PhD candidate

Pieter van Gelder TU Delft Prof.

Trang Schuurman-Vu Independent researcher Independent researcher

Margarita Tsavdaroglou 3TU

Msc Construction management

and engineering

Juliana

Giraldo

Sanabria

Institute for Housing and Urban

Development Studies, Erasmus

University, Rotterdam Master

Gerben Dekker

Delta Academy Applied

Research Centre at the HZ

University of Applied Sciences Junior Researcher

Clotilde

Peyroche

d'Arnaud

National School for Water and

Environmental Engineering in

Strasbourg (ENGEES) Master

Jeewanthi Sirisena UNESCO-IHE PhD fellow

Andreas Burzel Deltares Flood Risk Analyst

Ben van Kester Deltares Flood risk analyst

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Breakout 2: Disaster risk governance

Facilitators: Eric Chu, University of Amsterdam and Robert Sakic Trogrlic, Heriot- Watt University

The breakout session started with a discussion on the meaning of governance and what it implies.

Given the geographical diversity of the participants and their experience with governance issues, the

discussion resulted in interesting interpretations on the challenges and how governance for DRR

could be enhanced. One of the raised concerns was that it is still very often difficult to draw a line

between government and governance, and that it very much depends on a specific country context.

The discussion emphasized that there are many points that research can tackle. Furthermore, the

power of youth as an important stakeholder group and the innovative ideas brought by young

scientists was seen as an important step in upgrading current state of knowledge related to

governance. The following research gaps were identified during a breakout session.

Key element Research gaps Filling gaps

Participation Participation: by whom, how and

where?

Youth inclusion in policy making

and associated benefits

● Treating youth as a resource and hub of information and ideas

● Inclusion of youth in decision making

● Developing new, simpler and more effective participation tools

Application of global framework on local levels

How to bridge the “scale gap”

between global framework and its

application on local levels?

● Better science/ policy interface and cooperation

● Better communication of targets and indicators for practitioners

Research agendas

A need for evidence- based

research on successful DRR

governance

● Providing case studies of “champions”

Indicators for good governance

The indicators used to describe

good governance are broad and

very often difficult to understand

● More evidence based research (practical and bottom-up) on development of innovative indicators

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List of attendants

First name Last name Organisation Position

Marianne Skov UNESCO-IHE Stud. Msc. Flood Risk Management

Rick Hogeboom University of Twente PhD Candidate

Crinezza Veil Mendoza

IHS, Erasmus

University & University

of the Philippines

Student, MSc Urban Management and

Development, Development researcher

and environment planner

Tom Bucx Deltares

Advisor Adaptive Delta Management and

Disaster Risk Management

Hani Mohamad UNESCO-IHE Student (Msc Flood Risk Management)

Adibtya Asyhari UNESCO IHE Student - MSc in Flood Risk Management

Jasmine Meredith

UNESCO-IHE Institute

for Water Education

Student (MSc in Environmental Science

and Technology)

Wouter

Linckleau

Arrienes TFA CEO

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Breakout 3: Eco-DRR - Investing in Resilience

Session Facilitators: Annisa Triyanti, (University of Amsterdam), Tim Busker (Utrecht University),

and Monica Altamirano (Deltares)

Contributing author: Martijn van Staveren (Wageningen University)

This breakout session aimed to understand the key elements and research gaps for Ecosystem-

based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) and identify ways to fill them. The diverse background of

participants ranging from natural to social science resulted in an interdisciplinary discussion on Eco-

DRR. The breakout identified four key elements to be addressed in Eco-DRR research, which are 1)

The concept of building with nature; 2) The economical perspective; 3) Governance issue; and 4)

Diversity of research topic within the Eco-DRR concept. More detailed elaboration on each key

element can be found in the table below.

Key element Research gaps Filling gaps

The concept of building with nature

● Building with nature is currently

perceived more as innovation and

project oriented term while prior to

industrialization, humans were initially

only working with nature

● The lack of best practices based on

local context

The need to perceive building with nature based on local practices, not merely as a constructed or project based concept

The economical perspective

● Cost benefit analysis is currently

developed, which can help us to make

better decisions but it is difficult to

measure the value of green

infrastructure. For example, what is the

benefit of walking in a green park after

a stressful day? It is difficult to give

value to this, and this is why decisions

are always made on the hard

infrastructure.

