29 August 2014, Davos, Switzerland - The International Disaster and Risk Conference, organised by the Davos-based Global Risk Forum, convened for the fifth time in the famous mountain resort from 24-28 August, with a focus on science and technology and their role in modern Disaster Risk Reduction. UNITAR was among the international organizations actively promoting the event together with UNESCO, UNEP and ILO. The institute also organised two sessions during the conference, one on satellite technology and applications and one on local governance.

For five days, participants discussed the role of science and technology in reducing disaster risk and facilitating an integrated approach to risk management. Through its outcomes, the conference aims at influencing the international agenda on development, disaster risk reduction and climate change at a time when UN member states and agencies are gearing up for the third world conference on DRR, in March 2015 in Japan.

The conference was also the opportunity for UNITAR to present two among the main components of the Institute’s new Resilience and Risk Reduction project (R3): DRR for resilience at local level and geospatial information technologies for DRR capacity development. UNITAR chaired two sessions in Davos revolving around these two important aspects. Einar Bjorgo, UNOSAT manager, chaired a session on “Geospatial tools and analyses for DRR capacity development”, and gave a talk on the role of geospatial information technologies in enhancing resilience, with examples from the current work of UNOSAT in East Africa and South-East Asia.

Alex Mejia, Manager of UNITAR’s Decentralized Cooperation Programme, chaired a panel on “Enhancing Urban Resilience” and opened the session with a presentation on the crucial role of local authorities in building resilient cities. He also briefly introduced the UNITAR affiliated network of training centers – the CIFAL Global Network.

One the highlights of the International Disaster and Risk Conference in Davos is the Red Chair: a chair facing a camera from where experts and participants can issue a short video message. Find here the messages from Einar Bjorgo and from Alex Mejia.

On 29 August, a post-conference expert workshop gathered a limited number of researchers and experts to discuss the current draft of the new Post-2015 DRR Framework, being prepared by UNISDR in consultation with UN member states and various stakeholders. Experts provided comments from the point of view of the role of science, technology and education in building an effective DRR agenda for the future. UNITAR’s Director of Research participated in the debate as the coordinator of UNITAR’s R3 project. In his words: “There was general agreement among experts that attention in DRR needs to shift from the What to the How. We propose an approach which combines a multidisciplinary angle with a strong focus on the country dimension”.  

The UNITAR R3 project combines the knowledge and experience of several UNITAR Programmes engaged in supporting governments and local authorities in developing capacities for DRR in its different aspects with key linkages to environment and climate change. Through a partnership with UNDP-CADRI, UNITAR is planning to gradually augment its training and expertise output in the area of resilience for countries and local authorities.
 

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In the image above, Einar Bjorgo of UNOSAT presents the latest developments in building technology parterships for DRR. Below: Alex Mejia explains how UNITAR global capacity development network supports local authorities' resilience (Photos: UNITAR/V. Drigo)