From lessons of 3/11, Japan scientists share knowledge of disaster resilience across Pacific
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At IRIDeS, in tandem with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), plus local government and educational institutions on the ground in Malaysia, Izumi oversaw the development of the SeDAR Japan Partnership Programme as the practical realization of her research aims.
Based in the Southeast Asian nation’s Selangor state, the project’s science-based approach to disaster risk reduction taps easily understood communication tools such as hazard mapping and simulation to increase awareness of potential disasters among affected communities and then encourage community members to play an active role in subsequent risk-reduction activities.
“We conduct workshops in which we communicate what the disaster risks are, and what disaster risk reduction is, and what (affected communities) can do,” Izumi explains. “That’s the most important message, the understanding that there is a role that they can play.”
Geographically shielded from the tsunamis and earthquakes that have devastated other nations in the Ring of Fire — Malaysia reported under 100 deaths from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, while neighboring Indonesia saw over 150,000 — the country is nonetheless prone to heavy monsoon rains, flash flooding and frequent landslides.
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