Develop better indicators to improve cost benefit analysis, including direct and indirect benefits Share information on best practices to understand the benefits of building with nature

Governance issue

● The old economy was governing the old

decisions on infrastructure, we are

pleading for a new economy to lead

decisions on infrastructure.

● Several parties are not always working

towards a common goal

Involve diverse actors in the governance effort, including local community, government, and private sectors

Diversity of research topics within Eco-DRR concept

● Research related to interdependent

components of the ecosystem such as

the connection between groundwater to

support ecosystem services and DRR

is not well explored.

There is a need to diversify research to cover of all types of ecosystem. The research is currently focusing on the coastal ecosystems such as mangrove and coral reef in protecting coastal area from flooding, tsunami, or storms.

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List of attendants

First name Last name Organisation Position

Flora Anvarifar TU Delft PhD candidate

Martijn van Staveren Wageningen University PhD candidate

Hugo de Rijke Deltares/Wageningen UR Research Intern

Carlos Salinas UNESCO-IHE PhD candidate

Anastasia Yunika

TU Delft and Universitas

Atma Jaya Yogyakarta PhD candidate

Elske Möring Wageningen University Master student

Chinaporn Meechaiya UNESCO-IHE Msc graduate

Andreas Antoniou IGRAC Researcher

Monica Altamirano Deltares Expert

Tim Busker Utrecht University

Student at Utrecht University and

Young water ambassador

Thu

Romy Stijsiger Wageningen Universiteit Master Student

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Breakout 4: Preparedness and early warning

Session Facilitators: Lydia Cumiskey (Deltares), Patricia Trambauer (Deltares) and Micha Werner

(UNESCO-IHE and Deltares)

Contributing authors: Imra Hodzic and Stuart Pearson

Firstly a general overview of the definitions and the different key elements of early warning (risk

knowledge, monitoring and warning, communication and dissemination and response capabilities)

were explained by referring to the latest Terminology and Indicators under review by UNISDR. The

relevance of having a dedicated global target on early warning in the Sendai Framework was

highlighted. The current early warning system and the challenges were explained for a case study in

Mauritius.

The participants were divided into four groups each representing a different key element of early

warning to discuss the research gaps. Then a more general discussion was held on how young

scientists can fill these gaps. The table below presents a summary of the discussion. Overall the

importance of young professionals making the link between the different disciplines to solve the

technical and social problems together was highlighted.

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Key elements Research gaps Filling the gaps

Risk Knowledge

● Developing risk assessments and maps that include hazard, exposure and vulnerability information at different scales in an understandable way for users

● The best mechanisms to involve different local authorities and citizens in data collection and risk assessments

● How to ensure ownership and use of the risk assessments by the relevant government agencies, different sectors and NGOs.

● Systematic collection of flood hazard (inundation) and impact (damages, loss of life) information so it can be used to update risk assessments

Field based research to evaluate the best approaches to communicate risk assessments Investigate how to improve (participatory) data collection and make it more open and accessible

Monitoring and Warning

● Connecting the risk information to the forecasting information to deliver more meaningful warnings

● Ensuring real-time data availability from a reliable hydro-meteorological monitoring network

● Limited lead times for warnings due to the long computational time of models

● How to maximise the use of citizen data from social media for real time monitoring

● Lack of educational programs for meteorologists and forecasters

● Limited use of indigenous knowledge as part of the warning generation process

Develop tools and processes for integrating risk/impact and real-time information Research methods to optimise the efficiency of the forecast and warning process and ways to integrate indigenous knowledge

Communication and dissemination

● How to ensure the right governance structures and standard operating procedures are in place to ensure clears roles and responsibilities for warning generation and dissemination

● Lack of understanding of why people don’t listen to warnings or follow the given instructions

● Lack of understanding on how to maximise social media as a warning communication channel

● How to reach everyone especially immigrants and tourists who are not familiar with the situation/warnings, physical environment, language, etc.

