On 8th January 2018, a seminar on Control Measures and Mitigation Planning was held at Seminar Hall, Menara Razak from 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. The plenary speaker was Prof. Ir. Dr. Kenichi Tsukahara from Kyushu University. He is also one of the lecturers for MMJD1133 Control Measures and Mitigation Planning module. The invited speakers were Prof. Ir. Dr. Zuhairi Abd. Hamid, the Chief Executive Officer of Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM); Dato’ Zakaria Mohamad, Scientific Expert Panel to National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA); Prof. Dr. Reimund Schwarze, Head of Department for Climate Economics, European University Viadrina, Frankfurt; and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shohei Matsuura, JICA Expert in Disaster Risk Reduction at Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT). Ir. Bibi Zarina Che Omar, Director of Mitigation Planning, NADMA, was also attended this seminar and invited as the panel during the discussion session.

The seminar was divided to two sessions with session 1 entitled “Public and Private Investment in Disaster Risk Prevention and Reduction” and session 2 entitled “Science and Technology Action for Disaster – Resilient Society”. The seminar kicks off with welcoming remarks from the Dean of MJIIT, Prof. Datin Dr. Rubiyah Yusof followed by keynote speeches from Prof. Kenichi Tsukahara and Dr. Shohei Matsuura. The seminar continues with the first session talks by Prof. Kenichi Tsukahara, Dato’ Zakaria Mohamad and Prof. Reimund Schwarze. The second session continues after lunch hour with talks by Prof. Kenichi Tsukahara, Prof. Ir. Zuhairi Abd. Hamid and Dr. Khamarrul Azahari Razak. The second session finish off with discussion session with all of the panellist. All of the speakers involved during the whole seminar was the panellist, with the addition of Ir. Bibi Zarina Che Omar. Prof. Masafumi Goto, Director of DPPC officiate the closing session and the seminar adjourn at 5.30 p.m.

During 25-29 November 2017, the DPPC team visited Sendai Japan to participate in the World Bosai Forum IDRC 2017 organized together with Bosai Kokutai – National Conference on Promoting Disaster Risk Reduction 2017, and 2017 Bosai Industry Fair in Sendai. Total number of visitors was approximately 11,200 from over 40 countries and regions during the four days.

The DPPC team joined the discussions on practical solutions and new international trends and attempts toward “Bosai”=Disaster Risk Reduction for promoting the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR).

Many of DPPC’s collaborators were present at the Forum. Prof. Emeritus of Yamanashi University and Founding Director of ICHARM, Kuniyoshi Takeuchi, chaired the session by Japan Society of Civil Engineers and presented on Transdisciplinary Approach (TDA) for Building Societal Resilience to Disasters in which he also lectured in the MDRM classroom. Prof. Kaoru Takara of Kyoto University was also present, helping to promote DPPC by introducing the MDRM program.

Some other prominent DRR figures the team met was Prof. Fumihiko Imamura, Professor and Director of the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University (chairman of BOSAI Forum), Tan Sri Dr. Jemilah Mahmood, founder of MERCY Malaysia and currently, Under Secretary General for Partnerships at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Prof. Rajib Shaw, Graduate School of Media and Governance in Keio University and co-chair of UNISDR Asia Science and Technology Advisory Group (ASTAAG).

Dr. Khamarrul Azahari Razak introduced the activities of DPPC, including the MDRM program in a public session in the Forum.

After the Forum, the team conducted a short field visit in Yuriage District of Naroti City to observe the recovery process of affected communities from the 2011 East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami.

A day after the Forum, the team visited IRIDeS of Tohoku University to discuss on the newly approved JICA project, “Strengthening the disaster risk reduction capacity to improve the safety and security of communities by understanding disaster risks” that will be implemented in partnership with Selangor State Government, Tohoku University and DPPC.

On 13-17 November 2017, the DPPC members joined the Regional DRR conference of the Japan-ASEAN Science, Technology and Innovation Platform (JASTIP) Working Package 4 (WP4: Disaster Management) held at Seda Vertis North Hotel in Manila, Philippines. The members also visited several key universities working on DRR research including Batangas State University, University of the Philippines Diliman and Ateneo de Manila University.

The JASTIP WP4 meeting was co-organized with the UNESCO-IHP members and gathered over 60 prominent DRR experts from Asia and other regions. Disaster issues raised in the meeting were diverse, including flood control, water security, geohazard management and risk assessment methodologies. The Japanese MDRM lecturers, including Prof. Kuniyoshi Takeuchi (Prof. Emeritus of Yamaguchi University, founding director of ICHARM) and Prof. Norio Maki (Kyoto University) also joined the conference. The next JASTIP WP4 meeting is planned to be hosted by DPPC at MJIIT in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

During the visit to Batangas State University (BSU), President Prof. Dr. Tirso A. Ronquillo chaired the joint meeting to discuss on collaborative possibilities in research, student and faculty exchange and professional training for local disaster managers. In the last half of the session, local disaster management practitioners, including Office of Civil Defense Regional Director Olivia M. Luces, participated in the meeting to discuss about interfacing researchers and practitioners to jointly build local resilience to disasters.

On 5-8 November 2017, the DPPC team took on a field mission in Sabah with 2 key purposes:
(a) to promote the DPPC program to the local DRM stakeholders for possible joint activities and
(b) to conduct field survey to formulate a research project on effective low-cost early warning system (EWS) for flood and landslide disasters. This fieldwork was conducted with support from the Civil Defense Force (APM) Sabah.

APM Sabah introduced the SAIFON (Security and Integrated Flood Network System), which has been helping the implement effective preparedness and response actions during flooding events. The actual infrastructure was observed in Kota Belud where local residents have been experiencing unprecedented flash floods, possibly due to the debris left from the Mount Kinabalu earthquake in 2015.

Possibilities of joint research were suggested at the meeting with the Minerals and Geoscience Department (JMG) Sabah. While JMG Sabah already has produced landslide risk maps of key locations in the state, it has not been shared widely with other DRM stakeholders. Conducting studies in the Labo-labo trench as well as landslide EWS were suggested as possible topics of collaboration.

The discussion with Sabah State Government revealed the high awareness in DRRM of the state that has been experiencing multi-hazard events just in the past few years. Sabah State is also aiming to become a Smart State in ICT and therefore has been a strong advocator of the SAIFON project delegated to the APM office.

The DPPC team continued with field visits in Kota Kinabalu (flood inundation area), Kudasang (earthquake affected area) and Ranau (landslide area). In addition, an informal meeting was conducted with the team from the Civil Engineering Department, Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) hosted by the Dean, Prof. Ir. Dr. Abdul Karim Bin Mirasa.