A summary information of the conference "Cities on Volcanoes 5" held in Shimabara, Japan, 19-23 November 2007, prepared by Henry Gaudru, volcanologist, SVE-UNISDR scientific adviser for volcanic risk mitigation.
The conference Cities on Volcanoes was the 5th meeting, which was organized by the Cities and Volcanoes Commission of International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI).
The conference consisted of three main parts:
(i) knowing volcanoes, including discussions on recent developments in volcano research, observation and eruption forecast, and health hazards;
(ii) volcanoes and cities including case studies on natural disasters response, assessing long term volcanic hazards and risks, impacts of volcanic activity on infrastructure and effective risk reduction strategies, land-use planning;
(iii) living with volcanoes, explaining the linkage between researchers, administrators, mass media, inhabitants, local organization and volunteers, discussions on community and volcanism, archaeological, tradition and recovery, and education and outreach, strategies that improve community awareness about volcanoes