During 7-18 May, one of MDRM’s elective course, Disaster Education and Preparedness for Social Resilience, was organized by international lecture team consisting of Professor Fusanori Miura of Yamaguchi University, Professor Hitoshi Nakamura of Shibaura Institute of Technology, Dr. Khairul Hisyam bin Kamardin and Dr. Shohei Matsuura of UTM.

The course introduced some of the tools that are widely used in Japan for working with communities for building local disaster resilience as well as methodologies to utilize scientific information to plan local land use and DRM planning. These knowledge and skills are expected to help DRM practitioners plan and implement disaster risk reduction activities based on evidence instead from just experience.

As an example, Professor Miura conducted the Disaster Imagination Exercise (DIG) exercise in which students were required to develop evacuation maps under a given a scenario that the surrounding areas of UTM KL campus have been flooded due to extreme rainfall. The students carefully drafted and layered several sheets with information representing landscape and hazard risks, and then finally coming up with the safest route and location to evacuate.

A special lecture was given by an international student from Bangladesh on disaster profile, issues and measures taken by the government and donors in the most disaster-prone countries in the world. DPPC/MDRM team is expected to visit Bangladesh this year to conduct interviews and field visits to learn and seek possible collaborations in research and training.

The MDRM program is expected to continue to provide practical knowledge and skills for existing DRM practitioners and for those seriously seeking to pursue a career in emergency management and disaster risk management. Students may choose to pursue a master’s degree or pick and choose among 10 technical and/or policy-based MDRM courses of their interest to develop their professional skills.

MDRM website: https://mjiit.utm.my/dppc/mdrm-homepage/
CPT webpage: https://mjiit.utm.my/dppc/cpt/

The 2nd Joint Workshop on Sediment Transport & Debris Flow with the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) was organized in cooperation with the Humid Tropic Center (HTC) on 18 April 2018.

Lecturers were provided for MDRM students and DID staffs by Prof Dr Eng Shinji Egashira, Research and Training Advisor, International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM) and Adjunct Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), Japan and Dr. Norlida Mohd. Dom, Deputy Director of HTC-DID.

Among several key issues on sediment & debris flow monitoring and prediction, evaluation of sediment laden flow, river channel morphologies and changes, river bed aggradation/degradation and related sediment issues and mathematical tools for evaluating sediment induced hazards were discussed.

DPPC plans to continue collaborating with DID for providing professional training for its staffs including possible internship opportunities in Japan at institutes including ICHARM.

This workshop was planned and organized by Dr. Faizah Che Ros, course coordinator of MMJD 1223 Flood Forecasting and Hazard Mapping course of MDRM .

On 19 April, the renewed Board of Study (BoS) had its first meeting to discuss about the new membership, terms of reference and next steps to build partnership to improve MJIIT’s DRM Program. Professor Dr. Ali Selamat chaired the meeting that was participated by experts and from Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Philippines shown below.

From government agencies:

1. Mr. Zainan Azman Abu Seman, Deputy Director General, National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA), Prime Minister’s Department
2. Ir Rohani Binti Ahmad, Director of HTC, Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
3. Ir. Che Hassandi Abdullah, Director, Centre of Excellence for Engineering and Technology (CREaTE), Public Work Department, Ministry of Works
4. PPJ (PA) Norhafifi Hj. Ismail, Director of Policy Planning and Coordination, Civil Defense Force (APM), Prime Minister’s Department
5. Dr. Azhari Mohamed, Director, Department of Surveying and Mapping (JUPEM), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
6. Dr. Dzul Khaimi Bin Khailani, Senior Principal Assistant Director, Federal Department of Town and Country Planning, Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government

Malaysian and international experts:

1. Dato’ Haji Zakaria Mohamad, DPPC fellow and Scientific Expert Panel to NaDMA, Malaysia
2. Hariyati Shahrima Abdul Majid, Malaysian Medical Relief Society (MERCY Malaysia)
3. Dr Alwi Abdul Rahman, Head of the Selayang Hospital Emergency, Trauma and Disaster Management Department, Malaysia
4. Professor Dr. Jun Asanuma, Chair of DRM Subcommittee, Tsukuba University, Japan
5. Professor Dr. Kaoru Takara, Co-chair of DRM Subcommittee and Dean of Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability (GSAIS), Kyoto University, Japan
6. Mikio Ishiwatari, Senior Advisor, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japan
7. Dr. Ir Djoko Legono, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Gadjah Mada University, Indonesia
8. Professor Dr. Andres W.C. Oreta, Civil Engineering Department, De La Sallle University, Philippines

Originally established to design the Master of Disaster Management (MDRM) Program, the previous BoS has completed its role and the new members will now take on new a function that involves support for reviewing and improving the MDRM program and taking part in professional training and research and field activities of MJIIT’s DRM program.

