CITYNET Disaster Cluster Annual Seminar
The CITYNET Disaster Cluster Seminar (DCS) is an annual seminar during which participants from local governments, industry, civil society organizations, and others working in DRR come together to share knowledge and best practices on DRR topics.
Description
The DCS is held each year as a platform for CITYNET Disaster Cluster members to discuss best practices in disaster resilience and to learn from each sector and city. Each seminar holds sessions targeting specific DRR issues, with presenters from various cities and sectors.
Topics range from how their cities prepare for disasters to how organizations are innovating technologies to aid in disaster prevention, and more. Each session is followed by rich discussions during a question and answer period, during which participants have the chance to engage with and learn from one another.
In addition, each DCS includes site visits to DRR locations throughout the hosting city so participants can view tangent DRR management techniques and take these home to their cities or organizations to strengthen DRR capacity at home.
The DCS has three main goals:
1. Share: To share better practices among CITYNET Disaster Cluster members.
2. Support: To identify needs and strengthen city-to-city cooperation in DRR.
3. Localize: Enhance the applicability of lessons learned by understanding local concerns.
Another key goal of the DCS is to facilitate city-to-city (C2C) cooperation and strengthen networks between cities and organizations of the Asia-Pacific Region. By bringing together CITYNET Disaster Cluster members, each has the ability to network with others and strengthen cooperation for possible future DRR collaborations.
Did the Sendai Framework change or contribute to changes in your activities/organization? If so, how?
The Sendai Framework helps to structure the seminar, as each session features topics on one of the four priorities of the Framework.
What led you to make this commitment/initiative?
What was your position before making this Voluntary Commitment / prior to the Sendai Framework?
After a series of devastating disasters in the Asia-Pacific Region in 2004/2005, the CITYNET Disaster Cluster was established from the need for an overarching body to connect cities and organizations to share DRR best practices to reduce impacts of future disasters; the DCS was borne as an initiative of this CITYNET Disaster Cluster. Prior to the Sendai Framework, the DCS adhered to the guiding principles of the Hyogo Framework. When the Sendai Framework was introduced in 2015, the DCS shifted its seminar topics to adhere to the Sendai Framework.
Deliverables and Progress report
Deliverables
Deliverables are the end-products of the initiative/commitment, which can include issuance of publications or knowledge products, outcomes of workshops, training programs, videos, links, photographs, etc.
The 7th DCS was held in Yokohama from August 28-30, 2014 with participants from Japan and abroad. The seminar was the first to be hosted by the City of Yokohama after being appointed as the Lead City of the CITYNET Disaster Cluster in November 2013. In addition to discussions on topics like the CITYNET Platform for
Disaster Resiliency and Yokohama Waterworks Bureau's disaster management, participants also witnessed Yokohama’s emergency response units mobilize during a disaster simulation drill.
The 8th DCS was held in Yokohama from September 3-6, 2015, with attending participants from Japan and three other countries across the Asia-Pacific Region. Topics discussed include the CBARAD-II Project in Iloilo, the Disaster Initiatives and Disaster Countermeasures in the City of Yokohama, and Role of NGOs in Disaster Prevention Education and Awareness, among others.
The 9th DCS was held in Taipei, Taiwan, from September 21-24, 2016.
The 10th DCS was held in Yokohama from August 31st-September 3rd, 2017 with over 120 participants attending from 16 cities and 2 institutions. This tenth-anniversary seminar was organized in collaboration with the World Bank Tokyo Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Hub. Ten sessions were held on diverse topics in DRR, and attendees participated in site visits to the Yokohama Emergency Call Center and the Yokohama Disaster Risk Reduction Learning Center.
The 11th DCS was held in Iloilo City, Philippines, from August 2-4, 2018 with over 130 participants. The seminar again focused on the four Sendai Framework priorities and its application to the works and initiatives of cities, through sessions such as: Understanding Risks and Enhancing Risk Governance; Investing in Risk Reduction with the Private Sector; and Inter-generational Transfer of Knowledge. In addition, this Seminar included a Strategic Planning session with the Disaster Cluster members, during which members discussed how to achieve the Four Priorities, identifying indicators, means of verification, timelines, and collaborations for each.
The 12th Annual DCS was held in Yokohama, Japan, September 4-6, 2019, with over 60 participants from 31 cities and organizations in attendance. Sessions focused on the UNDRR's Making Cities Resilient Campaign and Flood Risk Management, in addition to the four Sendai Framework Priorities. Three site visits were scheduled to help participants understand features of Yokohama's DRR: to the Yokohama Disaster Risk Reduction Learning Center, the Kirigaoka Flood Retention Ponds, and the Shin-Yokohama Comprehensive Flood Control Project.
The 13th CityNet Disaster Cluster seminar was held online due to the ongoing pandemic. More than 80 DRR practitioners representing local governments and related institutions attended and shared their initiatives over the 3-day seminar. International organizations including the UNDRR and WHO also presented on the MCR2030 and how health emergencies need to be better integrated with the usual city DRR framework respectively. Both organizations also offered their services in training the representatives of the city governments on the usage of various tool kits and programs. A full report will be available shortly. Highlights of the seminar is available on the November e-News of CityNet Yokohama Project Office. Link is provided below.
The 2021 DCS brought together CITYNET Disaster Cluster members to discuss best practices in DRR and strengthen C2C networks. The three sessions included topics on health emergencies, Making Cities Resilient 2030 and ICT/ Data Driven DRR.
Porgress report
CityNet Disaster Cluster has been organizing annual CityNet Disaster Cluster Seminars for the past 14 years. While the seminars until 2019 were held on site in various CityNet member cities each year, for 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic the seminars have been organized online. As a result, more people have been able to attend the seminar and not limited to the Asia-Pacific region.
The last two seminars in 2020 and 2021 were able to gather experts on various DRR fields from across the globe. Topics including data driven DRR and health emergency were presented through international organizations such as the World Bank and the WHO in addition to the presentations made by the UNDRR on MCR2030 and initiatives from various local governments.
Organizations and focal points
Implementing Organization(s)
Focal points
Partners
