Event Summary
Organization: GEM Foundation
Session Lead
- Nicole Keller, Communications and International Relations Lead, GEM Foundation
Speakers
- Dr. Susan Cutter, Distinguished Professor at the University of South Carolina
- Dr. Louis Gritzo, Vice President of Research, FM Global
- Loy Rego, Learning Practitioner, Mainstreaming Adaptation, Resilience and Sustainability into Development
- Honorable Herbert Bautista, Mayor of Quezon City, The Philippines
- Dr. Amod Dixit, Director of Nepal Society of Earthquake Technology
- Dr. Bijan Khazai, Senior Scientist at Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technologies, Earthquake and Megacities Initiative
- Dr. Christopher Burton, Senior Scientist, GEM Foundation
Description
When we look at the difference in impact between the Haiti and Christchurch earthquakes, it is obvious that socio-economic factors have an influence on how risk is estimated and perceived. Yet when analyzing risk in order to effectively manage that risk, at national or community levels, we are only beginning to understand how to accurately measure socio-economic characteristics and how to combine these measurements with analysis of physical risk, expressed in terms of damage and loss to structures and people. This session will focus on: a) State-of-the-art methods and tools: methodologies, indicators and tools to evaluate and benchmark social vulnerability and resilience; b) Stakeholders’ perspectives: the needs of governments, private entities and non-governmental organizations to gain a holistic perspective of risk, to inform actions and policies in risk reduction; c) Integrated risk assessment: Integrating the evaluation of socio-economic conditions into physical risk assessments to obtain a holistic view of risk; d) Case studies: examples of integrated risk assessment at district, city and national level, the challenges and opportunities of integrated risk assessment for decision making and development of risk management policies.