GRIPS and IHE Delft Institute for Water Education co-hosted a webinar on the disaster management policy on February 7, 2022 with the generous support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. The International Centre for Water Hazard and Risk Management under the auspices of UNESCO (ICHARM) also collaborated in organizing this webinar.

Fist, GRIPS Prof. Masaru Sugahara gave a lecture entitled, “Disasters in the world and Japan,” in which he discussed natural disasters around the world in the last 30 years, disasters in Japan such as the Great East Japan Earthquake and Japan’s disaster management. Following Prof. Sugahara’s lecture, Professor Toshio Koike, Executive Director of ICHARM, gave a presentation on the evolution of Japan’s flood risk management and recent initiatives, and international cooperation against climate change and disasters. The webinar, which attracted about 80 participants, was moderated by Prof. Graham Jewitt of IHE Delft Institute for Water Education.

During the discussion session, participants raised various questions about issues related to the infrastructure protection against climate change, and the Japanese government’s policy making process for disaster management.