Conduct research on how to improve flood warning interpretation and response, and the most effective warning dissemination channels from national to local levels Research on specific recipient groups who are less familiar with warnings

Response capabilities

● Difficult to increase and maintain awareness and education among communities on flood warning interpretation and response (e.g. engaging youth in schools)

● Lack of understanding of the local needs and cultures when designing warning systems

● Evaluating the benefits warnings after events

Evaluate the benefits of early warning in various countries globally Document the value of community participation for effective early warning

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List of attendants breakout 4:

First name Last name Organisation Position

Sri Hayyu

Alynda Heryati UNESCO-IHE MSc student

Jamie De la Hozavarro UNESCO-IHE

MSc in Water Science and Engineering -

Coastal Engineering and Port Development

Ulrich Rackwitz UNESCO-IHE MSc

Erika Landaverde UNESCO-IHE Erasmus Mundus Flood Risk Management

Neiler Medina UNESCO-IHE PhD fellow

Imra Hodzic UNESCO-IHE

Graduate student of MSc degree, Water

Science and Engineering, specialization in

Flood Risk Management

Stuart Pearson TU Delft MSc Student

Femke Davids Deltares Researcher / Consultant

Sudish lal Maskey UNESCO-IHE

MSc-Hydraulic Engineering and River Basin

Development

Miguel Laverde

UNESCO-IHE/TU

DELFT PhD fellow

Muhammad Asim

Abasyn

University

Peshawar

Pakistan Doctor of Pharmacy

Patricia Trambauer Deltares Consultant/researcher

Luca Peters

Wageningen

University Msc water management

Joanne Craven UNESCO-IHE Visiting researcher

Nikeh Booister FloodCom Co-owner

Ahmed Nasr UNESCO-IHE Msc Student

Werner Micha

UNESCO_IHE/

Deltares Lecturer

Dana Stuparu Deltares Researcher/ Advisor

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Young Scientists taking action

Overall the breakout sessions showed that young scientists have a huge contribution to make to

bridge the research gaps and support the effective implementation of the Sendai Framework for

DRR. There was consensus that different thematic groups (or communities) could be developed

which would focus on generating, collating and sharing knowledge by young scientists and early

career researchers and enable them to use this knowledge to support evidence based policy.

Possible activities for the thematic groups are outlined below.

● Collate knowledge

○ Repository of knowledge (MSc thesis, PhD thesis, reports etc.) and avoid duplication

○ Share information about upcoming trainings, events and jobs.

● Generate knowledge

○ Support MSc. and PhD programmes that address the research gaps

○ Promote more field level research

○ Support joint publications

● Share knowledge

○ Focused events and seminars on specific topics e.g. early warning, drivers of risk

○ Informal intergenerational networking events

○ Online webinars and blog posts

● Contribute to evidence based policy (through UN MGCY)

○ UNISDR Terminology and Indicators meetings

○ Others policy agendas, events and reports through the UN MGCY Science Policy

Interface Platform e.g. Global Sustainable Development Report and the Technology

Facilitation Mechanism for the Sustainable Development Goals

To realise these thematic groups the following is required:

1. Committed individual and organisations to coordinate specific thematic topics to achieve the

objectives outlined above

2. Resources to support the coordinators including space for holding events, time during

regular working hours, and funds for logistical support (travel, food, accommodation). This

can be in-kind or funded.

3. Partnerships with universities, youth organisations, research institutions, private sector

organisation, NGOs and government organisations to support knowledge transfer and

coordination.

The Young Scientists Platform on DRR co-ordinated by UN-MGCY can support young scientists to

utilise their research to support evidence based policy particularly for the successful implementation

of the Sendai Framework.

Please get in touch with drrspi@childrenyouth.org if you are interested to support or contribute to a

thematic group.

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Conclusions

● Young scientists are actively doing research on different components of DRR and can shape

the way for existing and new research to support the successful implementation of the

Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

● Peer reviewed paper on “the power of networks” will be led by Robert Sakic Trogrlic in

cooperation with UNISDR STAG, IHS Rotterdam, Deltares and The Young Scientists

Platform on DRR.

● The partners during the event including UNESCO-IHE, Deltares, IHS Rotterdam, University

of Amsterdam, Delft University of Technology, UNISDR STAG and The Water Youth

Network will assess how they can support the Young Scientists Platform on DRR and in

particular the thematic groups.

● The Young Scientists Platform on DRR focal points will take forward the outcomes of the

event and continue engaging with the participants to develop a work plan for a selected

number of thematic groups (communities).

If you would like further information on the event and results of the breakout sessions please get in

touch with Lydia Cumiskey at Lydia.cumiskey@deltares.nl.

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Acknowledgements A big thank you to all the organisers and supporters for making this event a huge success in bringing together our young scientists working on DRRR. We look forward to continuing engagement with you all!