Annual international workshop and expo on Sumatra tsunami disaster and recovery (AIWEST-DR) 2014

In commemoration of 10th year of The Indian Ocean Tsunami

Conference Theme - Surviving from Disaster with Knoweledge Capacity: Lessons Learnt from Universities

The Annual International Workshop and Expo on Sumatra Tsunami Disaster and Recovery (AIWEST-DR 2014) organizing committee are pleased to announce this call for papers for the 2014 event. This year, the workshop is held in conjunction with the 4th Annual International Conference (AIC) of Syiah Kuala University.AIWEST-DR has become one of the largest conferences related to tsunami disaster research and management in the Indian Ocean region, with over 1.000 delegates attending the event consecutively since its first commencement in 2006. In 2014, the event becomes very important for commemorating a decade of tsunami disaster that struck the Indian Ocean region on December 26, 2004.Lessons have been learnt in the past ten years during which interactions among different stakeholders, including researchers, government officers, educators, students and industries from different field of expertise have taken place.

As a key university in the region that directly affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Syiah Kuala University has been actively involved in the process of recovery. It also plays an important role in nurturing and delivering the disaster related knowledge to the society, as well as to share lessons learnt from the disaster mitigation. Other universities with similar experiences, either in national or in foreign countries, must have been playing similarly important role during the recovery of such disasters in their own region. It is, therefore, the aim of AIWEST-DR 2014 is to provide a platform to share each other’s knowledge capacity in dealing with such large scale disasters. Thus, this year’s conference is dedicated for a theme of “Surviving from Disaster with Knowledge Capacity: Lessons Learnt from Universities”.

Panel Session

Panel session will be addressed by invited speakers (to be announced) from various universities that directly affected by mega disasters. The speakers will share their perspectives on the topic of Lessons Learnt from Universities on Surviving Mega Disaster. Among others, we are confirming representatives of the following Universities or Institutes to share their lessons learnt and best practices:

1. Tohoku University, Japan
2. Kobe University, Japan
3. Fukushima University, Japan
4. GadjahMadaUniversity, Japan
5. Andalas University, Indonesia
6. Syiah Kuala University, Indonesia
7. Thammasak University, Thailand
8. University of Philippine, Philippines
9. Christchurch University, New Zealand
10. Istanbul Technical University
11. University of Hawaii
12. International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology, Iran

We are looking forward to taking this opportunity to initiate the “World Forum of Mega-Disasters Affected Universities” as a platform for sharing the best-practices and knowledge pertain to mega-disasters among the directly affected universities.

Topics for Special Session

We will hold several special sessions that closely related to the progress and status of recovery after 10 years of Indian Ocean Tsunami.

You are invited to submit extended abstracts related to the recovery topics, which based on different perspectives and lessons learnt from countries that were affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami. The topics include, but are not limited to:

1. Recovery Plan: Formulation and Implementation
2. Infrastructure and Housing Reconstruction
3. Socio-economic Recovery
4. Mental Health Recovery
5. Disaster Risk Reduction and Community Preparedness
6. City Planning and Urban Renewal
7. Governance and Leadership during Recovery

Topics for Regular Session

Authors are also invited to submit their extended abstract in regular sessions, which topics include, but are not limited to:

•  Review and Recent Progress of Tsunami Science and Engineering
• Seismicity and Tectonics
• Hydro-Meteorology
• Disaster Education and Outreach
• Human Security
• Disaster Risk Management
• Disaster-related Technology
• Disaster Law, Institution, and Policy Matters

Student Forum

Especially for highly enthusiastic young researchers, we are dedicating a special session for under-graduate and post-graduate students to present their research works as well as to discuss critical issues related to disaster-related research, best-practices and lessons learnt from their participation during the recovery of mega-disaster events.