On December 17 and 18, 2015, students enrolled in GRIPS’ four disaster management related programs took part in group fieldwork across Tokyo and joint presentations. The event brought together students with various specializations, from governments and organizations of a number of countries, for the two-day exercise, the first of its kind. Thanks to the rich diversity among the student body of the four programs, participants were able to benefit from sharing knowledge and experience, and could work together to generate new notions related to disaster management policy.

28 Japanese master’s students, 16 from the Disaster Risk Management Program and 12 from the Development Policy Program, joined in the activities with 36 international students, 34 master’s students from the Disaster Management Policy Program and 2 PhD students from the Disaster Management Program.

Each group, consisting of both international and Japanese students, planned its own excursion for December 17, based on themes such as ‘Japanese disaster prevention systems: an international perspective.’ The groups visited venues including the Kudan Kaikan Hall, the Hamarikyu Gardens, the Edo-Tokyo Museum, the Tokyo Rinkai Disaster Prevention Park, Odaiba, the Skytree and the Japan Meteorological Agency. Through these visits, the students were able to observe Japanese disaster prevention systems firsthand and enter into informed discussion.

On the second day, the groups presented their findings. The stimulating and original presentations were followed by vigorous question and answer sessions directed by the hosting professors. At the closing, Professor Ando presented the Best Presentation Award. The winning group was selected for both presentation quality and group unity and communication.

One Japanese participant said:
“Doing fieldwork together, in particular organizing it ourselves and then presenting our findings – doing this series of work together – we really got a precious sense of unity that you wouldn’t get in a typical cultural exchange meeting. Also, my hesitancy to speak English in front of the group quickly diminished. I’m really glad I took part.”

An international student commented:
“It was a unique opportunity to have excellent input for our personal development. We could also enhance our technical knowledge in the disaster mitigation field, because during the development of the activities, we could work as a team, with members contributing a wide variety of ideas from different points of view. This was a very important part of the process since we could meet students with different professions and experience and address the issues in an integral way. On the other hand, thanks to the input of the Japanese students, we had the opportunity to visit and enjoy interesting places related to disaster prevention and we could realize how well organized the Tokyo area is in terms of preparedness for disasters.”

All things considered, the two-day exercise was a huge success for all parties involved.