Active discussions were held among the experts on the next steps for the BoS, including joint publications and regional DRM conferences that could be organized in Malaysia as well as other countries of the BoS members. The next BoS meeting is planned to be held on the occasion of the Japan-ASEAN Science and Technology Innovation Platform (JASTIP) Regional Conference that is planned to be organized in Kuala Lumpur this October.

During 22-29 March 2018, DPPC members visited Thailand and Viet Nam to promote its DRM program.

After visiting Thailand, DPPC members visited Viet Nam to take part in joint technical workshop with Viet Nam National University, Hanoi University of Science (VNU-HUS) and the Viet Nam Institute of Transport Science and Technology (ITST) on landslide monitoring and preventive measures. The workshop started with a presentation by HUS that introduced several case studies for monitoring slope failures in northern regions in Viet Nam, followed by a report by ITST on the outcomes of the SATREPS project, “Development of Landslide Risk Assessment Technology Along Transportation Arteries in Viet Nam” funded by JICA-JST that was implemented during 2012-2017. Dr. Khamarrul presented on the recent disaster resilient cities project with the Federal Department of Town and Country Planning Peninsular Malaysia.

On the same day, DPPC members visited Viet Nam Institute of Transport Science and Technology (ITST) to observe some of the testing equipment that was used including slope failure experiment device and portable ring shear apparatus that tests strength of the materials of different sizes.

On 28 March, DPPC members flew to Da Nang to visit the landslide monitoring site at Hai Van Pass that had been established by the SATREPS project. The site was chosen because it is the path of the national railway system that serves as an important transportation artery that connects North and South regions of Viet Nam. ITST continues to monitor this mountain slope after the project has concluded to apply the experiences to monitor other vital transportation sites around the country.

The last visit in Vietnam was to Da Nang University, University of Education, which has been taking part in numerous DRM projects, especially those related to community based DRM and local DRM planning. Partnership and collaboration with local universities are important particularity when conducting in-depth work at the local level.

During 22-29 March 2018, DPPC members visited Thailand and Vietnam to promote its DRM program and discuss about the possible future collaborative activities with key DRR stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific Region. The mission was headed by Dr. Khamarrul Azahari Razak, MDRM Program Coordinator, accompanied by Dato’ Zakaria Mohamad, DPPC fellow and Science & Technology Advisory Board member of the National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA) and Dr. Shohei Matsuura, JICA Expert to MJIIT.

At the United Nations Secretariat for International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), Asia Pacific Regional Asia Pacific Office, DPPC discussed with Mr. Animesh Kumar, Deputy Head of Office and Mr. Timothy Wilcox, Programme Management Officer on future roles of science, technology and academic group for training and providing expertise to facilitate the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: SFDRR (2015-2030). The team also expressed support to UNISDR in working with the National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA) Malaysia and other partners to properly implement the Sendai Monitor as well as launching of ARISE Malaysia to strengthen resilience of the private sector.

On the same day, DPPC members visited Chulalongkorn University and received by Assistant Professor Dr. Chatpan Chintanapakdee (Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering), Dr. Natt Leelawat (Department of Industrial Engineering, Faculty of Engineering), and Dr. Puntita Tanwattana (Environmental Research Institute). Chulalongkorn University recently launched its new 2-year postgraduate program, “Master of Science on Risk and Disaster Management (RDM)” in which will offer a series of DRM-related courses by various departments (from February 2018). The multidisciplinary approach to DRM similar with DPPC showed opportunities of both sides to collaborate in the future. (RDM program: http://www.rdm.grad.chula.ac.th/)

On 26 March, DPPC members visited the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and greeted by Professor Pennung Warnitchai, Head of Department of Construction and Infrastructure Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology, Dr. Indrajit Pal, Assistant Professor and Chair of Disaster Preparedness, Mitigation and Management (DPMM), Dr. Mokbul Morshed Ahmad, Associate Professor, Regional and Rural Development Planning, School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD), Dr. Hiroyuki Miyazaki, Assistant Professor, Remote Sensing and GIS, School of Engineering and Technology (SET) and Ms. Vineeta Thapa, Senior Program Officer DPMM. DPMM also takes the interdisciplinary approaches to disaster management and targets both full time and professional training programs with backgrounds ranging from civil engineering to medicine. Discussions focused on future joint academic and research activities and international conference in the Asia Pacific region. (DPMM program: http://dpmm.ait.ac.th/wp/)

On the same day, DPPC members visited the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and received by Mr. Aslam Perwaiz, Deputy Executive Director. ADPC with its long-standing reputation as the “one stop center” for providing professional training and project implementation in the AP region can offer many hints to DPPC to become one of the regional training and research hub in ASEAN. Discussion ranged from possibilities of student internships at ADPC and credit transfer of training programs. While ADPC expressed interest in building closer partnership with science and technology stakeholders, both sides promised to follow up on detailed collaboration, such as organizing a regional conference in the near future. (ADPC website: http://www.adpc.net/igo/?)